The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-04-27
BISHOPLILLISHERE
Confirms a Large Glass at As
sumption Church.
The Scene Is Impressive and
Beautiful.

The Church of the Assumption was
crowded by brilliant audience Sunday
afternoon to witness the confirmation
of a class of eighty children and TWEEN
ty-seven adults. The Ri. Rev. Thomas
Francis Lillis, of Kansas City, bishop
of the Leavenworth diocese, officiated
al the ceremonies and preached an elo-
quent and interesting sermon to the
class. The bishop was assisted during
the services by the Very Rev. Dean F.
NJ. Hayden, rector of the Church o.
the Assumption; the Rev Father 2.
Mcintyre. assistant to Father Hayden,
and the Rev. Father Doran S. J., of ST.
Marys college.
The scene Of the condemnation was
as impressive as it was beautiful. The
girls in their white dresses kneeIing be-
fore the altar rail with the magnificent
altar and its scores of twinkling can
ole lights in the background, the
bishop and his assistants in their state
robes, the soft light that entered the
church from the memorial windows,
all these added to the natural beauty
and solemnity of the scene. During the
pauses in the service the music from
the pipe organ filled the dim aisles of
the church with melody. The class IF
children was put through it's catechism
and the knowledge these little ones
showed of the Bible and the rules of
life was surprising.
The bishop in his sermon to the class
urged upon them the necessity of read
ing Gods word and keeping His COM
mandments. The simplest. strongest
lessons of the prophets and the Naz-
arene were given to these children as
guiding haiy f11ft 1,n
bishop talked as wisely as a patriarch,
but clothed his earnest words in SIM
plicity for the children. He preached
love and honor to parents, temperance
in living and kindness to all mankind.
The bishop paid eloquent tribute to
the glory of his church, of how its
founders received the torch direct from
the hands of St. Peter and st. Paul,
the disciples Of Christ. OF the terrible
struggles of the church from Nero's
time down through the dark ages, and
how finally the first beams of success
came to light their way and the har-
vest began to follow the years of SOW
ing blood, suffering and human lives in
the cause. For over one thousand years
the mother church had been the only
bulwark of Christianity against the as
saults of the world and the devil.
An interesting part of the discourse
was that in which the bishop referred
to the divorce evil What God has
asunder." This was the text from
which the bishop Numbered against
the fast growing custom of the times.
He declared that his church had
opposed this evil for nineteen CEN
turtles, and that to this day no cause
or excuse had been advanced of suffi-
cient weight to cause the church to
tolerate the evil. He told how the
church's opposition to Henry VIII
and his plan to divorce his Queen
Catherine had been one of the princi-
pal causes that lost to the church the
country of England.
The class of over 100 persons taken
into the church Sunday was the
largest in the history of the local
church.
The following are the names of the
members of the class confirmed Sun
day:
Boys-WilIiam Monaghan. James
L. Lannan, Joseph Zersler, Paul Nc
Morgan, Melbourne Sherley, Fred N.
Essbach, Leo Fisher, Walter Erhart.
Thomas McDade, Thos. Oden, May
nard Walker. Ralph Smith, Lawrence
William Fitzgibbons, John Higgins,
Francis Johnston, Geo. Miner, John
Burlein, Francis Vanleys. Virgil Pot
finger. George Fisher. Francis Foster,
Liguori O'Keefe, John MCGUIRE. In
addition to these boys there were
thirteen adults confirmed.
Girls-Louisa Marshall. Pauline
Miller. Marguerite Hoar, Marguerite
B. Miller. Catherine McAuliffe, Bar
bara Fieger, Marie Cooper. Lillian
Leaf, Catherine Glossy. Helen Mon
roe. Alice Monroe, Geraldine Kreipe.
Mary Stevens, Arnold Valcour, Bes-
sic Cooper, Helen Seller. Mabel Far
rell. Elizabeth Dyer. Cecilia Fisher,
Inez Foster. Teresa Foy. Ella Vanleys,
Abbie Maloney Josephine Rafferty,,
Marie Rafferty, Mary O'Bryne. May
Fitzgerald, Anna Flynn, Ruby Rhodes,
Mabel Taylor, Elizabeth Maloney.
Fourteen adult girls were taken in
this class in addition to the little ones
mentioned above.