The Redemptorist Fathers' New Church, Wellington

New Zealand Tablet, 19 November 1908, Page 15

The Redemptorist Fathers' New Church, Wellington

The Redemptorist Missioners, who have been doing great work for souls in the Dominion, are now about to open a new Church, and are appealing to their friends for financial aid to liquidate their heavy debt. Those who wish to aid them may send their subscriptions to the Father Superior, Mount St. Gerard, Oriental Bay, Wellington. The following is the copy of the appeal :—: — We, the Redemptorist Fathers, take the liberty of sending you the following statement and appeal in connection with our new Church at Mount St. Gerard, Oriental Bay, Wellington. Since our arrival in New Zealand, some four years ago, to labor for the people of the Dominion, we have striven hard to pay off the initial debt incurred in securing a permanent home at Oriental Bay, Wellington. The house, though in a good state of preservation, had to be altered and enlarged in order to accommodate the community, whilst we were forced to hold all the religious services in. two of the rooms. The inconvenience of this became so great that, notwithstanding our lack of funds, and the already heavy debt incurred in the purchase of the property, we ventured, with the sanction and encouragement of his Grace Archbishop Redwood, S.M., to erect a new Church, placing our confidence in the good Providence of God and on the generosity and charity of the people for whom we labor. As the special nature of our work prevents us from taking any parochial charge, we have no parishioners to whom we might appeal or who would share the burden of debt with us. Therefore, we reluctantly make our first public appeal to friends, benefactors, and tht charitably-disposed to enable us to pay off the ;£6ooo debt which we have been compelled to take on ourselves, without having any private resources whatever to draw *on. The many tokens of sympathy and kind appreciation that we have received in the past, both from the clergy, secular and regular, and from the laity in and outside the Dominion, make us hopeful that the response will be a generous one. The new Church will be solemnly blessed and opened on Sunday, 22nd November, 1908, at 10.30 a.m., by his Grace Archbishop Redwood, S.M. Should you be unable to be present at the ceremony, any offering you may wish to make will be gratefully received by any of the Redemptorist Fathers, and your name will be inscribed on the list of our honored benefactors. Yours faithfully, PATRICK J. CLUNE, C.SS.R., Superior. His Grace the Archbishop of Wellington will perform the ceremony o fblessing and'opening the Church, and will also preach the occasional sermon. His x-ordship Bishop Grimes will pontificate at High Mass, and preach in the evening.