The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1869-09-09
Dedication Of tho Cathedral Of the
immaculate Conception.
Distinguished Clergy Present.
A nsosT INTERVENING OCCASION

nun, I1sq, resluent OF the Coninou Souhoh
and large array of the citizens of Portland
distinguished in the professions, literature and
commerce, besides the representatives. of the
press from abroad A large number were turned
away who did not possess the necessary paste
| board, which acted upon the doorkeepers like
| the "open sesame" of Aladdin. And surely
we cannot be accused of extravaganza in COM
pairing the interior of this splendid Cathedral
which was erected at a cost of nearly quarter
of million Of dollars, with its rare and costly
paintings, its superb frescoing, rich stained
glass windows, and rich chancel and altar dec
orations, to the work of other than mortal
hands.
AT 10 IL clock precisely the long process
sion entered the Cathedral from the chapel,
headed by Fathers O'Calahan and buddy,
the priests and choir-boys chanting the ''Pro-
cessional, the thurifers swinging the censers
hlled with incense, followed by the cross-bearer
and his attendants, the bishops, acolytes cloth
ed in white and red and white and black, the
choir boys, priests, and finally the attendant
bishops from abroad, with attendant chaplains,
Bishop Bacon, Bishop of Maine, accompanied
by the Vicar General, Deacon and Sub Deacon,
the rear being closed by the Portland Band in
full uniform.
Deputy Marshal Perry kept the asles clear
during the passing of the procession.
The procession halted in the nave, where the
naiserere was sung, the choir boys responding
to the priests. The procession then moved to
the altar, and the prescribed dedicatory Psalms
were chanted. These concluded, the train
passed around the church, Bishop Bacon
sprinkling the walls with holy water and pro-
nouncing the blessing. Arriving again within
the chancel rails bishops and priests united in
chanting the Litany.
Bishop Bacon took his seat on the Bishops
throne, the chancel was illuminated by the
lighting of all the Candles and the bells and
band again united in peans of thanksgiving.
While the Pontificate was assuming his vest
ments the "Salve Maria" was most beautifully
sung by Mrs. Burnham, after which came the
"Veni Creator" Weber's Mass in G was most
exquisitely rendered, taken as a whole by a
choir composed of twenty-four voices, under
the direction of Mr. BENNETT and accompanied
by the organ with Mr.. Kotzschmar as organist
The ''Keyr.e" was first sung, introducing
beautiful solo by Mrs. Merrill, after which the
Bishop entered and responses were read. Next
came the "Gloria in Excelsis,' in which Miss
Barker and Mrs. Waterhouse sustained the
solos. We were particularly pleased with Miss
Barkers voice in the running passages.
Then followed the reading of the "Epistle,"
after which the band introduced the Russian
National Hymn with fine effect. Next came
the reading of the Gospel, followed by a solemn
composition on the organ, after which Father
Hecker of Boston delivered a most brilliant
and poetical sermon, of which We give an alb
stract.
1t was from the text, ''The Lord was in this
place and knew 1t not: and with fear and
trembling he said, Truly this is the house of
God andithe gate of Heaven" Gen. %; 16, II.
He began by considering and answering the
question why Catholics, by no means the
wealthiest portion of our population, erect SO
beautiful and grand temples, at the cost of SO
much self-sacrifice. Religious sentiment is a
part of mans nature and God has amply pro-
vided that it shall be maintained and perpetu-
ated. Nature is Gods temple and man him
self is temple of the living God, and man is
able of his own power to communicate and
commune with his Maker. Nature cannot tell
us of our future. Humanity itself cannot an
swer the question, to what great end are we
created. Philosophy and science stagger and
stammer at the question. God came down and
became human to teach man his great destiny,
and gave him that knowledge which he seeks
for elsewhere in vain. The divine command
was, Go, teach the world; and to assemble man
30 h. I,
world is to be taught we must have spacious
churches We cannot make them too large,
too elegant or too substantial, for they are to
last to the end of time. Man needs divine
strength and it is to be obtained only through
the channels which God appointed-the sacra-
ments and the church and her ordinances.
Christ gave power to His apostles to forgive sin
in His name. How intimately then is Christ
connected with the priesthood. Nothing rids
the soul of the burden of sin like confession,
and God by the priest besses the penitent with
pardon. The church takes in all the elements
of nature and consecrates them to worship;
the water, oil and salt in baptism; the wax of
the bee, silk, valuable metals, as we'll as the
genius of music and the skill of art. The church
was made for humanity, and embraces the little
children and the poor. The church is the pal
ace of the poor, thank God. What noble
lesson this is, and what wonder that the poor
love the church. The little children of the
church can confound all human philosophy.
The speaker also advanced the doctrine of
and predicted that in the
next century the genius ,of America will be
Catholicsed.
AT the conclusion of the sermon the "Crcdo"
was sung, followed by the offertoire ooh, Jesu
mea, sung by Mr.. Beckett with great express
sion. The preface and responses followed.
The 'Sanetus" by the choir was finely render
ed. Then came the receiving of the sacrament,
during which the bells tolled and the band
played the Andante from ,''Don Sebastian
with great taste. In the "Benedctus" the
qIartette by Messrs. Morgan, Bennett, Mrs.
Waterhouse and Mrs. Ellison, was splendidly
rendered. Then came the "Agnus Der and
Dona Nobis," followed by the blessing by
Bishop Williams; then Bishop Bacon intoned
the 'Te Deum," which was sung by chorus
and quartette. Then Bishop Bacon gave his
blessing and the procession, increased by some
seventy-fve little girls, all in white, passed
lIOm INC CuuICu anu tuc CeTeuOlleS were over.
The whole affair lasted about four hours and
was very grand and imposing, although rather
fatguing from its length.
The Bishops from abroad present on this in
teresting occasion were Rt. Rev. Bishops Nc
Quade of the diocese of Rochester, N. Y,
Loughlin Of Brooklyn, Williams of Boston,
Goosbriand Of Burlington Vt. Conroy of AL
bany, Woods Of Philadelphia and LARGO of
Canada; also Vicar Generals, Father Wad-
dams of Albany, STAIRS of New York City and
ODonnen of Portland. The clergy present
were Rev. Fathers G. O'Brien, Murphy, Her
bat, Lucey, Clemens Mutsaers, Il Hiver, Dur
min, Brady, Egan, Caravan, Walsh, Drum
mond, O'Donnell, John OBrion, John Barry,
John Sullivan, McFall, DeRose, Hollohan,
Barley, MeGreevey and Peterson of the Do
cese of Portland Rev. Fathers Burns, Cuddi-
by, OReilly, Robinson, Byme and Keegan of
the Diocese of Boston, and several Others
whose names we could not ascertain.
In the afternoon the bishops and clergy dined
together at o'clock, at the Falmouth Hotel,
by invitation of Bishop Bacon. Ia the even
ing it was intended to illuminate the Bishops
residence and the Cathedral, in honor of the
great event of the day, and the Portland Band
was to have been in attendance, but it was
probably pos poned on account of the violent
storm.