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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, FEBRUARY 23, 1935.
Ring
Phone B5447 SIXTY-FIRST YEAR.
THE "LITTLE FLOWER" SHRINE OPENING ON MARCH 10 sincerity of their regard by the erection of a central and permanent shrine in her honour. The heart of this great Saint will surely be as full of b y as she contemplates the mosaic lettering in the Shrine as it was when as zi child she saw the initial letter Of her name formed by the Stars in Orion's belt in the sky above Les Buissonnets.
THE LITTLE FLOWER.
It has now been announced that the Shrine of the "Little Flower'' of Jesus, St. Teresa of Lisieux in St. Mary's Cathe dral. will be officially. opened by His Grace the Archb ishop on Sunday, 10th March. Many months have passed since it was first decided to erect a Shrine in her honour in the Cathedral and during those month s the Directors of nearly all of her Shrines in the world have been consulted. The Shrine in Chicago, through the courtesy of Father Anderson. was photographed and the best from every angle. !riany others, features of this, and have been embodied in the fi nished design. As it stands, the Chapel is undoubtedly in the architecforefront of ecclesiastical ture in Australia. In it is fact, doubtful if there is such another in any part of the world. At strangefirst sight it may seem that this saint should he SC) singularly honoured. but oil considera stood. tion it is easily underWhat Saint. no matter how full of her life self-sacrifice his or on earth may ever have been. contemplated spending eterTNY solely for the good of mankind. The simple promise of Spending tiPon earth"eternity doing good the would seem to he keynote of all Little devotion to the r." and it is fit and Proper Flowe that her in Weste devoted clients rn• m anifest in a Australia shoul .d practical wav the •41.- 411040-10.
W hen the Shrine was first contemplated it was the intention of His Grace Archbishop Clune to execute the whole work in Australian marble. After inspecting, together with his architect, samples of all the best marble in Australia. including such wellknown varieties as Cudgegong yellow veined, Caleula pink. King Edward blue with pink veining. Borenore red and Mudgee green. he was reluctantly forced to the conclusion that Australian marbles known so far are not rich enough in colour nor soft enough jrt 'appearance to harmonise with the colour of the Carmelite robes of St. Teresa. The original idea was then abandoned and the Shrine was designed and executed in the richer Italian marbles. For the base of the walls of the Shrine the rich green marble known as "Verde Antique- was selected, and for the wall panelling a Golden Verona. a beautiful yellow marble shading to gold with a delicate pink blush show-
ing through. Over this panelling there is a broad band of Gold Mosaic with a flowing design of a garland of ruses of varied tints. This mosaic floral band has been designed by the architect here and reproduced by the artists of the Vatican Mosaic Works in Vatican City. Rome. This Cooperative Mosaic Works has supplied all mosaics used in the Shrine. The upper portion of the wall to the level of the shafts of the Gothic ceiling is covered with a broad freize in gold mosaic with the following inscriptions taken from the writinvs of the "Little Flower": "1 will spcnd my Eternity in doing good upon Earth." "I will send down a shower of Roses after my Death." These inscriptions are in clear simple Gothic lettering, readable from far down the Cathedral, without embellishment of any kind.
The colour note in the Altar is given by the well-known colours of the Carmelite robes. The conventional white marble was too cold. and again after many enquiries the rich Algerian Onyx was selected. Of the three shades of this onyx the best and most costly l% as selected, the "Oriee I otato Rubini.- As the name indicatet, it is a delicate shade of cream merging to a honey tone ith shades of ruby red. This onyx xy as obtained in Algiers and shipped to Sydney. Great difficulty and delay was occasioned in getting slabs of sufficient size and thickness for the Gothic design and carvin- of the Altar. Messrs. Melocco Bros., of Annandale, Sydney, who executed all the marble work for the Shrine, also had great difficulty in getting expert masons and carvers to work on the brittle onyx.
Between thy freize just described and the top of the dado r ..ses the wall is covered with grey blue mosaic. Each r:vosaic section is divided from the other by moulded bands of golden verona marble.
The statue is a life-size repre sentation of the "Little Flower" by Professor Nlastroicanni, of Rome, one of the leading ecclesiastical sculptors of modern times, and the marble is tinted t o the colours of the Carmelite r obes.
What has been described is the encircling casing of the Shrine and forms the setting for the Altar, Statue and Reliquary.
In the centre of the Altar, at the foot of the Statue, rests the R eliquary containing the major relic of Saint Teresa. Fittingly it is made of gold and studded with precious jewels presented by her devoted clients. The yellow gold of the monstrance-like reliquary deepens to a red gold centre and within rests a little of the earthly remains of the Saint. there to wait in Peace the Victory of the Las, Day. • The Reliquary- was made in Perth by T.evinson Bros. Ltd., and the whole Shrine and its contents were designed by Mr M. F. Cavanagh. F.R.1.11.A.. in pure Gothic detail to harmonicz w ith the rreneral structure of the Cathedral. •
THE ALTAR FOR THE LITTLE FLOWER smarm. view ,f the marble factory. Sy for the Shrine are nearing completio r, AM.- .04.-410•-••••
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where t;lf-
Altar and Statuary
• Donations towards the Shrine should he forwarded to the Secretary, Church Office. Victoria Square. Perth. The names of all donors will he entered in the "Golden Book" which will be built into the Altar of the "Little Flower.-
4041.-00.--0*-1/11-411011-410410-41410. .11.410-41410- 410410-0411.-
4141.-410.-4041.--040. 4140. -400-4.4