LAST SUNDAY'S CEREMONIES

New Zealand Tablet, Issue 17, 25 April 1907, Page 12

LAST SUNDAY'S CEREMONIES

I (By telegraph irom our own correspondent.)

On Sunday the solemn ceremonies in connection with the blessing and opening of the additions to St. Patrick's Cathedral" took .place. The- sacred edifice now presents a "finished and striking appearance. During the last six months it has been in the hands of the architect' and builders, and they have most satisfactorily carried out their wor*. Very great credit is due to. his Lordship the Right Rev. Dr. Lenihan, because to him solely is due the success of the project. It was thougjht out by Km, and -his ideas were reduced to paper by the architect. The Bishop- had been almost daily in attendance since the work began, and ' the amount of time and trouble and -thought he has devoted to it has been remarkable indeed. For the complete state in which the Cathedral is now the Catholic people have to thank Bishop Lenihan, and they . will sihow their gratitude in the best way by wiping oft the £7000 which it has cost. There were> very large congregations both in the morning and evening. Pontifical High Mass was celebrated at 11 o'clock- .by his Lordship Bishop Lenihan, Right Rev.- Mgr. O'Reilly being assistant priest,- Very Rev. Dean Hackett and Very Rev. Father Gillan, V.G., deaoons at the throne, Very Rev. Father Brodie and Rev. Father Mahoney - deacons of the Mass, and Rev. Father Holbrook master of ceremonies. " . THE SERMON. An eloquent sermon was preached fey the Very Rev. Father Olune, C.SS.R., from the text, ' What mean these stones ? ' We are gathered together to-day (said v the Very Rev. preacher) on a hallowed and historic, spot, whose acquisition for church purposes was almost -coeval with the planting of the Faith on New Zealandsoil. In the first place, we' have come to witness and take part in a. most solemn, sacred, and impressive rite, namely, the blessing and dedication of this grand Cathedral to ."tit© worshAo and service of Almighty Gad; under . the twin guardianship of St.' Patrick and St. Joseph. In the next place, we have come to rejoice with his Lordship and the good people of Auckland, and offer them -our cordial congratulations on the completion of this magnificent temple- that- has grown from humble begin-, nings to such mighty proportions that, in its successive stages of growth, the enlargements mark the corresponding stages of progress and expansion in' th© diocese,

and that crystallises into solid and enduring concrete form the history,- birth, progress, and 1 development of the faith in the Auckland province. Hence, on an occasion' like .this, instead of - the carping critic with a Judas cry on his lips, ' Why this waste? ' — why this-, expenditure ? — I have set myself rather to draw -out and dwell on the story that is written- indelibly _by - trowel and chisel on these walls and foundations for our future generations, and to sketch in rapid and reverent outline, at least, the work and the worth of , those associated with St. Patrick's from its inception to its completion to-day. We read in the Book of Josue that when the people -of Israel crossed the J ordan- and entered the Land of ProuAse, they took stones out of • the river-bed, and set them' up as a memorial to God in Galgal. Josue said : When your children shall ask you to-morrow, wha.t mean these stones, you shall answer them and say, Is-rael passed over the Jordan through a dry channel, . the Lord your God drying up the waters . thereof ; therefore were those stones set up foT a monument of the children of Israel for ever. Your children will ask you, and your children*' M children will 1 ask ~ their fathers, unto many generations as they pass under the shadow of this hallowed pile, or view its gra.eful transepts from afar, What mean those' stones, what memories hang round them, what lessons do they comey, what story do they tell ? You will answer : The time was only little less than seventy years -ago, when the light of Catholic truth had not penetrated this beautiful and luxuriant land, when the noble, warlike" race had little knowledge of the Creator beyond- what the untutored savage mind might glean from gazing on the ■face of Nature that, like an exquisitely colored and variegated chart, might lead the reflective mind from the contemplation of nature s beauty and its marvels to the conception of nature's God. You will tell them how at last on the ever memorable January 10, 1838, Bishop Pompallier, with a priest and a lay catechist, • landed at Hokianga with the same credentials from , Pope Gregory XVI. and the same faith that Augustine and his monks brought from another Pope Gregory to England, or that St. Patrick brought to Tara. ,You will tell them how within three years after landing, a mission station was founded in Auckland, and a little wooden church was erected as, a memorial to God in 1842, on the very site on which this Cathedral stands. You w*ill tell them bow five years later Bishop Pompallier, at the request of the Cathotlics of Auckland, laid the foundation stone of a scoria church, which would be a more worthy and." enduring memo-ial of G-od's goodness, in having visited awd wrought the redemption of His people here, which church was opened and dedicated to St,. PatricK and St. Joseph, on Maroh 19, 1848, under the administratorship of Bishop Viard. At the building of this church a literal reproduction of a scene described in the Book of Josue took place, when Father Forrest and the Irish Catholic soldiers of the" gallant 58th Regiment literally took- the stones from out then harbor bed, and carried them on their sh/oulders, and gratefully, set t/hem- up as a memorial to God in Auckland. I may pause here in my narrative to reverently point out

Some Grand Old Pioneers of the Faithmen •of renown, as the Holy Scripture calls such — who instructed the people with most holy words in those days, and whose forms memory calls from the dead past. First of all they unfold^to our gaze the ■noble form of the intvepid 'and apostolic pioneer, Bishop Pormpallier, who first got the > comnnission fromT St. Peter's, successor, Gregory XVI., to bring the message of divine truth to these lands, and who, by preaching, instruction, and what 1 may truly call has omnipresent zeal, dispelled the mists of eiror and pagan darkness from; all .native tribes where his influence extended, • and who opposed to the wild fury, the cruel calumny, the undisguised threats of t/hose- whose ranks he depleted, the meek| demeanor of his Master, " and' the resistless logic of unadulterated truth. There he stands before us, as he was in the provincial days, dignified, courteous, majestic, and show-clad like" Ruapehu or Tarawera, casting off the pearly mists that enshrouded them ; the restless fires within their volcanic bosoms symbolising the restless fire of faith, charity, and zeal that thrilled through his frame and -bu^t in his apostolic heart. They remind us more 'vividly and eloquently than my poor cold words could of- that great Bishop and apostolic band of Marist Fathers, who sundered 'the dearest, sweetest home ties at the. call . of- God to spread ■ the faith throughout New Zealand. An -account of . their journeys by land and sea,' through ' a/country with- , out roads or railways, by means of schooners' .of only a few hundred tons' burden over stormy ses*s, is like reading an account of the "journeys of St. Paul and his companions in the Acts of the 'Apostles.-- .When we

think of the long voyages from Hokiamga to Bank's Peninsula and far-off Otago, full of peril, discomfort, and adventure, of the land journeys to Tauranga, Opo-t-i'ki, and Matamata ; when we try to compute the miles of ..tangled bush, interlacing creepers, and noisome swamps traversed on foot by these men of God ; when we think of the countless souls brought to a Knowledge of truth, as much Ity the " transparent purity of their motives-, t<he sanctity and disinterestedness of their lives, as by the fervor of their heavenly eloquence ; the mission stations formed, churches erected, cannibal ferocity' softened .and disciplined, those who feasted on •human -flesh, now nourished their sou-Is on that which endureth unto life everlasting ; we , are simply appalled by the magnitude of their labors, dazaled by the heroism of their lives and their vdrt/ues. Assembled as we are ' here on- a spot sanctified" by their tread; surely it is meett and, just to pay a passing tribute of admiration, gratitude, and veneration to these' men — Bishops Pompallier and'tViard, Fathers Petitjean, Servant, Forrest, and many others, whose names should also be embalmed I in the New Zealand Catholic heart. They bring . before us "again the rugged frafme of another great prelate, whose name is a household wo d in two henri-spheres, wiip built the transept which this spacioui and noble one replaces — The Illustrious Archbishop Croke. He it was whom God raised up at a time of stress and ' strain, and who put on a secure basis the Church property, and qiuickened the faithful with new life and courage. Undaunted and undeterred by a crushing debt and financial embarrassment, he threw his great mind and characteristic energy into his work, and the result is seen in the magnificent property possessed by the-Church to this day. Though his yeais in Auckland were few, the stamp -of his_ zeal, genius, and energy is deeply scored on the" diocese. _ His name will ever be held in benediction here, where his grand voice often resounded with prescience of the future's needs. He collected o\er £2000 for building a new Cathedral, which, in the capable and generous hands of the honored trustee, Mr. Darby, was £3000 at the time his successor was appointed. Our .memories again bring up before us the unobtrusive, saintly forms of Bishop Steins and Bishop Luck, who built the nave" and spire, and searched the treasure spots of Italy for the materials for that gem of marble and mosaic — the exquisite altar on which the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was • offered up this morning. They softly and reverently breathe names holy, zealous^ and apostolic — secular priests, whom many of you have known, who broke the Bread" of Life in this Cathedral— Fathers Fines, O'Hara, Paul, Dr. McDonald, your own " Father Walter ' McDonald — though dead they still- Jive on, in the vi--tues they exhibited, in the kindly deeds they performed, in the spirit of faith they fostered - among you. Through the .Communion of Saiints — that, with ' a bfond stronger than steel, warmer and "iritenser than 1 blood or human life, binds the members of the Church triumph-, ant in -heaven with the members of the Church- niilitanit below — we may believe that they are cognisant of, and interested in, this ceremony from their thrcnes.- on high. They beckon to us,* who wear the' priestly- garb, to walk worthy of our^vocation ; they bid you, whose eyes are filmed with tears at mention of their ' nsttnes, to rejoice and be glad. To-day the eyes and heart, of God sre centred on you, as the wise man says, and his hands are raised to bless the cheerful giver ; they speak most eloquently of 'all of The Young, Energetic, Zealous Prelate wiio_ now adorns the See of Auckland, ■ whom the ' Holy Ghost has chosen and placed in „ this exalted office to hold the reins that have fallen r from the dead haTnds of his. saintly .predecessors, to t consolidate and ensure the strenuous efforts -iniade by them' to erect a worthy, memorial of God here ; to '- guide the destinies of this diocese in an era of rapid" expansion, the limits of which no man m&y yet mark. His presence forbids eulogy, and makes anything like a spoken- estimate of Ms worth and w,ork constrained, and inadtttjuate. In the conception of this present undertaking, his Lordship has firmly grasped the principle that ■ no material creation of human genius is good enough ; to 'be a worthy shrine of the ?Lord of Glory, and further that money, material,, art, aye, and human brain are consecrated to their noblest use in planning, erect>ing, enriching 'a temple for the great- God. to "dwell in. He has learned from the pages of Holy Writ how , the Almighty God prepared and enriched- the material foe. the temple and the "living; "shrine which He deigned to dwell in even for a short time. There' no riches of a material Mnd were deemed by Him too great to lavish on adornment. When it pleased Him that a temple should be. built by His own chosen nation, that would

be st repository of His laws, the seat of His- worship and His presence, and Solomon undertook the -gigantic task, what was God s part ? We read in' the third BooK of Kings how closely God identified Himself with the work of building and beautifying a temple erected to. His honor at Jerusalem ; how He blessed, the' gifts of ..Solomon and his people. May I not say'that for the accomplishment of that work the Almighty a-11 nations and all nature iinider ' tribute ? The fragrant forests of Libanus gave their precious cedar-wood ; the quarries of sea-girt Taros their costliest and purest marble ; the mines of Ophir their gleaming golden, ore ; the earth and the vast deep yielded up and conftributed their pearls, rubies, emeralds, and sapphires i; ' the choicest flowers sked their fragrance round its courts, lent beauty and delicacy, and their designs were .to toe reproduced on wall and cornice by the genius of artistic workers ; the mechanica-1 and artistic skill of master minds and of master hands -were requisitioned from every land to , equip/ adorn, and .embellish' the gorgeous temple ; the people poured out their riches, and gave the labor of their hands. So pleased was the . "Almighty God with the sacrifices and offerings made, and with- the temple erected to His .honor, that _ on the day of dedication He said to Sqlomion : i have sanctified this .house which thou hast built, to put My name there forever, and My eyies and My heart shall be there always. You, too, my lord, with spirit broad, magnanimous . and trustful, like that which actuated • Solomon and the men . of old', entered on this work, knowing that though not so rich in material splendor as the glittering pile whichSolomon erected, yet this Cathedral would be more precious and sacred in God's eyes.; for it is now and- it ever will be the sacred shrine where in very truth the God of Hosts, the Prisoner of Love jdwells in the silent tabernacle.- With unbounded trust in Providence you braced yourself for what I may call t<be"crowning work and glory of your fruitful eleven years' episcopate. Now you have the consolation of dedicating and offering to God a worthy enduring; memorial of your own and your priests' and people's gratitude of an imperishable monument of your warm and indestructible sterling, generous faith ; a building worthy to grace the Queen Uity of the North; that will point a moral to those who walk the busy streets immersed in worldly pursuits, and ever remind them of the lesson so often forgotten of the true destiny of the immortal soul that the poor frail body encases-. While your hearts are throbbing with jubilation and gratitude that you have lived to see St. Patrick's completed ; while the souls of many of you are stirred to their depths, by the sweet emotions, tender, thrilling memories that hang around this holy spot ; while your senses are enthralled with rapturous sounds of sacred song and music reverberating through the church,, like the exultant trumpet blasts on the day of the dedication of Solomon s temple I entreat you no* to turn a deaf or dull ear to the last and most practical message these walls and stones convey to you for the last time I ask what mean these stones ? They mean a heavy encumbering debt-and more than that, unless lifted off by your generosity, will .for a considerable time crush, the spirit Cramp^ c ener e ies ol your grand -and enterprising 2?£? Pf the 4 full and beneficent exercise if other needful outlets for the glory of God in this 'growing diocese. - " -° The Very Rev. preacher here made an eloquent 'and fervent appeal to priests and people -for their generous co-operation in liquidating the debt incurred dn completing the Cathedral, and appealed to all to rally round their good Bishop, to make one generous, united - sustamed effort that day -and during the next tS months, so that when his Eminence Cardinal Moraa 2! X; f th * the ' pr + esti^ attached to his jS2£ 2? tiopT^A^t^^-^ tlhe * ishop ' ™ VESPERS. ' -In the evening theie were Pontifical Vespers when the sermon was preached. by the Very Rev. 'Father Clune from the text, •He made him master of his house and ruler, of -all His -possessions.' The Very Rev. preacher, adverting to the prevalence of hero-wor-ship m the world, reminded his- hearers that the JhSn^SL 11 " hel ° cs ' but of a diflerenrt moul^ One oJ her clifdrpn ll6+° l^ 6 +° l them ;T Was »*!oHed to the gaze o SjsmT fJKS^«3f T&SJt, 1 * & tv'elop^-

the Christian's model in these days of sensuality, again to St. Joseph with the carpenter's plane in his hand as their, model in those days of materialism; finally to St; Joseph as -pattern of a robust, unfaltering faith in those days of infidelity, the preacher concluded a' moving appeal, full of- fire, full of pathos, and emotion, to be generous in their donations that night:--he - - cc ° ilec^ ons during the day amounted to over £800, cash and promises. The total cash in hand for the work amount's to nearly £3000. ' •-• < —