DIOCESE OF AUCKLAND

New Zealand Tablet, 21 August 1913, Page 27

DIOCESE OF AUCKLAND

(By telegraph, from an occasional correspondent.) August 18. One of the features of the ceremonies in St. Patrick’s Cathedral on the evening of the Feast of the Assumption was the blessing of 'a statue of our Lady of Lourdes. The statue, which is life-size, is the generous gift of one of the best-known and most popular of Auckland Catholics and a familiar figure at St. Patrick’s Mr. M. J. Sheahan. The time of presentation and the present itself were most appropriate, and the statue, which stands over our Lady’s altar, is a living testimony to the good taste of the importer, Mr. T. Holbrook, the Catholic Depot, Auckland, and to the devotion and generosity of the popular and pious donor. (By telegraph, from our own correspondent.) August 18. Rev. Father Clarke has written to Father Ormond from Papete, stating that he expects to arrive in Auckland on August 22. Rev. Father O’Doherty, who is loved not only in the Cathedral parish but beyond its confines, celebrated on August 15 the second anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. He was educated in Sligo, .Maynooth, and Paris, and two years ago was ordained by his Lordship the Bishop of Galway in the City of the Tribes. On Friday night the Rev. Fathers Brennan and O’Malley, and the ladies of the parish entertained him in St. Patrick’s Convent School, where the Guard of Honor, whose spiritual director he is, presented him with a valuable surplice and the following address: ‘ Rev. and Dear Father, —On this the anniversary of your ordination we have a doubly pleasant duty to perform—to wish you every happiness and many many happy returns of the day, and to thank you for all the care and interest you have lavished on us while

you have been the director of our society; That you may be spared for many long years to guide us is the earnest wish of the Guard of Honor.’ A novena in preparation for the Feast of the Assumption was held at St. Benedict’s. Every afternoon the children were prepared and instructed, and Benediction followed. On the morning of the feast 400 children, of whom 110 made their First Communion, attended the 8 o’clock Mass, which was celebrated by the Right Rev. Mgr. Gillan, V.G. After Mass the children adjourned to St. Benedict’s Hall, where breakfast was provided by the Sisters of St. Joseph and the Children of Mary. They afterwards attended 10 o’clock Mass, of which Rev. Father Brennan, of Te Kuiti, was celebrant, Monsignor Gillan, V.G., and Father Forde being deacon and subdeacon respectively. Monsignor Gillan briefly addressed the children, and impressed upon them the great importance of that day, one which they would ever remember in after life. In the evening the children renewed their consecration to the Blessed Virgin. Monsignor Gillan preached a most instructive sermon. Our Lady’s altar was very tastefully decorated. The devotion of the Forty Hours’ Adoration commenced on Sunday, and was continued night and day without interruption. Adoration was maintained throughout the night from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. bv the men of the sacred Heart sodality and the St. Vincent de Paul Society, and during the day by the ladies of the Sacred Heart sodality and St. Vincent de Paul Society. On Sunday evening Rev. Father Brennan preached" and on Monday evening Monsignor Gillan preached, and announced that the offertory collection would be given to the St, Vincent de Paul Society. The devotion concluded at the 10 o’clock Mass on Tuesday. A feature of the devotion was the artistic manner in which the high altar was decorated by the Sisters of St. Joseph. In the report of the entertainment lately given to the children of St. Benedict’s parish there was a mistake. It was Miss A. Graydon and her assistants from Grey Lynn, ably backed by Rev. Father Forde, who provided the whole entertainment, the result of which was that a handsome sum was netted for the bazaar fund.