ST. VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY HON. MR. HEYDON, M.L.C, IN DUNEDIN

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 15, 11 April 1907, Page 23

ST. VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY HON. MR. HEYDON, M.L.C, IN DUNEDIN

On Sunday "afternoon St. Joseph's Hall -was well - filled on the occasion of an address by the L. ' F. Heydon, M.L.C.. (Sydney) on the' work. of the St. Vincent 'de Paul Society. His Lordship bishop verdon presided, and there were also present the ftev. Father, Coffey, Adna., St. Joseph's Cathedral, Rev.- .-FathersHoward (South Dunedifr), Uleary, and Corcoran. His Lordship, in introducing Mr. Heydon, referred to the good work:., of ihe St. -Vincent de Jfaul r ._ So j ciety wherever established, and" trusted that Mrl Heydon's -address would result in . increasing considerably the .membership of the local conference. Mr. Heydon, after referring _to the progress of • the ' society in Auckland, WeHington, '. and. Christlchurch, .went 0n ,,-tci -speak of the duties of- the laity- with regard, to Church .matters. The tendancy of the laity ..was to leave too much work to~ the clergy. Surely there- was, a time when -I/he Catholic layman felt Tthat he' could do more than he was accustomed to .for ,the Church. The -members-of the -Society of St. Vincent de Paul were volunteers to hear upon their shoulders some ,of the burdens of the parish, -, and by - doing; so they became better ~~m€aT an'd 'better- Cath- . olics-r-in a word, they were engaged in sanctifying their own souls. Whea v they saw the- clergy and ■ religiousdevoting. . the whole of their lives to the welfare of the . Church;, at was not too much to ask' those who" were in the. .'.world to' devotei a portion of their time to the same object. • Mr.' Heydon here read extracts from a lecture by~ Father Tyrrell to undergraduates at Oxford, and from Canon Sheeh-an's ' Triumph of Failure,' in both of which it- was shown that the laity were too. .. prone to leave- the whole. of the work "of the -Church, to the clergy. Wherever .the society was es~/taiblished the -members ,had done much to relieve the clergy of work which could be done "as well by laymen. -J-n Sydney they had' a case in point. There, at the instance of his Eminence Cardinal Moran, they had undertaken the distibution of the publications of the Catholic Truth Society tci the various centres in the archdiocese, arid did it so well that they were specially thanked by the Cardinal. Other ■ instances were also given where'- the members had undertaken work in con»nection with parish -kfiairs. They -were always ready to lend a helping hand to promote the interests of the Church, ami to act with the clergy as their leaders. The Society, which was governed from Paris, . with, a Superior .-Council in Sydney, of" which the speaker was president, was making considerable pro- ' gress in Australasia* as it had increased last year from 75 to 91 conferences. That was- 16 in twelve months^ and he had every reason to hope that the increase this" yeai? would "be 20 new conferences. , D<une-_ din ; ;>was . the first place where a conference was.start- - cd"this -year. When he addressed a meeting in Wellington & few days ago 26 new members joined, and they ..were ' hopeful there that several more conferences would, be started in the Archdiocese before long. They had 40 ,-, conferences in- New South Wales, and there should ,at^ least be 20 in this Colony. Mr. Heydon. . then, went on to speak of the- scope of the Society. In addition to -visiting and succoring the needy, there was the" work of inducing Catholic -'sailors visiting this port to attend Mass ""and frequent ' 'the Sacraments, also the task of looking after our young people : after leta/ving schoo.l, " arid* providing proper means of . enjoyment, so that they may be kept away from, undesirable, a nd very often harmful, associations. Then, -again, there- was the distribution of Catholic, literature. „;^ Each" -centre was the best judge of ,in. what direction would.* its activities be employed to the greatest advantage. After dealing at some length with the aims of the Society and giving some- useful advice-, to members, he "concluded Lv reminding 'them that the^great object of^their belonging to the Society was, jt.ci sanctify their own souls, for by the lives of the membersWvas the work of the Society to be ■ - measured. The interesting address, which lasted upwards 61 an hour, was listened vto with the closest .attention • by^.jtA'e,- large' audience, and frequently applauded. Mr. • Heydon's earnestness in ihe cause of charity, his enthusiasm ort, t behalf of the St. Vincent- de Paul - Sol ciety, f anld his appeal for greater interest by the laity I, in the. r work ol the Church deeply impressed his | hearers. .._ ■ - - "• \ On the motion of Mr. Hevdon a hearty vote of 1 thanks was passed to Us Lordship the Bishop for pre- . . siding. . ■ .

His Lordship in replying said they were thankful to Mr. -Heydon for his valuable address,' and he hoped lit, would be the means of inducing many /of our young men to ioiu the Society. ' '