The Jersey City news., 1901-07-27
BISHOP TO HIS PRIESTS
New Head Of Newark
Diocese Talks Elo-
quently to His
Clergy.
Especial to 4The Jersey city News. II

Especial to ''The Jersey City News."l
NEWARK, July 27. 1so1.-At the ban
quet given to Bishop O'Connor at the
close of the conservation services the
Bishop said:-
Beloved brethren of the clergy, I Gan
scarcely find words to express my grati-
tude for your expressions of loyalty and
attachment. This substantial toket,
l take it, is not so much fbr
me as it is an evidence that
you honor the office and the dioeese,A !
have been taken from among you and
placed in a position of honor and re-
sponsibilities, and, knowing my many de-
ficiencies, it is with fear and trembling ]
assume the episcopate. Some one has
compared a Bishop with a mountain
climber. AS he reaches the summit his
view is enlarged; his horizon stretches
out and he sees many things which are
invisible to those below him. To me It
seems that the Bishop may be compares
to the tourist in the Alps. The latter
reaches a height beyond the view of the
people, and with the Bishop the individ-
ual is lost in the dignity of the office
81 cannot help feeling such sentiments
as these in the contemplation of the posi-
ton which I, though unworthy, have been
called upon to fill. Your words of Loyalty
and attachment are very consoling to me
at the beginning of a new and unfamiliar
life and your promises of prayer / VII
count upon to sustain me in the trials
and tribulations of the work in which we
are all interested | am one of you. That
has always been my glory and it will COM
tinue to be my glory. depend on you
and your cooperation without which I
can do nothing. But how much good we
should be able to do when working to-
getherl
Some of you were old in the priest
hood when 1 entered. You have labored
zealously for the salvation of souls and
may you continue to be the faithful SER
wants you have been and may your death
be like the death of the saints. Others
of you I hove gone through college with
and it has been my pleasure and my
privilege to help prepare some of you for
the priesthood. I know / have the love
of your hearts and your prayers TO sus-
tain. Our feelings toward one another
have only been intensified. We will be the
same as in the past, as in our seminary
days. You priests of the diocese are my
glory and my crown. You have been
stanch in the past to the principles d
your calling and your zeal, training, char
acter and piety has made-and I hope the
most reverend fathers present will excuse
me if they do mt agree with me-has made
you the best body of clergy in the United
States
eff there is one thing more than an-s
l4I ,io1, T se. !, I.~.z
has been drawn between us which leaves
me solitary on the one side and you on
the other The appointment which has
come to me makes distinction, but re-
member me as plain Father O'Connor and
be patient and indulgent with my short
coming sand failings in office, bearing in
mind that our final glory will not be de-
termined by dignity in office but by our
virtues and our good works.
THE first Bishop of the diocese went
on the new prelate, ''came into it about
two years before I did 1t was at the
hands of Bishop Bayley that I received
confirmation, and I recall the grief,
mingled with joy, which his elevation to
the archiepiscopate of Baltimore brought
to the diocese. His successor, the present
issustrious Archbishop of New York,
was one more familiar terms with, until
Rome transferred him to a larger field
of duty. Under God, to him I owe my
priesthood and to him owe my episcopal
conservation. 1t was his example which
unfolded to me the beauty of the life of
the holy priesthood. When I sought to
enter that life he received me most gra-
ciously and sent me to study in Rome in
the very shadow of the Vatican.
Upon my return was brought much
in contact with the lamented Bishop Wig
ger, whose charity and simplicity of life
has left deep impression on us all. I'M
der mis- guidance the diocese made giant
strides. His life was one of crosses and
trials; his death holy one. 1t was my
privilege to administer to him the lasl
sacraments. and the fervor with which
he received them is pleasant memory"