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Show j 4ii 4 444 4444 4- i 4- 4 i4 : Churii) dt Be! Dorte I j k4l" '-M. fitlls I W' s ' RT. REV. BISHOP MATZ OF DENVER. (('"rrespondence Intermountain Catholic.; Del Norte. Nov. 12. A rather ungual un-gual "but exceedingly interesting cere-money cere-money took place Sunday " in this place. It was the consecration of the new Catholic Church recently completed com-pleted through the constant and devoted de-voted efforts of the Rev. Jesuit Fathers, who are in charge of the congregation. Father F. X. Tomassin as Pastor, and K- Father Good, assistant. The church is a handsome stone edifice edi-fice TS feet long, 38 feet wide, and 44 feet high, surrounded by an imposing helfrey which holds a 1,000 pound bell from the famous foundry of Henry Stuckstede. It's sound which is excellent, ex-cellent, can be heard several miles away in the valley. The new edifice is of a purely Roman architecture and has a seating capacity capa-city df over MO. The altar table is of a rich Italian marble eight feet long and a gift of our lit. Itev. Bishop N. C. Matz, D. D. The ceremony of ihe consecration organ at 7:30 a. m. and with the consecration con-secration of the edifice, that of the altar and the Pontifical Mass, which followed, the faithful were dismissed ;u 1 o'clock p. m., only. It was a gala 'lay fnr Del Norte and not only the Catholics of the town were present at the Church, but a goodly number of the nn-Catholic residents as well, and many families who had come from afar. Th Tit. Rev. Bishop Matz of Denver Den-ver was the consecrator and the celebrant cele-brant of the Mass, with Father B. A. H-hifTini. s. .T.. of the Sacred Heart ":!ge as cantor and sub-deacon and Father Phillip as dtacon. Rev. P. M. Pennella. S. J.. of Trinidad was master f ceremonies, while Fathers T'tmassir.i and 'Good were lending their valuable assistance wherever it was , most needed. The Church is under the patronage el the Holy Name of Mary and does (.'lit to tfc? noble Fathers in charge, wel'. as to the Catholics, both Mexican Mexi-can and American of Del Norte and frtin bindings. Here we must not ornit a word of fr.aih and gratitude to a goodly num-1-r non-Catholics of the town who c'ic-).,uslv contributed to the erec-;'.n erec-;'.n of this temple which is and should the pride of Del Norte. FIRST CHURCH CONSECRATED. notable fact connected with this w. mony is that it was the first time Church was consecrated in Colorado M.i this owing mainly to the fact i '.-.at the Church of Del Norte Is out : d-bt, which is a condition sine quo i on f.,r consecration. At the Mass the choir, exclusively e.inpfsed of young Mexican girls, ii.lei the direction of Miss Mollie 'v, ei , rendered good music, the of-f of-f rio;y being worthy of especial men-t;on. men-t;on. -ftM- the gospel. Bishop Matz spoke i-i Eimlish and Spanish congratulating ; people and urging them to con-i con-i iuc to be liberal to their Church. They would thus show their appreciation apprecia-tion of the untiring efforts of their past as well as of their present pastors. After the Mass the Fathers entertained enter-tained the Bishop and his companions at their modest. but comfortable home, near the Church. In the afternoon, his Lordshop gave confirmation to fifty-two persons. The children of Mary (twenty-five) form-. form-. d in double rink and escorting his Lordship to and from the Church. The balance of the day was spent in. receiving the numerous calls of a large number of parishioners and of citizens who came to thank his Lordship Lord-ship for his marked kindness to them on this as well as on many other occasions. oc-casions. CEREMONIES OF CONSECRATION. The parish of De! Norte is formed by 600 families living in Bachelor, Creede. South Fork, in the whole of Sapuache county, in Monte Vista. Alamosa, Ft. Garland, and in other smaller settlements, all attended from Del Norte. The great majority of the families are Spanish-American, and the minority American Catholics. Everything for the consecration having hav-ing been arranged early in the morning, morn-ing, the consecrator orders the Church to be closed to the public. Only a lcon, vested in the robes of his of-. ? : See.- remains in the Church, the doors being closed. The Bishop and the clergy retire- to The' 'place 'where : the relics of the Saints to be enclosed in fh aj.tae kept The penitential psalms are recited, and the clergy go in procession to the Church door, j There the Bishdfi blesses salt " and water, and making the circuit of the Church three times' on the outside, he sprinkles the walls with the blessed water. As often as he reaches the principal door during this circuit, he touches it with the crosier, reciting a verse from the psalms, to which the deacon answers from within. After the third circuit he signs the lower i part of the entrance with a cross, and j the procession enters. These cere-j cere-j monies signify the setting apart of the j Church building for divine worship, j The holy water with which the walls I are sprinkled reminds us of our re-i re-i demption through Christ, by whose blood mankind was purified and gained ! admission to heaven. The door is j opened, after being signed w ith the J cross, for it was through the cross that the evil spirits were vanquished and the portals of salvation opened. HYMN TO THE HOLY GHOST. After entering the bishop proceeds to ! the middle of the church, where he ! kneels and. facing the main altar, intones in-tones the hymn to the Holy Ghost. During Dur-ing its recital one of the ministers strews the floor of the church with ashes, forming an X, the ends of which reach the corners of the church. Then the litany of the saints is chanted, 'in I which the following petitions are inserted: in-serted: "That thou wilt deign to visit this place, we beseech Thee to hear us! That thou wilt deign to bless, sanctify and consecrate this church and altar erected in thy honor under the invocation in-vocation of Holy Name of Mar we beseech Thee to hear us!" Meanwhile the bishop raises his hand and makes the sign of the cross three times. Then follow a prayer, hymn and various Scripture verses, during which the bishop writes, cross-wise, the Greek and Latin alphabet in the aforementioned ashes, in characters so large that the double row of letters cov(ers the entire length of the floor. The hymns and prayers recited during these ceremonies are an 'invocation of the Divine Spirit, through whose influence influ-ence all the nations of the earth are brought to the knowledge and worship of God. The double alphabet is to remind re-mind us -of the vocation to the faith granted to the nations, of whom, during dur-ing the time of the apostles, the Greek and Roman were the chief. It is to signify, sig-nify, moreover, that the Catholic church knows .no distinction of nationalities, and that we are all brethren in Christ. A SIXTH CENTURY CEREMONG. Before proceeding to the consecration of the altar, the bishop blesses a mixture mix-ture of water, salt, ashes and .wine. This ceremony dates from the sixtK century, and was introduced by Pope Gregory the Great. The wine and water, mixed, signify the union of the divine and human nature in the person of Christ. The ashes are a symbol of mortality. Immortality, is typified by the preserving qualities of salt. With this mixture the bishop sprinkles the walls and the altar. Before doing so he again proceeds to the main entrance of the church, makes the sign of the cross with his crosier on the lower part of the door and recites an appropriate invocation.- Returning, the bishop consecrates con-secrates the altar. He begins with immersing im-mersing his thumb in the blessed water and forming with it on the surface of the altar stone the sign of the cross, first in the middle and then on each of the four corners. Then sprinkling the altar, he makes its circuit seven times, after which he sprinkles the inside walls of the church three times. He concludes con-cludes this part of the ceremony by sprinkling the entire floor in the form of a cross and doing the same towards the four points of the compass. Finally- with the mixture blessed before, he "prepares the mortar to be used m sealing the saints' relics in the altar. Now the second part of the consecration consecra-tion begins with the bearing of the relics in procession around the outside and into the church. The church door and the aperature in the altar stone which is to receive the relics, are both anointed with chrysm, and the relics . are secured in their place with the mortar mor-tar prepared as above. Repeated anointing an-ointing of the altar follows, during which the letter is continually incensed by one of the deacons passing around it with a censer. After the altar the side walls of the church are anointed in the places indicated by twelve crosses painted there, to which are attached at-tached brackets holding lighted wax candles. ANOINTING OF THE ALTAR. All these ceremonies are founded on Holy Scripture. The incensing of the altar reminds us of the angel mentioned in the Apocalypse as presenting to the Most High the prayers of the Saints in a golden censer; the unction with chrysm symbolizes the anointed of the Lord, Christ, the high priest of the new-covenant, new-covenant, whose very name means, "The Anointed." The anointing of the altar recalls the stone erected and anointed with oil by the patriarch Ja- j cob (Gen. xxviii.) during his journey to Mesopotamia. Relics of the saints are placed in the altar-stone, in acknowl- edgment of their sanctity, which they attained through the grace of God, with whom they enjoy eternal bliss. Before being deposited in the altar, these relics rel-ics are enclosed in a little case of silver sil-ver or other metal, and have accompanying' accom-panying' them the names of the saints i whose relics they are. and the name of I the bishop who enclosed them. The veneration of relics is as old as the church. The relics of martyrs were held in great esteem by the early Christians. Chris-tians. The monuments they erected to serve as shrines for these relics, and the annual commemoration held at these shrines, show the high esteem in which thev were held. We preserve and highly prize whatever reminds us of those we love and revere. Nations erect monuments to the heroes and statesmen!. We gather mementoes of our departed parents and friends. Hence it is but natural that Christians should reverence the remains of the Saints which are to them memorials of their virtues and of the fact that they weie faithful servants of Gcd, and are partakers of His glory in heaven. Following is the invitation for all: "Del Norte, Col., Nov. 1. 1899. We, the undersigned, request the honor of your presence at the Solemn Consecration Consecra-tion of our new Catholic church in Del Norte, which will take place on the second Sunday in November, the 12th of this month, at 10 o'clock a. m. The great ceremony of the Consecration to the service of God. .and the Pontifical High Mass will be celebrated by-our Right Rev. Bishop, N. C. Matz, assisted assist-ed by the Priests and by the Sponsors of the new church. THE SIGN OF THE CROSS. The sign of the cross, which is made so often during the ceremony cf consecration, conse-cration, is the emblem of Christianity. It is the symbol of Christ crucified: hence the Church uses it in her temples and on her altars, sacred vestments and vessels. With it she begins her prayers, confers her blessings and administers ad-ministers her sacraments. It is the sign in which Christ gained the victory over sin, satan and death.. The unction with chrysm performed on the walls of the Church and the twelve lighted wax candles placed on the anointed crosses are to remind us of the words of the scripture: "And the walls of the city had twelve foundations, founda-tions, and in them the twelve names of the twelve apostles." (Apoc, 21, 14.) The Church is the city typified by; Jerusalem. Jerusa-lem. - The third and final part of the ceremony cere-mony of coneecrationz is now at hand. The Bishop returns to the altar and ; with blessed incenso forma five crosses over which he pla3 other five formed i cf wax tapers, which are lighted and consumed on the altar. We signify the offerings to be made henceforth on the altar bv the faithful for the glory of God. and which receive thei value through the cross of Christ. They remind re-mind us of the light of faith and the fire of charity to be nourished for all future on this altar. Renewed unctions of the altar follow, concluding with the blending of the altar linen, to be used for the first time at the'Mass of Consecration which begins now. Hence- i forth, the Church is the-consecrated ' house of God. dedicated solely to his ; service and set apart inalienably for ths i purposes of religion. . "THE JESUIT FATHERS OF DEL i NORTE." . j The following' are the names of thirty-three Sponsors for the new church, j who represent-the 3,300 souls of the whole Parish, one for each hundred: Mr. and Mrs. R. A. Chisholm of Del Norte. . - Mr. and Mrs. Louis Montoya of Del Norte. Mrs. N. Williams of Del Norte. Mr. and Mrs. A. Pfeiffer of Del Norte. Miss Mary Hecker of Monte Vista. Mr. Joseph ePartree of Monte Vista. Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Welch of Center-view. Center-view. - Mr. and' Mrs. W. L. Sabine of Alamosa. Ala-mosa. Mr. and Mrs. James Roper of Alamosa. Ala-mosa. Mr. and Mrs. Crescencio Torres of La Garita. Mr. and Mrs. Felix Chaves of Car-r.ero. Car-r.ero. Mr. and Mrs. Juan Chaves of Saguache. Sa-guache. Mr. and Mrs. Librado Martinez of Plaza Valdez. Mr. and Mrs. Gabino Valdez of Plaza Valdez. Mr. and Mrs. O'Brien of South Fork. Mr. John Murphy of OrSent Iron Mines. Mrs. M. Biedell of Bonanza. Mrs. McMullen of Fort Garland. Mr. and Mrs. Candido Cantu of Del Norte. |