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1 2 3

32X

NEW ST. PETER'S CATHEDRAL, LONDON, ONT.

Ontario llistoTical Society

yk%

569743

r# ♦

PASTORAL LETTER

OF THE

m i$et^. So!)n W^\^\ H. B.

BISHOP OF LONDON,

John — by the Grace of God and the appointment of the Holy
See, Bishop of London.

To the Clenjy and Laity of the Diocese Healtli and Benediction
in the Jjord.

Dearly Beloved Brethren,

You are doubtless aware that we have at length proposed
building a Cathedral in this city of London, for the glory
of God, the honour of the Church, and for the purposes of
our holy religion. We have already begun the work, having
built the foundation at a cost of six thousand dollars.
Although for several years past we keenly felt the need of a
cathedral, still we postponed commencing its construction in
the conviction that it would be more prudent to wait until
such time as the various missions of the diocese would be
suflticiently supplied with priests and churches to meet their
spiritual wants and to promote the sacred interests of religion
in their midst. We thank God that such is the case at present.
The building of a suitable Cathedral is a most serious under-
taking and will task to the utmost limits your generosity and
means, but it is an unavoidable necessity, and with the
blessing and assistance of God and your united and hearty
co-operation, the task, though extremely arduous and present-
ing formidable difficulties, is not however beyond the financial
capacity of the diocese or your power of accomplishing it.

« ^

• •

Faith can remove mountains, and your faith in God and your
love for His holy Church will enable you to remove the
mountains of difficulties that may beset this work, and will
urge you to accomplish wonders of labom* and self-sacrifice
in erecting in this city a splendid Cathedral, which will be in
some measure not unworthy of the Divine Majesty, and will
be to future generations a noble and enduring monument of
your faith and piety. For this is the light in which we
should regard the proi)osed undertaking. We should look at
it with the eyes of faith, and should enter on it solely for the
glory of God, the honour of our holy religion and the salva-
tion of our souls. In the language of Holy Writ, ** The
house which we desire to build is great, for our God is great
above all Gods. " 2 Par., 11, 5. We j)urpose building i house,
not for man, but for God ; not for the material wants of the
perishable body, but for the spiritual wants and necessities of
the imperishable soul.

The Catholic Church is pre-eminently the house of
God and the gate of heaven. It is the house of God
because Christ, our beloved Redeemer, dwells therein m
the great Sacrament of the Eucharist, in which He so strik-
ingly manifests his desire to be with the children of men.
When Moses, by the Divine command, undertook to construct
the tabernacle for the purpose of divine worship, he called
upon the people to contribute of their means to enable him
to accomplish his holy undertaking. The Israelites responded
to the call made upon them with such alacrity and generosity,
they were so zealous for the work and so prodigal of their
means for the carrying of it out to a successful issue, that
Moses felt compelled to restrain their zeal and to forbid any
further gifts. '* Both men and women," says the Scripture,
" gave bracelets and earrings, rings and tablets and vessels of
gold. If any man had violet and purple, and scarlet twice
dyed, and fine linen, and metal of silver and brass, they
offered it to the Lord. And the skilful women also gave such
things as they had spun. And the princes offered onyx stones

L and your
imove the
:, and will
If-sacrifice
will be in
f, and will
nument of
which we
lid look at
ely for the
the salva-
rit, "The
od is great
g a house,
mts of the
cessities of

house of
je of God
therein in
[e so strik-
of men.
construct
he called
nable him
responded
generosity,
al of their
issue, that
forbid any
Scripture,
vessels of
irlet twice
rass, they
gave such
nyx stones

and precious stones. All, both men and women, with devout
mind offered gifts that the work might be done which the Lord
had commanded by the hand of Moses." Exodus xxxv. Now
the tabernacle of Moses was but the mere type and shadow of
the Catholic temple. It contained the tables of the law, the
rod of Aaron and the loaves of Proposition. The Catholic tem-
ple contains in ITis Eucharistic presence God, the author of
the law ; it enshrines Christ himself, who fills it with the
majesty of His adorable presence. The tabernacle contained
a vessel of the manna that was showered from the heavens
for the sustenance of the chosen people in their passage
through the desert; the Catholic temple contains the true
bread from heaven, the bread of life, of which they who par-
take may not die. ** Your fathers," said Christ to the Jews,
** did eat manna in the desert, and they died ; he that eateth
this bread shall live forever ; and the bread which 1 will give
you is my flesh for the life of the world. He that eateth my
flesh and drinketh my blood hath everlasting life, and I will
raise him up on the last day." St. John vi. Now the Church
is the treasure-house of this divine and life-giving bread — it
is the paradise in which grows this tree of life whose leaves
are for the healing of the nations ; it is the earthly house of
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, whose delight is to be
with the children of men.

When Solomon had dedicated the great temple which he
had built to the honour of the true God, the Lord said to
him, ** I have sanctified this house which thou hast built to
put my name there for ever, and my eyes p.nd my heart shall
be there always." 3 Kings, iv. But our Blessed Redeemer
dwells corporally in our churches. Not only His blessed name,
but He Himself is always there, and his eyes and his adora-
ble and loving heart are there day and night to see the wants
and miseries of His people, and to grant them mercy, grace
and pardon.

The temple in the olden dispensation was a place of sacri-
fice. On its altars was offered up the blood of animals to

acknowledge God's supreme dominion over us, to propitiate his
justice and to deprecate his wrath. On Calvary's hill, Jesus
Christ offered himself, once for all, in a bloody manner,
to satisfy the justice of God for our sins ; to redeem
mankind from the curse and the guilt of the Fall, and restore
them their lost spiritual privileges. But the merits of the
atonement of Calvary must be applied to our individual
souls ; and so Jesus instituted the Sacrifice of the Mass — the
sacrifice of His body and blood to continue and represent the
sacrifice of the Cross ; to give God infinite honour and glory,
and to apply to our souls the saving merits of His suiferinga
and death. On every Catholic altar Jesus Christ offers
Himself daily by the hands of his priests, in a mystic man-
ner. In this sacrifice He offers to His eternal Father, in our
behalf, His body and blood, soul and divinity, in an unbloody
manner, and thus gives infinite honour and glory to God. In
this sacrifice the blood of Jesus is offered up for the remis-
sion of our sins, it is offered up as a thanksgiving for mercies
and graces received ; it is offered up to plead at the divine
mercy-seat for all the graces and blessings which we need ; it
is offered up to apply to our souls the merits of that great
atonement which blotted out the hand-writing of death that
was against us, and purchased us with a great price.

The holy Mass is most certainly the most dread and
august mystery in our holy religion. The sacrifices of the
old law were but figures and shadows of the good things to
come ; the holy Sacrifice of the Mass is a most blessed and
merciful reality. When we consider the infinite value of the
victim offered, the unapproachable and essential holiness of
Jesus Christ the high priest who offers it ; the infinite honour
and glory it gives to God, the untold and inestimable blessings
it communicates to man ; the peace, and light and refresh-
ment it brings to the souls in Purgatory, we can only bow
down in humblest adoration before God, and earnestly thank
Him for His infinite goodness for having given His church
this great and sublime sacrifice, and exclaim in a transport of

love and wonder with St. Paul, "0 the doptliH of the riches
of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God. How incompre-
hensihle are His judgments and unHearchahlo His ways."
Romans xi, 33. Now the Catholic temple is tlu; proper place
for the ohlation of this saving and tremendous sacrifice, an<l
it is for this purpose that it is primarily intended and built.
Everything in a Catholic Church has reference to the Sanc-
tuary, the Sanctuary has reference to the altar, and
the altar to the august sacrifice that is oft'ered upon it ;
so that it is it, and it alone, that gives a meaning and a value
to the style and beauty and all the glory of Catholic
ecclesiastical architecture and ceremonial.

The Catholic Church is for us the house of God and the
gate of heaven, because it is there, principally and usually,
the great ordinances institued by Christ, for our salvation and
sanctification, are carried out. Christ perpetually lives and
works in the Catholic temple for o..r salvation. In the
sermons preached therein He is the abiding teacher ; in the
sacraments administered therein He constantl}' exercises the
office of our Redeemer. In baptism He receives children into
His holy communion, and incorporates them into His mystic
body. In confirmation He strengthens and equips them for
the christian conflict. In penance He pardons the repentant
sinner and receives the prodigal son back again into his
father's house. In the Eucharist He feeds the weary pilgrims
of the worlds the travellers through the desert of life, with
the bread of heaven, and gives them strength to reach the
promised land. In matrimony He blesses and sanctifies the
nuptial union, and consecrates the human family as the
foundation of christian society. In holy orders He ordains
priests, blesses and sanctifies them and appoints them His
ambassadors and the dispensers of His mysteries of grace.
Into the church the poor dead body is brought by loving
hands, and the holy sacrifice is oft'ered up for the reposo of
the soul that is gone, and the Requiem and the Libera ascend
in plaintive accents before God, pleading for pity and pardon,

Iv'

and the last olliccs of religious respect Jind of christian
charity are performed for it ore it is ct)mmitted to the keeping
of the grave.

Thus in all the relations of our spiritual life, in all the
great events that make epochs in our history, in our joys and
in our sorrows, the Catholic Church is for us the house of
(iod, the gate of heaven and the soul's earthly Paradise.

Now it is the conviction that the Catholic temple is the
house of God and the gate of heaven, that it is the home of
the Blessed Sacrament, the place where the great saving ordi-
nances of the christian religion are administered, the holy
place whence those fountains of the Saviour, the holy Sacra-
ments, send ahroad the waters of life for the spiritual re-
generation and salvation of man, and that it con
tains the altar on which the august sacrifice of the
Mass is offered up for the living and dead, this is the convic-
tion, we repeat, that in every age has induced Catholics to
make the greatest sacrifices in building and beautifying
chiirches, and in showing their love for the beauty of God's
house and the place where His glory dwelleth.

It was this belief that laid the foundations and raised the
superstructures of the immortal old cathedrals of Europe, '^bat
have been well defined as "fiozen music." It was it that
inspired all the arts that have adorned those glorious and
imperishable creations of Catholic faith and Catholic genius.
Architecture unapproachable in beauty and perfection; stained
glass windo .vs hat like the heavens announced the glory of God,
and in all the varied colours of the rainbow, emblazoned the
images of Christ and his saints ; sacred music that seemed
but the echo of the heavenly strains which rejoice the blest,
that swept all the cords of human feeling and emotion, now
melting the soul into sorrow and compunction, now subdu-
ing it as if with the dread presence of the divine majesty it
invoked, and anon lifting it up on the wings of hope and
in transports of joy to heaven; painting that made the canvass
breathe and live ; sculpture that took the rough stones of

the quarry and chiseled them into hfe ; engraving, em-
broidery, the arts of the gold and silversmith and of the
lapidary — all the gifts of human genius inspired by faith
were employed by our Catholic ancestors to adorn the
house of God, to embellish the sai.ctuary and the altar,
to dignify Catholic worship and express their profound
adoration and their ardent love of their crucified Lord,
offered up in a mystic manner in the august sacrifice of the
new law. ^

But not only did our Catholic forefathers — the men of the
ages of faith — offer their gifts ai.d lavish their means in the
construction and adornment of the house of God, but they
gave their time and, as it were, expended their lives in the
great and holy work. Old and young, gentle and simple, the
monk and the layman, the prince and the labourer, the baron
and his retainer, the high-born dame and the peasant woman,
all worked gratuitously for years in the construction of their
churches. It was to them a labour of faith and love under-
taken for Christ's dear sake, for the love of His Blessed
Mother, and for the salvation of their souls. Hear a bishop
of the Middle Ages on this subject. Hugues, the Bishop of
Rouen, writing to Thierry, Bishop of Amiens, goes on
to say : —

** The inhabitants of Chartres have generously agreed to
concur in the construction of their Cathedral, by transporting
the building materials. Our Lord recompensed theii* humble
zeal by miracles which prompted the Normans to imitate the
piety of their compatriots.

" Our Diocesans, having received the episcopal sanction
and benediction, repaired without delay, to Chartres for the
accomplishment of their vow.

" Since that date the faithful of om- Diocese, and neigh-
bouring parishes, have organized associations for the same
purpose. Admission is only accorded to those persons who
have had recourse to the holy tribunal of Penance, renounced
all animosity and revenge, and become reconciled with their
enemies.

j.«.

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5f' *

" That accomplished, they proceed to elect a chief, tinder
whose direction they convey their loaded vehicles in silence
and humility.

** The conditions requisite for obtaining admittance into
thesn associations are particularly remarkable in powerfully
contributing to entertain amicable relations at a period when
every province and district evinced hostile views towards each
other. When notified that a church was to be built, the
zealous members flocked from all the neighboring proTincea,
after receiving the blessing of their bishop, and went to work
with increiible alacrity.

" However, these individupls who voluntarily engaged to
labor in the construction of churches, had no knowledge of
architecture; they evidently followed the guidance of the
various architects who must have been very numerous at the
time when christians vied with one another in erecting sacred
edifices, namely, in the twelvth and thirteenth centuries.

" Every association had a superintendent, who employed
each member according to his strength and ability. Some
were hewers of stone and sculptors of columns and statues,
others cutters and fashioners of timber, makers of cement
and tro>7el-carriers, were engaged in transporting building
materials and provisions.

"It was an astonishing spectacle to behold military
ofl&cers, the noble, the wealthy, the devotee of pleasure, assist
in drawing and loading the wagons, and in a spirit of pen-
ance, assuming the garb and accomplishing the work of
ordinary menials. What was still more surprising, ^vas the
harmony, submission and religious silence that prevailed in
these extensive factories, where so many persons were con-
gregated, far more fitted to command than to obey.

" Ecclesiastics set the example, by delivering pious
exhortations calculated to encourage the associates to pen-
ance, and to labor more effectually for the glory of God.

These salutary instructions were diversified by the singing
of hymns in honor of the Blessed Virgin and of the Saints.

It was a veritable prodigy, said Haimon, to see gentlemen of
rank and talent, accustomed to a soft and luxurious life,
transporting stone, lime and every other requisite for the
construction of the House of God. Sometimes a thousand
persons, men and women, aid in drawing one wagon, so con-
siderable is the weight, and yet silence reigns so perfectly
that not a murmur is audible. When a halt occurs on the
road, edifying conversations are held, during which the priests
deem it a duty to treat of the pardon of injuries. Should
anyone be found to disregard their injunctions, he is immedi-
ately dismissed from membership.

" During the night lighted tapers are burned on the con-
veyances, while sacred canticles are sung to while away the
hours of the holy vigil."

Such was the faith, such the motives that wrought those
mii'acles in stone — the churches and cathedrals of the middle
ages.

And indeed, dearly beloved brethren, have we not witnessed
the operation of a like faith and kindred motives on this
continent in modern times, and the marvels which they have
wrought ? In this country we had no royal convert like a
Constantine, or a Clovis, to build our churches ; no govern-
ment reached out its arm to help in this great work. To the
hard-worked sons of toil, the glory and the merit of raising
temples to the God of their fathers have been reserved. The
poor labouring men who dug our canals and built our rail-
roads, and hewed down our forests, laid also the foundations
of our dioceses and of our churches. The alms of the poor,
the wages of the mechanic, the scanty earnings of the
servant maids, the tardy gains of the farmer and of the
shopkeeper, these were the means that built our churches
in our cities, towns and villages, in the prairies of the
west, amid the half-felled forests, and along the shores of
our great lakes and rivers. And as long as these chm'ches
shall stand, as long as their open doors will invite the weary
and heavy-burdened to seek refreshment of soul within their

precincts, as long as the cross shall gleam from then: steeples,
an emhlem of the everlasting covenant of divine mercy and
pardon between the Kedeemer and the redeemed, so long
shall they be enduring monuments of the faith, and hope and
charity of the apostolic people who planted the mutftard seed
of the Catholic faith in this country, and watered it with
their sweat and tears until it has grown up into r mighty
tree overshadowing the whole land.

Now, dearly beloved brethren, we earnestly invite you to
share in this great and meritorious work, by helping to build
our projected Cathedral. Its construction is an urgent
necessity, and could not, with due regard to the honour of
om' religion and of the diocese, be postponed any longer, else
it would not be undertaken now. The people of London will
make the greatest sacrifices in order to push forward the
good work, but they are neither wealthy nor numerous, and
of themselves would be quite incapable to carry it out to
completion. We know your work and the sacrifices you have*
made to build up churches and schools in the various missions
of the diocese ; but we are convinced that you can greatly
help us without in the least interfering with local calls or
wants. A small sum given each year by every family in the
diocese, would certainly not be oppressive, whilst, in the
aggregate, it would amount to a considerable sum, and would
be of the greatest possible assistance to us. Besides, the
Cathedral has claims on every Cfiholic within our jurisdiction.
It is the mother church of the diocese, the centre whence ra-
diates ecclesiastical jurisdiction throughout its whole extent.
It is the seat of the Bishop, who is appointed by the Holy
Ghost to rule the church of God within prescribed limits ; the
church in which the holy oils are consecrated and in which
priests are ordained, and whence they are commissioned to
preach the word of God, and to exercise their sublime func-
tions as ambassadors of Christ and dispensers of His
mysteries.

Hence, in every country where there exists no legal connec-
tion between church and state, the diocesan Cathedral is

invariably built by the united efforts of the diocese. We do
not know a single exception to this rule. Even in wealthy
New York, every mission in the diocese had to contribute
for years a fixed annual sum towards the erection
of St. Patrick's Cathedral. Hence, in asking our diocesans
to contribute unitedly and generously towards the construction
of our Cathedral, we are asking nothing which the bishops
of the christian world have not asked and obtained under
similar circumstances. We therefore confidently appeal to
our beloved clergy, and the faithful and ever-generous laity of
the diocese, to come unanimously to our help in our great
and arduous undertaking. You have never yet failed us in
any call we felt obliged to make upon you in the interests of
religion, and we feel confident you will not fail us now. Tlie
Cathedral is a necessity, it is the work of God ; it is under-
taken solely for the glory of the adorable Trinity, for the
interest of our holy religion, for the honour of the diocese,
and for the salvation of souls. Let not selfishness, narrow-
mindedness, avidity, or any other unworthy motive, prevent
any from helping in this diocesan work. These things have
never yet raised a monument to God, or achieved anything
great or noble in the world ; they are only powerful for
mischief and for retarding or preventing the success of a good
cause. But rather let generosity, nobility of soul, the love of
God and of our holy religion, be the motives that will animate
you and guide your conduct in relation to this great under-
taking.

Let us, therefore, in God's holy name, go to work. Let
us build this much-needed Cathedral for the honour of God
and His Blessed Mother, and as be "nonument of our holy faith.
We shall have a share in the merit of every act of religion
performed in it. Every stone and brick built into its walls
will 'be a prayer for us to God. Every holy Mass offered
therein will plead with the irresistible voice of the precious
blood, before the divine mercy seat, for pardon of our sins.
JesuB in the Blessed Sacrament will abundantly bless and
reward all who will have helped to raise this temple to His

;

Eucharistic Presence, during the long years that He will
condescend to abide therein. Every Sacrament administered
within its walls will contain blessings for us. Every sigh that
will escape from the contrite, broken heart bowed down before
its altars, will pierce the clouds, and will be heard in our behalf
by Him who despises not the humble and contrite heart.
Every poor erring child of God, won back from his evil ways
and reconciled to his Heavenly Father within this church,
will be an irresistible plea for our eternal salvation, for he
who helps " to convert a sinner from the error of his ways
will save his own soul from death, and will cover a multitude
of sins." St. James v, 20. And when we are no more,
when our very memories will have perished, this church, with
its ministrations, will be a perpetual remembrance for us
before God; will be a constant requiem for our poor souls,
and will, let us humbly trust, be a source of holy joy to us
amid the glories and happiness of heaven.

We leave to the good will and discretion of our beloved
clergy, the manner of raising an annual contribution for the
purpose indicated. The sum to be contributed by each
mission has already, for the most part, been agreed upon
between the bishop and clergy. The contributions of each
mission, with the names of the contributors and the sum paid
by each, will be acknowledged in the columns of the Catholic
Kecord.

We solemnly promise and engage to cause a High Mass
to be celebrated on the first Friday of every month, for the
space of ten years, for the temporal and eternal welfare of the
benefactors of the new Cathedral. The celebration of the
aforesaid Mass will begin on the first Friday of the month
following its dedication. We request of the Eeverend clergy
to make this fact well known to their people, and to explain
the great spiritual favours to be gained thereby.

Finally, as the Holy Ghost assures us — " that unless the
Lord build the house, they labour in vain who build it,"
(Psalm cxxvi.), we solemnly place this undertaking under the

protection of God, humbly beseeching Him to bless and to
prosper it.

We most earnestly beseech our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ, who is the true omnip^'ont God, the splendour and
the image of the Paternal Father, and life eternal ; who is the
corner stone cut off from the mountain without hands, and
the immovable foundation — who is the beginning and the end,
to vouchsafe to bless this undertaking, and to be. Himself, the
beginning, the growth, and the consummation of this work,
which is begun to the praise and glory of His name.

We place it under the powerful patronage of the ever
Blessed Virgin, the first patron of the diocese ; of St. Patrick,
its second patron, and of St. Peter, the patron of the
Cathedral, imploring them to help us by their powerful inter-
cession, and to obtain for all the friends and benefactors of
this work the grace that they may be, one day, living stones
" of the heavenly city of Jerusalem, the blessed vision of
peace, which," as the Church sings, *' towers aloft to the
stars — de viventibus saxis."

In order to obtain the divine favour and assistance
through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, in this ardu-
ous undertaking, we ordain that the Litany of Loretto shall,
until furthur notice, be publicly recited by the pastor and
congregation of each mission, immediately after the Parish
Mass, on Sundays.

May the peace and blessing of Almighty God, Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost, descend upon, and abide with you
always, dearly beloved brethren.

This Pastoral shall ])e read in all the churches of the
diocese, on the first Sunday after its leception, and on the
succeeding Sunday, or Sundays, in those missions which

contain more churches than one.

Given at St. Peter's Palace, London, on the Feast of St.
Patrick, 17th March, A.D., 1881.

t JOHN WALSH,

Bishop of London.
By order of His Lordship [

William O'Mahony, Secretary, j