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December 2011 Relax www.sandpiper.org.au – Page 15
>> from the archives
A critic visits St Kilian’s Church - Part 2
By Mal Nolan
Sandhurst Diocesan Historical Commission
This article, and the previous one, are based
on reports in the Bendigo Advertiser of 3 & 17
June,1876.
An un-named critic visited St Kilian’s
church and reported on the
church, priest, people, ceremonies
and music that he encountered.
The priest was Dr Backhaus and the
mass featured a choir, with music provided
by the pipe organ which had been
installed in the church a few years previous.
The critic described the priest as “a
man of remarkable appearance – very
large and muscular – erect in his bearing
– firm and decisive in every action
– stentorian of voice, and distinguished
alike by vigor of intellect as of body.
His hair, which is long and comes
down to his shoulders, is perfectly grey.
His facial expression may be summed
up in one word – commanding.
His forehead is broad and massive,
always knitted as if preoccupied with
thought; and his eyes, which are deepset
are of a penetrating nature.
His speech is strongly tinctured with
the German accent and many of his
gestures are decidedly foreign, as for
instance, tapping his forehead, with a
shrug of his shoulders, when he tries to
recall a word, and raising a finger to his
chin, and bowing squarely when he is
cogitating.
There is indeed, a vast deal of mannerism
with him and it would seem
that he could not do the commonest
action without making it look peculiarly
continental, and stamping it with his
individuality.
In regard to the preaching, the critic
said, “it would be impossible to comment,
for I only heard a word here and
there”.
He attributed this to the fact that the
preacher allowed his voice to sink to a
whisper after hurling out in a stentorian
voice one or two words at the beginning
of each sentence.
He then gave a long selection of sentences,
or parts of them, to illustrate.
The sermon had dealt with the Gospel
of St John: 15 v 26 – 16 v 4 and the
critic offered some excuse, suggesting
that since the Dean had been fasting
for some hours, “it is little to be wondered
at that he felt, and made me feel,
exhausted.”
The Mass performed was one of
Mercandante’s, with an operatic style,
and “from first to last, was magnificently
rendered. Every voice seemed to be
trained and cultivated – pure, flexible
and sympathetic – and the choruses and
concerted pieces were admirably timed
and balanced. But, excellent though the
vocalization was, I question if it would
have been half so effective had there
not been such a skilled organist as Miss
Howarth.”
He then went on to say how remarkable
the choir was in that there were
only nine voices, and added that many
of them were not Catholics!
It would seem that Miss Howarth
had only been organist for less than 12
months. In the St Kilian’s death register
on October 25, 1875, there is a note in
Backhaus’ handwriting that “our organist,
John Benedict”, had died.
The organ (see picture) that is mentioned
here was moved into the existing
wooden St Kilian’s church when it
opened in 1888 to replace the stone
church which had to be demolished.
Update on a previous article about
a book published in 1677 that is in
the diocesan archives.
Father Ivan Page, M.Afr. adds this
note about the oldest book so far found
in the Sandhurst Diocesan Archives, one
volume of a set of the works of Paolo
Sarpi.
The author was a Servite priest, a
considerable scholar, and a loyal servant
of the Republic of Venice. He resisted
and criticized papal claims to jurisdiction
over Venice.
When his best-known book, A History
of the Council of Trent was first
published (in Italian, in London, in 1619)
it was promptly put on the Index. It went
through several editions in Latin, French,
German and English as well as Italian in
the course of the 17th century, and is still
in print today.
Our book is the first of five volumes
of the 1677 Venetian edition of his works
in the small duodecimo format which in
past centuries served for cheap reprints,
just as paperback books do today.
An earlier owner of our copy had written
his/her name on the title page. The
signature was cropped at some time
during the 19th century when the book
was bound as we see it now. This volume
was separated from its companions
– we know not when – and may well have
been bought as a curiosity from a dealer
in second-hand books. Many copies of
different editions of this celebrated work
have survived – which is to say that it is
not a rare text. To which I must add that
our single volume is not a particularly
valuable property.
CentaCare in perspective
O
n February 24 this year,
CentaCare celebrated 25
years in the provision of
family and community services in the
Diocese of Sandhurst.
Over those 25 years it has provided
in the name of the Church, Family
Counselling, Family Education, Family
Support and Family Mediation to tens of
thousands of people in north, central and
north-east Victoria.
In the past year CentaCare has
continued those services from seven
centres and provided them to about 5420
individuals, couples and families.
CentaCare has become a place of great
life-giving stories. Among those stories of
this year are wonderful initiatives where a
need was identified and a service provided.
One of these was the development of
separate support groups for Indigenous
men and women in Shepparton where a
Men’s business Centre and a Women’s
Centre are also being developed.
Another initiative has been the
facilitation of a playgroup for mothers and
their children at a women’s prison. A third
Providing
counselling
and family
support
services for
couples,
families and
individuals
throughout
the
innovation has been the development of a
network of
diocese
helping professionals who are
trained
Appointments/Enquiries restorative justice practice
phone:
to
resolve community conflicts.
Throughout Bendigo the year 03 CentaCare 5438 1300 has
responded
Echuca
to the individual
03
and
5438
community
1300
needs of those who were victims of the
2009 bushfires Shepparton in Bendigo 035831 and Redesdale. 4699
Drought Wodonga has had an ongoing 02 6056 presence 1861
in many parts of the Diocese during the
past 14 Wedderburn years and Drought 02 Family 5494 Support 3798
Services continued through much of the
year.
When the drought was broken in
2010 with destructive flooding in many
western and northern parts of the Diocese,
CentaCare again responded to the
vulnerable and disadvantaged families
whose living situations had become much
worse.
In the past 12 months, CentaCare has
taken some significant steps in its own
development and with new projects.
Technologically, all service centres
have been linked directly through phone
and computer.
A full-time Quality Improvement
Officer has been employed and plans for
across programs Accreditation are being
implemented.
In the past 18 months, CentaCare
Sandhurst has worked with the Centacares/
CatholicCares of Melbourne, Ballarat, Sale
and Tasmania to assist the respective
Bishops to establish CatholicCare Victoria/
Tasmania.
This body has now been incorporated,
and on July 1 took responsibility for a
single Federal Government contract that
will provide Family Support Services
throughout Victoria and Tasmania.
Being family today was a theme of the
CentaCare 25th Anniversary Conference
in February and it also highlighted the
modern issues that are affecting family life
especially in regional areas of Victoria.
During the coming year, CentaCare is
going to be challenged more and more
to find the financial and professional
resources it needs to support these
families.
Many good stories can be told about
the works of CentaCare in the past twelve
months. There is a central theme to those
stories: “At CentaCare, people in need
find new hope. Couples, families and
individuals get opportunities to start again
in their relationships with their family and
their community”
CentaCare would like to share the good
stories about its work within the Church.
In each edition of the SandPiper during
2012, CentaCare will provide articles which
will describe stories of hope, growth and
wellbeing in the lives of those who use its
services.
Paul Fogarty
Director of CentaCare