The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1912-06-10
BISHOP RICE
WAS PRESENT
And Was Greeted by a Great
ThrOng at St. MoniCa's
CLASS OF l25 CONFIRMED
The Bishop Addressed the Children and
the Sermonf Was Delivered by FIR.
Griffin, Curate of the Local
Church.

/
bishop Of the diocese OF Burlington, mad,
his annual visitation to the Barre churcl
| yesterday, confirming class of l25 ii
the afternoon. in the morning the bish
| op was at Graniteville. where class o
| about S5 were administered the sacra
ment of confirmation. The annual Wis
| itation of the bishop is always one oi
the events of the church calendar al
every parish throughout the diocese, and
yesterday all was in readiness for the
call of the head of the Burlington dio-
cese.
The altar and shrines were laden witt
floral displays. The altar was covered
with ferns, roses and red and white car,
ne tions. while the shrines were decorated
with carnations and ferns. At the left
side of the altar was the bishops canopy
The visitation services commenced at 4
o'clock, Bishop Rice being assisted in the
ceremonies by Rev. +. NJ McKenna, the
pastor Of st. Monica's church, and the
cnrate, Rev. A. G. Griffin, Rev. J. Turcot
Of the st. Augustine church at Granite
Vile, and Rev. Trigourie of st. Mi
ehaeps college of Winooski. The exer-
cises consist of four ceremonies, which
are as follows: Blessing of living, bless
ing of the dead inspection OF sacred yes.
sells and the holy sacrament, and to con-
fer the sacrament of confirmation to
those that are prepared.
The class that received confirmation
marched down the middle aisle to the
rows Of seats at the front OF the church
reserved for them. In the marching line
were forty-three boys and eighty-two
girls, who were dressed in white with
wells to match. After the children had
been seated, members from the knights
Of Columbus, A. O. H., G. 0. f., and
the priests escorted the bishop from the
parsonage to the church.
Immediately after the ceremony of the
blessing Of the dead, an appropriate ser.
mon was delivered by Father Griffin, who
openly nayed the propaganda which, he
said, is doing its utmost TO crnmble all
the present-day institutions aud which
is working in opposition TO the laws Of
the church
Father Griffin said in part; 1t is now
25 years since st. Monica's church raised
mounting the steeple, to the skies, and
25 years since the first confirmation of
the parish was held All well remember
the few lines that tell Of the coming
of the apostle Paul TO Rome and how
they journeyed out many miles from the
city 10 meet the holy man. II is easy
to imagine how he was received By those
devout Christians, and also the great bat
tie that he was to have TO enter with
the unconverted Romans, to diffuse his
divine instructions.
At that time the battle waged was to-
disseminate the teachings of Jesus
Christ, and life was lost in the defense
Of the divine Master. To-day the battle
is conflict with sin. To carry on a
against the ravages Of sin, the
church must have valiant soldiers and
followers, whose actions and work open
" manifest the true principles of Chris
tianity and will continue the fight to
death. 1t might be well to bear in mind
the diving words Of St Paul that he had
fought good fight and kept his course.
The militia of Christ should be imbued
with the holiness and love of God and
ut all times act the parts of Christians.
How must we appear to the One above
when we are talented with knowledge, |
know the precepts of the church and
Snow the significance of mortal sin, if we
plunge into degradation. continually OPP
posing the teachings of God and harbor- |
ng iniquityl Faith is not a garment |
% be put on Sundays and laid away |
Turing the week, while at the office
,r workshop, but is to be worn unceas |
ngly at all places.
All this requires courage and an eN-
raet from st. Paul can be used in this |
Instance: "Pilt We on the armor of the
ord to resist temptation" and carry |
hat armor always with you for protec-
ion. At the present day the church is
n need Of militant soldiers to battle with
Using revolt against Christianity and
which would undermine all modern in
titutons, the principles of which are
lot in accord with the teachings of the
Son of God.
In the days when Paul was at Rome,
he lust for the destruction of Christian
ty was undertaken by persecution, but
o-day the eagerness for the ruin of the
vord of Jesus Christ is greater than of
Id. The mails are swamped with the
lie literature of the leaders of the move
nent, who uphold free love and consider
nan and woman only a mere parcel of d
igantic business proposition. The strug
lie is at hand, the spirit of the Holy
host still lives. of which sacrament we
ave already received. How much likened
nto the apostles are We that receive
18th seriousness the views of these peo-
lie? How much likened unto them are
'e that tempt God? The voice Of God
oes out to-day as it did in the days
{ Christ, with the same Holy Spirit
nd filled with love Let us pray, then,
hat we may receive that spirit Of love
God. Also grant. O Lord, the light
D these children that they may uphold
he worthy names of Christians.
Children Confirmed by Bishop.
The children were then confirmed by !
he bishop, assisted by the other priests. :
ishop Rice spoke briefly to the class, y
tying:
Indeed, this is very happy day to {
on. to your parents, to the church and +,
! Barre. You have received the Holy !
host, made strong and soldiers of Jesus !
hrist. The hand of the Holy Ghost. the !
iird person of the blessed trinity, has
ascended into your souls. This has been 7
Continued from sixth page.) t