COMMONWEALTH NOTES

New Zealand Tablet, 29 May 1919, Page 30

COMMONWEALTH NOTES

“Mil .. j> ino at u —-■ ■ i i<p -i - ! ■ •“> ut OCI.V. ?. sw *>.)<> • NEW SOUTH WARES. v/ ”, r If proof were .needed of the extraordinary unselfishness; bravery, and devotion to ' duty fof the, Catholic clergy and nuns, 'it has been supplied in abundance by events that have transpired during ; the ; grim . battle against the relentless pneumonic-influenza scourge (says the Catholic Press). Every cloud has Its silver lining, and tragic though the experience of the community has been during the past ‘few weeks -the! blackness of .the situation has , been relieved /to a . vast extent by . the inspiring and heroic deeds of the Catholic clergy and nuns, who unhesitatingly braved the dangers rof the hospitals and the stricken homes in the, performance of their sacred mission. There has been no more tireless and zealous worker among the .clergy during the epidemic than the Right Rev. Mgr. OTlaran. .In a fine spirit of unselfishness and devotion to duty, he has relegated to himself the task of attending all the pneumonic-influenza patients in the St. Vincent’s Hospital, Darlinghurst. He will not allow his curates to share the great risks attached to this noble work, and, in consequence, he is arduously engaged from dawn, to dusk. And it is the same in all the,! parishes. The clergy and nurif‘ are - performing their great , work of charity without ever giving a ‘ thought to themselves. As a consequence many of them have contracted the disease, and several have forfeited their lives. Glowing tributes to the' heroic work being done by the Sisters of Charity in Paddington, in connection with the epidemic were paid at a meeting of the local Municipal Council on Monday evening, May 5. The health officer’s report stated that 12 Sisters of Charity —six from the Sacred Heart Hospice for the Dying, four from St. Vincent’s Hospital, and two from Mount St. Patrick’s Convent, Paddingtonhad rendered valuable assistance to the sick in Paddington. They attended in their homes 231 patients, and not one death occurred. In one case the whole household was affected, and the Sister, before starting to do the washing,, had to chop the firewood herself. Besides nursing, the Sisters did. the washing! and-scrubbing in other houses. They also spent their own money on medicines, invalid food, and clothing. On - the resolution of Alderman J. J. McDonnell, the thanks of the citizens were tendered the Sisters for their noble and self-sacrificing efforts on behalf of the sick poor.- The Nursing Sisters of the Little Company of Mary, Lewisham, and the Sisters of the Mater Misericordiae Hospital, North Sydney, have also been performing invaluable work. Large numbers of patients have been nursed back to health, and the percentage of fatal cases has been very low indeed. At Lewisham 'Hospital many of the nuns have become infected in the performance of their noble duty and. already two ;of them—-Sister Isidore and Sister Gregoryhave died of the disease. The Sisters of St. Joseph at Auburn, too, have been performing excellent work in the . fight against the epidemic. To date, 13 members of their community have contracted the disease in the performance of their duty. ... ! r •!

, On, Sunday, May : 4, Sister Gregory, another', of the heroic Nursing , Sisters of ;. the , .Little Company -of Mary, Lewisham, died from pneumonic-influenza as a result of her attendance upon patients suffering: from the disease, She had been attached to the Lewisham Hospital - for .16 years, , and during , that . time performed invaluable work there. ~ She was greatly beloved and admired by the Other nuns in - the institution, As, well as by all who came into contact with her. Her death will,; indeed, be a great loss to r the. Lewisham Hospital. -inonThe Catholic authorities at :Goulbum>have.;offered the use of St. Patrick’s - School-hall ,as: an emergency hospital; in connection with the influenza epidemic, .and the Sisters of Mercy have offered to ■ act as nurses, ; or. to give their services in any j other capacity .« that may v .be helpful. sbni i-Rhibil niici/übdi /noinsdfi-js.

On > Monday ' evening, May 5, Father Charles Loughlin Murphy, of SS. Peter and Paul's Cathedral, Goulburn, who. had previously been attending influenza

/, .• X ' . .» W i‘2 V- S* *Q Si ■•■■• ■ patients,died of the ■ disease. He was ordained At Car* low in 1911, and before going to Goulburn was stationed at Young, /Gundagai, Wagga. He was 38 years of age. ■ hrp To -r. 6d:? lo ono miol,- ii/1

m The Hon. John Meagher, M:L.C., <K,C.S.(J?) has added another to his generous gifts to St. Joseph's Mount, ‘Bathurst/ and the Catholic Church in -general. Father Cooney announced at SS. Michael and : John’s Cathedral, Bathurst, recently, that as a s result of the recent bazaar in aid of the chapel fund, at the Mount, £334 * was raised, and a cheque ; for the balance of the debt of about £SOO, • had (been received ’from t ,: Mr, Meagher/- nori'i .“-4 «,&;■; mimci xq v i?rf beirmifd yino odi VICTORIA. Lv>^ uvs '-^ His . Grace the Archbishop of Melbourne, the Most Rev. . Dr. Mannix, . has .arranged for,, and",'will preside at, .. a winter series of . lectures, to non-Catholics, to be held in the Cathedral Hall. The subject of,. the series for this year is “The system 'of the. Church.”‘ Owing to the prevailing influenza epidemic no . date can be fixed, j for ~ the opening. The following is the list of lectures and lecturers in consecutive order:—The Infallibility of , the Church and, her teaching power,” Rev. J, : Sullivan, S.J. ; “The Infallibility of the Pope,” Rev. J. Sullivan, S.J. ; “The Hierarchy and Priesthood,” Rev. J. P. O’Connell; “Legislative power yof the Church,” Rev. F. A. Merrier ; “Sacramental power of. the Church,” Rev. C.. Hartnett, , S.J. ; V “Catholic Marriage,” Rev. D. Reidy; ‘‘Galileo,” Rev, E. Boyan, S.J.; ( “The Inquisition,”; Rev. P. Dwyer, - S.J. ; ‘‘Religious Orders .of Men,” Rev. W. Collins, D.D.; ‘‘Religious , Orders of Women,”. Rev. W. J. Lockington, S.J.; “Catholic Tolerance,” Rev. P. A Vaughan; “Opposition to : the . Church,” Rev. E. Boylan, S.J. ; ‘‘The. English Schism,” Rev. A. Power, S.J. ; “The Heart ,of, Christ,” Rev. W. J. Lockington, S.J. '

-At High Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne, on Easter Sunday the, occasional sermon was preached by Archbishop Man nix, who said that they had been told •by those who were in close touch with the countries where the war had raged that there was a great ; revival of religion. * - Religion that was merely stimulated into activity by the horrors of war was not a religion f that was deeply planted in the hearts of the people, and it was not a religion that was going to stay. Later the people would say. that; the revival had very little foundation' and that: the lands and nations that were irreligious before were irreligious still. The pessimists' to-day who could see nothing good in the Catholic Church were like the Scribes and Pharisees, who could see nothing good- in Christ. n It was these people who said that the Catholic - Church was bound to go down. Christ Himself, r foretold in .words that could, not be misunderstood that the world. would always hate His Church and persecute His - followers. What wonder, therefore, was it that the predictions of Christ Himself should be fulfilled ! ‘/They had been fulfilled in every age and to the last letter. The fact that Christ’s Church was persecuted and, its • followers calumniated /was , one of the best proofs that the Catholic Church was the Church -of Christ. Other denominations no doubt were sometimes hated and detested for a- time because of special circumstances, but the .circumstances and hate -'passed away. The sects and denominations outside the Catholic ’Church* were in the strict and full sense in the world, and essentially, the world had no quarrel with them. . The . Catholic 3 /Church had outlived the Reformation. . Cromwell had tried to trample the faith out of the Irish people, but /the, Church in Ireland increased -in strength and it was never stronger and never - more powerful than it was to-day, /' ’ : ' / / /'/ / J