Early Days of the" Church.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 49, 5 December 1907, Page 12

Early Days of the" Church.

Bishop Pompallier, accompanied by Father O'Reilly, went to Nelson in ,1844, and administered the Sacraments to the Catholics in private houses, and on several later occasions Father O'Reilly visi-jbed. the faithful in . that locality. The first resident'" pjriest of the district was the Rev. 'Father Antoine Garin, S.M., who was born at -St. Ramtoert, in Bugey, France, in 1810. He was gifted with a nature happy and active, was an intrepid missionary, .and had an acquaintance with many of the useful sciences. Arriving in New Zealand in 1841, he labored first of all among the natives at the Bay of Plenty. . When inter-tribal war broke out he . went on the field- of battle .to bring words of peace to the chiefs and to help the woundedr At the call of Bishop Viard,. in April, 1850, he went to Nelson, where out of a population of about 5000 only 250 were Catholics. With .undaunted* courage he faced' the arduous task before him. Hesitation was foreign to his nature, and with sheer . persistent effort everything he undertook was brought to a successful issuer From a" cutting of an old newspaper, dated July 24, 1857, lam -- enabled ' to take the following interesting particulars of the first church openings in the province :— ' The ceremonies of .the dedication " of St. Mary's Church Nelson, and the blessing of St. Peter and Paul's Church, Waimea- West, took place, for the former on Sunday, June 28, and for the latter on the Monday following, June 29, the feast day of SS. Peter ■ and Paul, 1857. The approach of these ceremonies " had been for the Catholics of the " province and their -friends a subject of great joy and ' Theweather for some time preceding had been most unpropitious, but all who could possibly attend were not . prevented from partaking of the common and spiritual blessings. Since the establishment of the settlement of Nelson in 1841, the Catholics ,of the province ha,d been without the means of erecting churches, in their respective districts. Trusty funds, indeed, had, been set aside in accordance with the agreement made by the New Zealand Company with the originaMa-nd purchasers, for religious purposes in favor of all 'denominations, ihe Catholics received T share ;' a part had been usedlor securing a dwelling house for the Catholic priest who had been sent by his Lordship Dr., Viard, the Bi^ shop of Wellington, to be the rector of the Catholic station in Nelson. It was only -in July, 1853, that 'S J?970 lnstal ™ ent from these- funds; which amounted to £279-, was handed,- to the Catholics. During five - years the Rev Father Garin, the priest appointed for that piovmce, had been obliged to say Mass in private ' houses in the country districts, and in a temporary little chapel erected- by the subscriptions of the Catholics and their friends in Nelson. Now ■ that they th^VoV P° ss f es f ion ° f other means, they contemplated wllf^-^, Bew churches-the one for the Waimea West district in the country, and the other in the town of Nelson. The sum alluded to was divided:£79 were handed, to- the Catholics of /the country and %nn L TV - con * ri t>utions they raised that sum to£?nn ™» a S - lmp l e ' plain ' but neat clvurch - The hetZr £5 appropriated for Nelson, which required a. ™wSf * nd ml arger bulldln g>' being the township of the ' £™ cc -, This s«m. also, by the exertions of the Catholics and their friends, increased to £540, with ' which " they have erected in a Gothic but simple style a church - thJ^i a E L COn £ ldered ? ne of the handsomest churches in shiD-5? in.X W £ S> ?? e £ r S . unda y last that his Lord'WellinitnJfrfr ? f iw Catholic Bisho P ™ho had come from • Wellington for that purpose, assisted foy the Rev.. Father Garm and l Moreau, dedicated the Nelson church which S c P a i a ad d 4 nd M ' th f P n \ trona S e of -the Blessed ' vfrgn, Sfo fit £ \ Xy A, S Church - • • After a Missa Canl tata the Bishop addressed the congregation, and with Si d£'TJ anCe ° f - tbe subje^ from evSy iSrf Sso 3lmLt?£^ SS TST S «° f l6ve > faith ' and aspect He also administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to a the „W^ er h ° h r ad been pre P a^ d to^ceive it On FathS Gart 7f7 f bis f . Lordsh JP sta^ed with the Rev fpJJt «r +? i°i t ? e countr 7. and the next day, the the he wv\ Ap ° Stle f SS ' Peter and Paul, blessed " the church,- which was placed under the patronage of the two saints whose festival it was. . . The faithful entered into all the ceremonies with, the same fee fngso Had not Z et L,f- th f ir fr - iendS had done to WsoS! St?. / I? 16 . Cont « l««ll ««l rain which fell at, that time placed a (barrier between the two districts both 4hTt^T^/H Ot + haV yev c been able t0 contain 'an those had intended to be present. Collections ' were made, at Nelson and Waimea on those occasions and The°RPv F?tw * hh \ usual readiness and liberalfty The Rev. Father Garm has much pleasure in recording

that *the Catholics of the province of Nelson have always come forward with generosity, whenever they are caned, upon; in fact, they have for ten', years been continually subscribing and collecting- for' the establishing;': juid improving the Catholic station- with .its churches ; w fOT 01 * 1^ t^ir Pastor and their - schools by volun- • ment * ' S not allowed an y aid the GovernFather Garin's Earlier Efiorts. ' anJ^fVi? f he SS r?r ?S tion of ac q«i'ring, with the assistance of the few Catholic residents, a plot of land and a house for a presbytery, and to this site 1 was removed «+??"£ M? apel lch , had Previously been built.' This little building met all requirements, pending the erection ot the more permanent and worthy edifice indicated abTu'aa als P ' built a school for, boys, and afterwards 5 ??* an 1 0ther for Sills, which later on was transformeel into a large convent, when on February 9, 1871, the tasters of_ the Missions arrived- and 'took charge,- at ih e ■ later ai^t!? f Y e » erable Pas^. Again, a few years later, Father Garin opened a boarding school for boys 1 upon which he grounded great hopes for the future. AmwSSri Ltl' &U?& U ?l ls T as His Grace Archbishop, RedJk + * to . Fatter we may be in a Measure indebted for having our talented and beloved Archbishop His was the keen perception first to detect the inherent .qualities of the youth, and his counsel being followed, the .result has been amply justified; His primary educasSSSr r UD ,' er the gentle, fostering care of the saintly Father Garin, of whom his Grace ever speaks in the most appreciative, grateful and affectionate manner. Many years after it is related, this aged, and enfeebled priest, upon receiving -the news of Dr. Redwood's appointment to the Wellington diocese, raising his hand towards Heaven and exclaimed : ' Thanks te to God " mv boy is coming out to be my master.' - ' , ii Jjiduring hardships and privations untold, and with* an tne. demands upon his time and energy with -'the expansion of settlement, this intrepid missionary' without hesitation visited . the faithful scattered, over a large district. When the search for gold commenced in 1863 he extended his journeyings to minister to the miners in 2?rV7 e J <*»?&*& seene -of action. At Collingwood, it is related, only fire .families could be faithful to their church In 1875 he received at Nelson his old puJva ir ? lg ReV ' Dr - Redw °od, now become Bishop of Wellington ;; and in 1889 he passed to his "eternal reward His death was felt by all classes' of the-commu-nity to be^a public calamity, but a remembrance of his good deeds and well-spent life will be long remembered. -Few if any other parts of New Zealand have such an interesting though comparatively peaceful early history as Nelson, which probaljly earned for it that reputation of somnolence that time has failed to efface. Here probably, the- alluring, search for gold, which ever since has proved such a potent factor in' the building up of the wealth of the Dominion, saw its rise. Quotiiie an authority on the subject, we find the ffirsf efforts of the early, settlers were m the' cultivation of -the soil, but the discovery of mineral wealth turned their- attention in that direction. As early as 1852 a company was formed i irk^\ at- Nelson, but it was not until 1856 that discoveries of any importance were made In that year an unsuccessful, effort to work the capper finds in .the Dun Mountains was made. In the same year a ™n°S ° f K g + Ol^ at Motu( * a caused a rush of abput •300 there, .but it soon' worked out. In the year following gold was discovered at • Collingwood, and 1000 diggers flocked to the field, but here too .the- field did not prove permanent. • ■ • * ° 0./n 18 £ 9 M £ R ? ch !? rt £ound gold inthe Buller River, w ? I*. °n HaaS i the cx P lore . r > coal in tfievall i!Z»l G rey. # Towards the end of 1863 splendid specimens of the precious metal were obtained at the Lyell • the inevitable rush set in s and in a few months 10 OOOoz pliSSl Trth o^ t + the Bu^ ler distri °t- No roads 'i e ! tir ll ln ,; tno^ da y s between Canterbury and Westland the West Coast trade passed through Ne?son rateing the town to an important commercial centre This monopoly of trade and " prosperity naturally cavp'risetn considerable jealousy, which was s appeased by the Pro vmcial Council of Canterbury canst?uctrng Troad o^e?" the ranges at the head of the Bealey. l/the trouWous times in the North Island, at out 1860, caused by the -outbreak of wu withthe natives, safety was sought in Nelson by many refugees, and here they were received with every imdness by the settlers. Although the forgoing is somewhat of a digression, the few partfcula™ given. outside the subject will prove if wlBS^ in 7jT*^t tv ? ° f Oth i er laces> notabl 3 r the w est Coast and the zealous work- of the pioneer Catholic Mission! Aries m that, at that time, almost inaccessible regioi (To be continued.)