Diocesan News

New Zealand Tablet, 20 May 1915, Page 25

Diocesan News

ARCHDiOCESE^ OF \VELLINGTON i i (From our own correspondent.) • :: '-.~"" ; ""■''. " ' V.' ' '."■■■--" '' . May 15. . _ : Mr. R.. A. Keenan, of the Agricultural Department j \ Head Office staff, has been appointed. District Agent of the Department at Napier. - : • . ' : On retiring from the presidency of the Wellington Rugby League, after four years in the position, Mr. M. J. Reardon was elected the first honorary life member of the League. . „-■;';■;. jr" . •Reference was made at all the churches on Sunday to the Lusitama disaster and the New Zealand troops fighting in the Dardanelles, and the souls of the victims commended to the faithful for- remembrance in their prayers. . Mother Mary Joseph Aubert is still in Rome. Writing to the Sisters at the Home of Compassion in Wellington, she says that she does not see much chance of leaving Italy at present. Mother Aubert, who will be 80 years of age next month, has been busy nursing the victims of the Avezzano earthquake. There was a very large attendance at St. Patrick's Hall, Boulcott street, on Tuesday evening, when St. Mary's Debating Society held its first meeting of the season. The election of officers resulted in the appointment of Mr. Reichel to the chairmanship, and Mr. Grant as secretary. Messrs. M. Walsh and R. Oakley were appointed to the committee. At the last Mass at the Sacred Heart Church, Hill street, on Sunday, the Very Rev. Dean Regnault, S.M., Adm., made particular reference to the recent engagement in which New Zealanders had taken part. In all the countries of the Old Land, he said, the churches had been and still are thronged with parents and relatives and friends of those at the front, praying for their success in arms and for the repose of the souls of those who had fallen in the fight. One had to come to Wellington, the capital of a great Dominion, to find something approaching complete indifference on the' subject. These men, the pick of the youth of New Zealand, were fighting for their Empire, for their own country, for their mothers and sistersfor all of us—and the least we could do was to invoke the aid of Almighty God in a war which was being waged against a relentless enemy. At the evening devotions special prayers were offered on behalf of those who had lost their lives in the Lusitania disaster, and for those who had fallen in the Dardanelles operations.

--..;.; Mr. ._-: E. W. Gibbs, a well-known and popular parishioner of Thorndon, has the distinction of ; having been a travelling representative of one firm for over" fifty years, •' and the directors and -staff ,' of I this firm, Messrs. E. W. Mills; and Co., met at the warehouse"; in Jervois quay a few evenings ago for the purpose of honoring the veteran employee; y * The directorate .was representated by Messrs. A. Anderson, W. J. Napier, J. F. Mills, and Captain Gray; and the shareholders by Mr. Martin Kennedy. The manager, Mr, C. A. Briggs, presided, and felicitated Mr. Gibbs upon his long and excellent services. The company, as a recognition of the occasion, had, he said, decided to give Mr. Gibbs leave of absence for six months with full pay, and' he also presented him with an inscribed gold watch. On behalf of the staff, he handed Mr. Gibbs a sub-stantial-leather trunk, a travelling rug, and a deck chair. Then Mr. J. F. Mills, on behalf of the staff, presented the guest with an oak salver, mounted with silver, for Mrs. Gibbs, and a pair of silver photograph frames for Miss Gibbs. Mr. Mills spoke in the warmest terms of the relations which existed between the firm, the staff, and Mr. Gibbs. The guest expressed the gratitude and pleasure the occasion afforded him, and in the course of his remarks gave an interesting sketch of the conditions under which commercial men had to work in the early days. Mr. Gibbs intends to go to England. On last Sunday evening a new'set of Stations of the Cross was solemnly blessed, and erected in St. Joseph's Church, Buckle street, by the Rev. Father Hurley, S.M., Adm. The pictures are of considerable artistic merit, exceedingly devotional, and are handsomely framed in oak. Each Station has been donated by members of the. parish as a memorial of deceased relatives, and the following names are inscribed on the tablets: Mary Catherine Carruthers, Grace O'Sullivan, Judith Hugo Burke, Henry Sullivan, Amy McCarthy, Ellen O'Leary and Esther Fitzgerald, Edward and Veronica Murphy, relatives of Mr. and Mrs. T. P. Lyons, deceased members of Altar Society, Children of Mary, and Sacred Heart Society; Elizabeth Quinlivan, Margaret Burke, relatives of Mr. and Mrs. L. Wilson; relatives of Mrs. H. Sullivan, William and Mary Attridge, and James Boyce. His Grace Archbishop O'Shea was "present in the sanctuary, and the Rev. Father Kimbell, S.M., delivered a very eloquent sermon on the reasons and object of the devotion of the Way of the Cross. After the sermon the choir, under the conductorship of Mr. Bernard Page, sang a portion of the oratorio, ' The Seven Last Words.' - On Ascension Thursday evening the Tasman street school boys' choir gave a sacred concert in Si. Joseph's Church. A very large congregation was present, and

prior to Benediction, his: Grace Archbishop O'Shea addressed the choir, and congratulated them and their teachers on the very choice ; and i; well \ rendered programme. The Rev. Brother Fidelis conducted the choir, and Master G. : O'Meegan presided at the organ. On last Wednesday the Ladies' Club, of Wellington South, held a most successful social in St. Anne's Hall. There was a large attendance. Great credit is due to the committee responsible for its success, and especially to the energetic secretary, Miss V. Heavey. The many friends of Mr. IT. W. L. Hawke, of the Commercial Insurance Company, and of St. Anne's parish, Wellington South, will regret to learn of the death of his wife, which occurred on Friday after a long illness, borne with Christian resignation and. patience. She died fortified by all the rites of the Church. The interment, which was private, took place this morning, at Karori. The Rev. Father Peoples, S.M., attended the deceased lady in her illness.—R.l.P. On last Friday evening, at the Burlington tea rooms, the members of the Sacred Heart branch of the Hibernian Society, Thorndon, and members of other city branches, assembled in full force to bid farewell to Bro. Maurice J. McGahey, past president and treasurer of the branch, who has been transferred to Christchurch. Bro. V. D. ILoskins, district deputy, presided, and explained that at very short notice the promoters of the gathering decided not to let Bro. McGahey leave Wellington without expressing their appreciation of the excellent work which ho had done for the Hibernian Society and Catholic organisations here. Bro. McGahey, he explained, had been connected with the Thorndon branch since its establishment, and had filled almost every office in it with conspicuous ability, and at the present time occupied the responsible position of treasurer. Bro. McGahey was a staunch Catholic, and any organisation which had for its object the advancement of the Church had his support. He was an energetic member of the Thorndon Catholic School committee, of which he was secretary. He was also a keen Catholic Federationist, being a member of the Thorndon parish committee, and represented the Thorndon branch on the Council of the Wellington District H.A.C.B. Society, no was not only prominent in all Catholic undertakings, but also proved himself an efficient officer of the Customs Department, and that was the reason why the head of his Department had selected him for a far more responsible position in Christchurch. On behalf of his many friends, therefore, he wished both Bro. and Mrs. McGahey every success in their new home, and asked Bro. McGahey to accept, as a slight token of their esteem, a past president's collar suitably inscribed, and also asked Mrs. McGahev, who was present, to accept a silver cake basket, as a memento of her husband's association with the local branch of the Hibernian Society. Bro. Burke and others supplemented the chairman's remarks. Bro. McGahey briefly responded on behalf of himself and his wife. Words failed him, he said, to express his feelings of gratitude to the members of the society for their kindness, and for the eulogistic references made to himself, which were wholly undeserved. He came to Wellington as a stranger, but soon found many friends when he entered' the ranks of the Hibernian Society. He took no credit for any work which he had done. Enthusiasm was catching, and he therefore could not but help to emulate the example set by the leaders of Hiberniaism in this city. He would always treasure the collar with which he was presented, and his wife the beautiful present they had given her. The toast of J Bro. and Mrs. McGahey was then enthusiastically • honored. The other toasts proposed were: ' The Pope and King ' ; The Hibernian Society,' Bros. G. J. Sellars and J. P. McGowan ; Catholic Federation,' Bros. M. Walsh and H. McKeowen; 'Kindred Societies,' Bros. Smyth, F. K. Reeves, and Leo Blake; 'The Sacred Heart Branch,' Bros. J. J." L. Burke and J. A. Humphrey; ' The Ladies,' and ' The Chairman.' Musical items were rendered by Messrs. G. Ley don, Oakley, McKeowen, Whitaker, F. K. Reeves, Laurenson, and T. Murphy.