THE TABLET.

A Weekly N ew spaper a n d R eview .

DOM VOBIS GRATULAMÜR, ANIMOS KTIAM ADDIMUS UT IN INCCEPTIS VESTRIS CONSTANTER MANEATIS.

Prom the B r i e f o f H is Holiness P iu s IX . to The Tablet, June 4, 1870.

V ol. 82. No. 2799. L o n d o n , D e c e m b e r 30, 1893.

P r ic e sd., by P o s t 5% d.

[R e g i s t e r e d a t t h e G e n e r a l P o st O f f i c e a s a N ew s pa p e r .

C hronicle of t h e W e e k :

Page

Christmas in Catholic Churches— Imperial Parliament: Miscellaneous News— Sir M. Hicks Beach on Agriculture— Sir Charles Dilke in Paris — Further Trouble in Sicily— Death o f Mr. Stanhope, M .P .— The Greek Loans—Events in Uganda— The Money Market 1041 L e a d e r s :

Lord Dunmore on the Pamirs . . 1045 Charles II. in his Letters . . 1046 The Beuron Monks at Maredsous 1047 The Creed of Our Baptism . . 1048 N o t e s .....................................................1050 R e v iew s :

The Early History of the Church in G a u l .................................... 1052

C O N T

R ev iew s (Continued) :

Page

A Grey Eye or So .. . . . . 1054 Symbolism in Nature . . ..1054 Dr. Maclaren on the Psalms --1055 Historical Fallacies . . ..1055 Under a Cloud . . _ . . ..1055 Jesus the Children’s Friend . . 1055 The History of Jean-Paul ChopTabulæ Summæ S. Thomæ --1055 C orrespondence :

Rome (From Our Own Corre­

spondent).. . . . . ..1057 News from I r e l a n d .......................... 1058 L e t t e r s t o t h e E d it or :

The Father John Morris Memo­

rial . . . . . . . . . 1C59

ENTS.

C orrespondence (Continued):

The Parish Councils Bill and the

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Catholic Association . . . . 1059 The Distress in Poplar . . . . 1060 Leakage in the Catholic Church in Australia . . . . . . 1060 An Appeal . . . . . . . . 1060 The Banner of Jerusalem ..1060 “ Mère Gilette . . . . , . i o 5o Catholic Disabilities . . . . io 5o Religious Art at the Exposition .. 1060 New Catholic Church at Lincoln ..1062 The Late Bishop Ricards .. .. 1064 St. Francis and the Incarnation ..1066 Voluntary Schools and the Arch­

bishop of Canterbury . . .. 1066 An Afghan Missionary in England 1068 O b it u a r y . . .. .. ..1069 Social a n d P o l it ic a l . . ..1069

SU PPLEM ENT. N ews from t h e S chools :

Catholic Claims to a Share in the

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School Rate . . . . . . 1073 Blast and Counterblast . . ..1074 N ew s from t h e D ioceses Westminster . . . . ..1075

Southwark . . . . . . .. 1075 Birmingham .. .. . . 1075 Newport and Menevia . . ..1075 Plymouth .. .. . . . . 1076 St. Andrews and Edinburgh ..1077 Sir Theodore Hope's “ Church and

State in India” . . .. ..1077 The Mercantile Navies of the World 1077 The Late Mr. H. T . Silvertop ..1377

* * Rejected MS, cannot be returned unless accompanied with address and postage.

CHRONICLE OF THE WEEK.

CHURCHES. T

CHRISTMAS IN CATHOLIC

'H E Christmas o f 1893 has been made remarkable amongst the Catholic community o f London by a revival of “ Midnight Mass.” Since the Reformation

(says The Chronicle), except in the houses of the regulars and in one or two o f the pro-cathedrals, the solemn function has been allowed to lapse in England. The reason assigned for the discontinuance of the celebration has been the fact that the presence of unsympathetic and irreverent nonCatholics has often led to unseemly scenes at the most impressive ceremonials of the Catholic ritual. For some years past, however, Midnight Mass has in London been held at St. George’s Cathedral in Southwark, and at the churches o f some o f the religious Orders, such as the Benedictines, the Passionists, the Redemptorists, and the Franciscans, the admission to the ceremonial being by tickets, distributed only to known worshippers. This year, however, so great has been the growth o f toleration, that it was deemed advisable to extend the practice and to open the midnight ceremonial to the attendance o f the general public without restriction. On Monday morning several of the churches were crowded to excess by reverent congregations. St. George’s Cathedral, Southwark, was well filled— and it provides accommodation for over 2,000— by an almost strictly Catholic congregation. So far as the edifice would admit, the Cathedral was decorated with the insignia o f the season, the celebrant on the occasion being the Bishop of Southwark, who sang a solemn High Mass, with attendant deacon, sub-deacon, and deacons at the episcopal throne. The ceremonials at St. George’s were at one time regarded as the most attractive by non-Catholics, on account of the musical accompaniments, which were selected from works of the great devotional composers. Now, however, the services are conducted with the Gregorian music, and the Church of the Sacred Heart at Camberwell is now looked upon as the church in which, south o f the river, the compositions of the great masters may be usually heard. “ Midnight Mass ” was celebrated at Camberwell, for the first time in the vast parish since the Reformation, also on Monday. The Church o f the Sacred Heart was beautifullydecoraled. The oaken ceilingwas hidden from view by festoons of evergreens, and the pillars were enlivened with circles of holly and ivy. The sanctuary was splendidly orna mented, the high altar being crowded with all the choicest flowers from the market. The walls of the Church were decorated with pictorial banners, all illustrating the mysteries of the Catholic faith or Scriptural history. The illumination o f the high altar, on which hundreds of candles burned, was admitted to be a ch e f d a u v re of ecclesiastical decoration. The solemn midnight function was attendedby acrowded congregation,the celebrant being the Very Rev. Canon McGrath. As the clock struck midnight the solemn procession of priests, acolytes, and choristers, emerged from the sacristy, while the organist played an Adagio of Beethoven. After the singing of the Gospel, Canon McGrath addressed the congregation, congratulating them that the solemn function at which they attended was being celebrated in the parish for the first time since the Reformation. This he regarded as a sign of the advance of the Catholic faith in England, and the disappearance of the spirit of intolerance hitherto exhibited towards the Catholic Church. In asking them to | accept this omen of peace and goodwill amongst men, he j counselled them to lead England back to the faith of their \ fathers, by acting before all men devoutly up to the precepts of their religion, and by their conduct in life to show to nonCatholics the purity o f their faith and the divine origin of the Church. A t eleven o’clock another crowded congregation filled the church, when a new musical mass, by Mr. George Fox, the composer of Nydia, was given by a full choir and orchestra. The Pro-Cathedral, Kensington, was filled to the doors at the celebration o f High Mass on Wednesday. The interior of the handsome church was tastefully wreathed in holly and ivy, and upon the high altar were clusters of the choicest winter flowers. The altar itself was 1ablaze with lights, and so was the Crib at which the devotions o f the faithful were made during the day. Precisely ! at eleven in the forenoon an imposing procession emerged from the sacristy, headed by cross-bearers, attended by acolytes, the local clergy following, the rear brought up by the venerable Bishop o f Amycla, who sang the High Mass. Their appointed places upon the altar having been taken by the Bishop and assistant priests, the organ and choir thundered forth Santley’s Ecce Sacerdos Magnus, and at that moment the Cardinal Archbishop, attended by his chaplain, was received at the great door, and conducted to the altar, where his Eminence robed. When the first Gospel was sung, Cardinal Vaughan came to the front o f the altar steps and preached from words found in the first chapter of St.

N e w S e r i e s , V o l . L . , N o. 2 ,10 ? .