elattera
OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF PERTH.
Address
Box 1633, G.P.O.
A CATHOLIC WEEKLY
,
. PRICE THREEPENCE
Registered at the G.P O., Perth for Transmission by Post as a Newspaper
PERTH, SATURDAY, JANUARY 12, 1935.
NO. 2,856.
Ring
Phone B5447 SIXTY-FIRST YEAR.
Origin and Development of the Drysdale River Mission in the Nor'-West Australia -;.(iney In 19O5 was assemb,, Aus• the Ecciesiastieal Hie uneil tralia for the Third , vantage of tie ,,, • f tenity It took to deal with the imp, tht the coaversii io North of Western Lice' • Mission to be est:11,11,Th in that unknewn and unexplored e entry
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yenThe Most Rey. Fete the erabk Assembly, fuhh. success, both .spiritua end eieinetal. end he obtained by Bishop Selye Benedictine :Monks at New Norcia Mission in West Australia. iestinettee le turned their e yes eawaiei. la. v..or thy successor. Lord :bb St Toria•:. who was present at the meeting. an ;hey unanimously asked him te the responsibility of the propose.! new Mission in the Nor'-West Fei-tunate• ly, the Abbot, in whose heart was en graved the noble ambitions oi apostolic zeal which had distinguished his indefatigable predecessor, willingly accepted this most creditable and mere torious commission, though he foresaw the great and numerous difficulties, mainly economical, which lay in the way. But trusting above all in the Providence of God. Who could not abandon him in so holy an enterprise; and then, in the encouraging words and prayers of the Hierarchy, in the good will of his Missionaries, and in his magnanimous heart, he undertook that .praiseworthy undertaking, which w as in due time to yield abundant t ruas for Heaven in the salvation of t hose, till then, forlorn and neglected aborigines. A s soon as Mgr. Torres returned to the West, he courageously commenced a founding of the Mission, after. having first secured the necessary au. t hority from "The Propaganda Fide Congregation,- and then from the Higher Superiors of the Benedictine Order, as. well as that of the Government of West Australia. On April 27. 1906, he set out for the North on e eard the s.s. Bullare. Broome a few days aft:•r and reached Once there. Ills Lordship engaged a tiny ten - ton ' ailing lugger, and having enlisted in his party expert • R ey. Father Tle • , TIlatiCCS of the nen.thbol•;-ilood nt B roome, he started and dangerous eeve, ,- 1. +0 miles aleue the coast frem Broeine Wyndeam. The brave Abbot feresaw • . dangers that were to Ix' met th. e,urnf,,v. bu t In Nvas prenared t • 'ere th,..m an. inipirrd as he was t he zee1 . of en epostk and tl-e leac , essness of a martyr. r oes reefs. hidden beneath Waters, the <•treee lugger toward, the current:- pu;:Hg t ',• rocks. the hoist:7 oes waves small boat threatening to swallow the some of thewith all aboard. were eee res 'willingly perils which Abbot T, faced in order to can "ut his holy purpose. Every lika Place for settlere(at along the coast w as examined ('lent qeantitv if it had water in 51 and other natural gifls suitable for the establishment of the Mission. At last he decided upon a Place now known as The Dresdale River. This particular spot was the home of numerous aborigines; it was comparatively rich in water, the soil
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His Lordship 'Most Rev. Dr. Catalan, Abbot of New Norcia. is a seen with a group of Benedictine Nuns, and the native girls under their charge. Rev. Father Win4on is on the extreme right of the group. though of inferior quality, could be cultivated with profit; and, finally, for hundreds of miles the surrounding region was inhabited solely by abori It took two years to negotigines. ate a!! the details in connection with On the foundation of the Mission. August 14, 1908, Abbot Torres, accompanied 1:ev the Rev. Fathers Mamas and Alcalde. and the Rev. Brother Vincent, who formed the vanguard f Missionaries that were to scatter the seed of the Divine Word in this new field, travelled together througH - The Napier Broome Bay.- and landed en that fortunate shore which was t o hear for the first time the redeeming tidings of Christ's Gospel, St. Benedict's sons have taken possession of that land in the name of .I.esus c hrist. by planting on it a large cro;s 20 feet in height. under whose arms were to be sheltered and protected the aboriginal tribes of that unknown district.
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The next day, the Feast of the Alsumption of Our Blessed Lady, ills Lordship offered there the first Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and placed the Mission under the care and patronage e f the Mother of God. Isolation, dis comforts, and threatenings of the t reacherous aboriginal tribes were the only associates of the Missionaries in t his barren district. The Abbot had set sail in the lugger at the beginning of September to face again the hardships of the return journe-v dur icg which his life was in danger constantly until at the end of the month he landed in Broome. The Mission had been established. The Holy See. by a Decree of May 6. 1910. '1.efirtitely approved and assigned the boundaries of its spiritual jurisdict;on. It included the territory comprised within the degree of 128 longitude and 16 latitude South. that is. a region covering 37.125 square miles. The same Decree stated that in due time tl •
;.1 The Mission. having to deeeed great extent for its maiee e.ee..fishing. it was only nettle: ...,, ..-. buildings should be ere ct,: , beach at Natee•• lireere.• i e AO miles ru • • . miles north the most con% Mission is by •• road at all h. • tances, it see: for the .Missi, however small, in order te pee_e eee. II t • ri communicate ,a with the civilised e world, or to reach any of the tw, above mentioned pie•ts in case Vet. the Mission : accident. for years without any means eel. And the only way to get the:r supplies during tnose Years was be hiring a lugge: in Breetne. aed this Needless to say, only once a year that at the end of the year. if any e! $11 the goods were left, they were already half decayed. The flour, for instanct would become infested with weevils, which, before using, had, over and t o over again to be sieved in order to obtain a handful of usable flour for • altar breads. On two occasions the • Mission had :been provided with a sail- • ing boat, but the violent waves and the strong winds proved too much for • • them, and both were wrecked. No wonder, therefore, because of the long distance and the innumerable dangers to meet with, it is very seldom that any one dares to approach the Mis • sion. Add to this that the entrance • to the bay is 12 miles away from the • site of the Mission. On that ace tint boats will not call unless by special request made in the interest of the Mission. Fortunately these great • , drawbacks have been overcome in our days, and the manager of the State Shipping Service in W.A. consented to the obliging Ca'ptain of the M.V. Koolinda taking her into Mission Bay. within Napier Broome Bay. every six months, and carrying the provisions that were to last for the half year. This Challl:e May 110 Se(111 Very TTIIIC . V et it makes a Thig difference. an,1 -;11,let.(1 a great relief to the Nft:,,i,,n. l'ic, F.,.7. 114 'NV ,-:'• 0,•',- ;c-, . t. _ I • -,,e,,-
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Rev. Father Bede. 0.S.B., with a group of his small charges leaving the Cathedral. New Norcia Father Bede has under his care some thirty native boys at St. Mary's Orphanage. Several of these native -11:, ' served at High M, ass during the Ordinaticm Ceremony. ••
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had 10 •- w-CYr m.)nths lischarging w. 'unds tire medical attention The ca ' e worthy of menti -ming, as - it t hrow much light to the character this people.
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