EXTENSION OF ST. FRANCIS XAVEER'S CATHEDRAL. - Adelaide - SA - Australia - News Article Locations on Waymarking.com

EXTENSION OF ST. FRANCIS
XAVEER'S CATHEDRAL.
Since 1840, when the first Roman Catholic
clergyman arrived in the colony, the number
of adherents of the Church has steadily
increased, and perhaps no better illustration
of the numerical strength the body has
attained could be given than the scene
witnessed on Sunday afternoon, November 7,
on the occasion of the laying of the foundation-stone
of the extension of St. Francis
Xavier's Cathedral Shortly after 3 o'clock
several hundred" persons were present to
witness the ceremony, which was inaugurated
by the formation of a procession in the
Church, composed of the Roman Catholic
Bishop of Adelaide (the Rev. C. A. Reynolds,
B.D.), the Vicar-General (Archdeacon Russell),
and the leading clergymen of the body,
acolytes, choristers, &c. The Bishop was
arrayed in the gorgeous robes of his
sacred office,, and as the procession
left the Church and wended its way
to the eastern side of the edifice
the scene was an impressive one. The choir
chanted the liturgy of the Blessed Virgin.
On arriving at the stone Dr, Reynolds was
met by
Mr. A. A Fox, M.P., who presented to the
Bishop a handsome trowel made of Silverton
silver with aBurra malachite handle, chastely
worked, and containing the following inscription:—"Presented
to the Right Rev
C. A. Reynolds, D.D., Bishop of Adelaide
by the Building Committee on the occasion
of his laying the foundation-stone of the
enlargement of St. Francis Xavier's Cathedral,
being the fourteenth anniversary of his consecration
to the See of Adelaide. November
7, 1886."
The BISHOP said—My dearest friend, I
accept with no ordinary degree of pleasure
this instrument, which I am to use in laying
the corner-stone of the extension of our
Cathedral Church. It is indeed a source of
great pleasure to me to be engaged in a work
so auspicious as this on the anniversary of
my consecration. Please say to the gentlemen
who deputed you to present to me this
trowel that I shall preserve it with the
greatest regard all the days of my life, and I
shall take measures to have it placed in the
archives of the diocese as a testimony to my
successors of the devotion of the Building
Committee of this Church. I earnestly pray
that God's blessing may be upon you, and on
this occasion I cannot but repeat the words
of my oredecessor, that when Bishop, priests,
and people are united there is no such word
as impossible. I have no words to express
my sense of gratitude to you for your kindly
remarks.
The usual ceremony for the laying of
a foundation-stone was then proceeded with.
The Litanies and Psalms S3, 86, 126, aud 50
were chanted, and Dr. Reynolds marked with
the sign of the Cross all sides of the stone
and solemnly bleEsed it, concluding, " I declare
this stone duly laid in the name of the
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost."
A document containing iniormation regarding
the ceremony was placed in a bottle under
the stone, as well as a medal of the reigning
Pontiff, current coins, and a historical sketch
of the Church in the colony, and copieB of the
Adelaide daily newspapers and the Cat/tolic
Monthly. The document was as follows :—
"To the Great and Omnipotent God.—
This first stone of the extension of the
Cathedral of St. Francis Xavier was
solemnly blessed and laid by Christopher
Augustine Bishop of Adelaide on the 7th of
the Ides of November, the 14th anniversary
of his consecration, the year of our Lord,
1886, being the ninth vear of the Pontificate
of our Most Holy Father Leo XIH., by
Divine Providence Pope, the jubilee year
of our Most Gracious Majesty Victoria I.,
Queen of Great Britain and Ireland and of
these dependencies, her vice-regent being W.
C. F. Robinson, Kt., in the presence of a
great multitude of the faithful in Christ. O
sacred heart of Jesus, bless and direct this
work and bring to a happy conclusion that
which we have begun in Thy name." There
were attached the Archbishop's name, and
the names of members of Buildiog Committee.
The BISHOP, in the course of an eloquent
sermon, said that it waB not requisite to God
that they should erect a temple for His
worship, but it was necessary to themselves
that they should make a sacrifice in His
name. He then stated that the Church in
the colony was young in years, not yet having
attained its j ubilee, but young as it was it had
a history. God forbid that on so auspicious
and joyous an occasion he should allude to
anything that would hurt the feelings or
cause pain to any one, but he thought it right
to trace the career of the Church. In was in
1839 when the voice of Christ reached the
Venerable Apostolic Vicar of New Holland,
John Bede Holding, telling him that nearly
500 Christians of the Church were in the
colony with none to break to them the bread of
life. They said that they had no one except a
layman to assist them when they were dying,
and they had none to baptise their children
or solemnize and bless their marriages. They
prayed him to send them a priest, as many of
them were simply married by the civil Registrar.
i hey wanted their unions blessed and
accorded the sacred rites of the Church. The
Apostolic Vicar heard the voice, and sent his
own Vicar-General, afterwards ruling the
See of Birmingham, Dr. Ellortham, to take
charge of the Church in the new land.
He came and presented his credentials to the
then Governor, but was told that he
would not be received because he was a
Papist priest. The then Governor, however,
little knew the man he had to deal with.
He was a legalized officer of the Crown, for
be was sent out by William IV. to report on
the scandalous persecutions of a previous
Governor of New South Wales. He demanded
an audience, got it, and told the
Governor his duty, and that he had a right
to receive him as an official of the Crown.
The Commissioner of the day refused him a
schoolroom (although it was unoccupied on
that Sundayand had been given to every
other denomination) because he was the
representative of the Pope of Rome. To his
credit then came forward a Mr. Neale, an
honest, liberal Protestant gentlemen, who,
disgusted at the narrowminded individual,
said if some members of the Church would
stack up his crockery ware, theyconli have
the use of his store, which would accommodate
200 people. In that store divine worship
was held. It was now a bakehouse, but that
store would linger in the memory of every
Catholic in the Diocese as the first place
where worship in accordance with the Holy
Church was first held. The Apostolic Vicar
worked hard, and shortly afterwards the
Rev. Father Trenton came from Tasmania.
Fatner Colton, of Sydney, was the next to
vieit tbe colony and went to Mount Barker,
where he baptised ten children. Subsequently,
Dr. Bonney, tbe first Bisbop ol
Perth, paid a visit to Adelaide on his way to
take charge of his diocese. In 1842, Father
William Benson was sent to take care of the
young. He was followed by the first Bishop,
who held service in the old brewery in Piriestreet,
which was then known as Welsh's
More. That store had long since passed
out of their hands, as it was only
leased, and it was occupied for & very diiferent
purpose at the present time. Subsequently
a site on West-terrace was secured,
ana St. Patrick's Schoolroom was erected.
It served a double purpose, being used as a
schoolhouse during the week and a Church
Oil Sunday. A few months previously the
Bishop had laid the foundation-stone of the
first Church in the colony, the mother
Church of the diocese, St Mary's, at
Morphett Vale. The Church there went on.
It had many struggles and much to contend
with, but there was great room for praise
throughout it all. When the gold mines
were discovered in Victoria and the colony
was almost depopulated, it was a crucial
time for the Church, but the people returned
to the colony, and the first use they made of
their money was to erect a Church, and that
site was secured by Dr. Backhouse, acting on
behalf of the Bishop. At that time Mr. Leigh,
the great benefactor of the Diocese, became a
Catholic. He had always considered it his
first duty to give a tithe of his possessions to
God, and when he bgcame a Catholic he
gave the plans of a Church which he had
intended for a Protectant edifice. He al«o
•gave £2,000, £1,000 of which allowed of the
completion of the Chinch at West-terrace
and the remainder of the Episcopal residence.
It was fonnd tkat the plans of the
Church were unsuitable for the foundations,
and the late Edward John Peake was commissioned
to obtain an architect in Eaeland
to-draw up pUins of abaiWin S that would be
suitable to the founaaiicr s ; hence the small
size 9f the Catholic Cathedral of Adelaide
\et it was a great undertaking for the
T l f y ^amiIiar with the
history of the Church in Adelaide
since then, and the work that had
been done since hig consecration fourteen
years ago He did not want to say anything
that would sound like self-glorification, but
the work had been hard and much had been
accomplished. When it had been decided
to extend the Cathedral to meet the call for
room in the building, a meeting was held and
offerings were asked for. That appeal wa 8
nobly responded to, no less than £2,500 beini
received in cash and promises. He again
appealed to them to lay their offerings on the
stone. He knew tkeir generosity, and was
wuteson* tkat if the building was not opened
free of debt, very little would remain unpaid
on it. He urged them to give according to
their means, the rich out of their abundance
the poor what they couJd spare. God did
not look at the amount, he looked at the
inteDti0n
™ 80
Donations were then placed on the
stone Dr. Reynolds commencing with a
donation of £100, acd reading a tele
gram from Father Prendergast, prom s-
ipg another £100. The appeal for ^becjiptions
was most literally responded to, a
the amonnts varying from £i0 to a few shillings,
the total for the day reaching £98"i.
The following is a description of the new
part of the building, for which tenders
will be received until Friday next.
The addition is only part of the work towards
the completion of the Cathedral. It will
include the extension of the eastern aisle.
The present eastern wall is to be removed,
and the width of the aisle increased by 16
feet. With this increased width the present
lean-to roof if extended would have come too
low, and, therefore, a new style of roof will
be adopted. The aisle will now be covered
with small pitched roofs, with gables
hipped against cleve story walls. The extension
will include two new confessionals.
In place of the present lady Chapel
a small new lady Chapel will be provided at
the end of the new aisle. In the new eastern
wall there will be two large and three small
windows, all double lights, and five rose
windows in the gables. They will be frilled
with zinc forms and glazed with rough
Cathedral glasses of different tints.
The windows will have small engaged
columns on the j irnba and mullions. The
heads have sunk arches and moulded labels
over. The small windows are over the
confessionals, and a new doorway near the
south end. A small temporary porch is provided
at the north end. On account of the
damp the new floor will be of slate carried
on small dwarf walls with air spaces between,
which will prevent any damp. The guttering
in the roof running across the aisles
is a new idea. A set of double gutters
is provided, so that in case of that
which is in general nse becoming
choked the water will have another outlet.
This is the idea of Mr. Woods, who has put
it into practice at Parliament House and the
Lnnatic Asylum. The sketch-plans for the
alterations to the Cathedral were prepared
by Messrs. Pagin & Pagin, of London, but it
has been found necessary to depart from them
in some respects. The working drawings and
specifications are the work of Mr. E, J.
woods, under whose supervision the work
will be carried out.

Type of publication: Newspaper When was the article reported?: 11/08/1886 Publication: Evening Journal Article Url: [Web Link] Is Registration Required?: no How widespread was the article reported?: regional News Category: Arts/Culture

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