ORDINATIONS AT MEANEE.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXII, Issue 49, 8 December 1904, Page 20

ORDINATIONS AT MEANEE.

(From an occasional correspondent.)

December 2

During the past week St Mary's Church, Meanee, has been once a&ain the favored scene of tflie deep-mean-l'ng coDemonial ot priestly ordinations. In the absence of Ihis^Urace the Most Rev. Dr. Redwood,. Hi.s Lordship the Right P t ev. Dr. Grimes wiUiinglj r acceded to the iequest of Archdeacon Devoy to act as ordaining prelate, and consequently, on his return from the Congress in Melbourne, his J.ordship proceeded immcdKately to Mcance, Wiheie he arrived on Friday, November 18.

The First Oi'dination took \pl,ace on Sunday, November 20, whan the Revs. J. M. Pipaud, W. Schaefer, J. Ruusieh, and F. W. Bartley, all of the S,ociety ot Mary, were raised to deaeojuship, and Mr. P. Funnerty, S.M., received Minor Orders. The following day (Monday), the Feast ot the Piesdntatun, was marked by even greater Wangs, for in addition to the Orders conierred, six students of St. Mary's Sennnaiy made tneir proiessi,o.n as members of the Society of Mary. Punctually at 8 a.m. the solemm piocebsion of students and clergy entered the church, singijig that sweetest hymn of love, ' A\c Mans .Stella.' As it-, familiar words diud away m softest echoes, Ins Loudship arrived at the sanctiuary, intoned the l \ cm Creator Spirit us,' after which he ascended the altar steps and delnered an address to the students wlio were aboat to vow themselves t)o (iod. The Right Rev. preacher took Sor his text the words the Incarnate Sion ( utters in Daviid's Pskilm ■ ' Behold I come , in the head ot Lhc boo>k itv is written of Ale, that 1 should do Thy will ' In the course ot a ime sermon his Lordship stated that this wia<3 tihe first time he 'had assisted at a religious profession of tihe Society of Mary in New Zealand, and proud be was to be able to stand on the stops of God's altar and tell those young aspirants to g;.o on iru the name ot God, to gird themselves for their cmcwninter, and continue on the great work their sauntly predecessors un the Society had done a,nd were doing His Lor,dsjhip concluded 'by bestowing his blessing oh the congregation.

Atter the sermon the simple but stole ran ceremony of profession t^k place. The Very Rev. Father Prowncial (Yen. Archdeacon Uevoy), assisted by the Rev. Father Superior (Dr. Kennedy) antd Reft". Father Mai tin, S.M., received the vows of the following : Messrs. R. J. Hoare, A. T. llerrmg, B. J. (Jondringer, L. J. Qtiin, T. J. McCarlihv, and T. A. Gilbe-t. At the Mast, which immc|diately followed, his Lord&ihip conferred the Older of s)ubdeaco,n dn Mr. P. Finnerty, S.M., and Minor Orders on Mr. P. J. Smyth, and the newly professed. Sunday, N(d\ ember; 27, was the day fixed for the ordination of

Four Marist Fathers. The ceremony was to begin at 10 a.m., but for an hour previous the faithful of all tihe surrounding districts were gathering together within the walls of St. Mary's. Not for many a year had the church such a number within its sacred precincts. Not only had numbers come from Napier, Hastings-, and Clive, but relatives and friends of the ordinairtds had come from different parts of tihe North Island, and e\en from the south. At the appointed hour the crows-bearer and acolyte?, leading the procession of student's and clergy, entered the aisle amid the majestic organ roll of Mendelssohn's

Marclh. His Lordship being vested, proceeded to the altar where, attended by the Yen. Archdeacon Devoy and Rev. Dr. Kennedy, Holy Mass was begun. Though the sanctuiary was necessarily full, there being twelve candidates for the different Orders, everything, even the slightest ceremony, was carried out to perfection, thaoika to the admirable foresight and supervision of the masters of ceremonies, Rev. Father Lezer, S.M., and Mr. D. A. Hurley. At the call for s뷪£onsship Messrs. IJ'oare, Ileiring, Condringer, McCarthy, Smyth, and Gilbert, SM.'s, stepped forward; at the call for deaaoliship the Rev. J. Barra, S.M., and Rev. P. Finnerty, S.M., and at the call for priesthood the Revs. Peoples, Pipaud, Schaefor, and Hartley, S.M.'s. After their ordination the new s'ulxleacons retired from the inner sanctuary to the adjoining stalls, and then followed the solemn ordination of the priests. The scene was moving to a degree. The Bishop himself betrayed the deepest emotion as he pronounced the words oi the Pontifical, and at that silent moment when the tutu re priests knelt beneath the Prelate's uplifted hand a feell.ng of reverential awe seized o>n all, for if in the pro-found-meaning ceremonies of a priests' ordmatio-n there be one more solemn than another, it is that spoken of by St. Paul as the ' imposition of hands.' After the (itospel the Bishop addressed the newly ordained priests lin the words the Pastor of Pastors addressed to His chosen twellve on that night, when He, having taken a towel, girded Himself, and washed His disciples' feet. ' Know you what I ha,ve done to you ? ' In the co;urse of

A Sermon of (treat Power his Librdshi.p referred to the work which St. Mary's had »lone siriice its humble beginning 11 years ago. Within those short years the grand total of 42 Manst Fathers had bean ordanied, ol whom, except one who had won the crown ot life, 23 were now laboring in New Zealand, and the remadndcT were giving tlieir energies to their Master's service in tihe missions of Australia and Oceanica. During the whole course of his address his Lordslhip sthowed himself deeply touched and not even the coldest heart could suppress its enratio/n. The Holy Sacrifice was then proceeded with, and after the Consociation the Bi-shop completed the ordmation by conferring o<n the new priests tihe power to forgirve sim. At the conclusion of the Mass a solemn ' Te Daum ' was siu'ng. by t|he whole body of clergy and students, and the .procession lett the sanctuary while Mr. A. uurger pFayeW the ' March oi the Prie&te.'

On Sunday afternoon his Lordship, accompanied by the Rev. Fathers Galerne, PipaAid, and Schaefer, left Meanee tor Hastings, whence on Monday morning, the 28th, he lett for Wellington. At St. Joseph's, Buckle street, Wellington, he was again engaged, and on Wednesday, 30th November, raised to the priestihood the Rev. J. Ra.us,e.h, S.M., ami Rev. p. Finncrty, S.M. 'r,ie kindness of Jus Lortisy)i'.p during his Jhort stay at the sclholaMicate won him the sincere reverence arid love o'i alii At great inconvenience he had come to Mean-ec when his piesence was urgently needed in his own Cathedral City, and yet he condescended tjo remain for a week and a half For winch kindness not only the Fathers arid .students, but even the* good faithful of Meajiee paush were very grateful.