CIRCULAR LETTER

To the Clergy, to the Re^gious Coraniunities, and to the Faithful of the Diocèse.

Episcopal Eesidence, Ottawa, April 22nd, 1880.

Dearly Beloved Brethken,

Almost one-half the city of Hull présents nothing but ruins to the eye, and the crowds who throng to the scène of this terrible disaster tread the ashes of the happy homes of a few hours ago.

The press has given you full particulars of the great fire which caused this eaj^mity and spread consternation amon^st the inhabi# ^"<Ji sister

cities.

If the spectacle of such a conflagration was awful to behold, the heroic efforts of ail classes of a sympathizing community to an est the progress of the fiâmes, was a sight at once consoling and encouraging even to the unfortunate victims themselves.

Four hundred houses, or bctween eight and nine hundred tenements, w ère sweptaway bythe mad and and irrésistible élément. Think of il ! Over four thousand persons left homeless. What a terrible disastei !

You well enderstand, Dearly Beloved Brethren, that every oné has to fulfill a duty of Christian charity towards thèse sufferers. Their pressing wants must be attended to, and their distress relieved.

On many occasions, I hâve called upon you to help the unfortunate victims of ravages by flood, or fire, or famine suddenly seizing upon a land, and you hâve always generously responded. And to-day, Dearly Beloved Brethren, I begofyou not to refuse assistance to our own brethren in this diocèse, in their great affliction. I need not urge you to give abundantly. Your own hearts, your sympathies, tyour charity will suggest a thousand motives to contribute to the Hull fire relief fund.

In order to give ail an opportunity to bestow their alms, a collection shall be taken up in ail the Churches and Chapels the first Sunday after the reading of this Letter, and the proceeds will be forwarded on the#following day to the Episcopal Résidence.

Shall the présent Letter be read at chapter and at prone the first Sunday after its réception.

t J THOMAS, Bp. of Ottawa.

2nd Séries? No. 31.

CIRCULAR TO THE CLERGY

Episcopal Résidence,

Ottawa, May 6th, 1880.

Beloved Cooperators,

Annexed to the présent Circular, you will find the Itinerary of the Episcopal Visitation. I invite you ail to pray, and to engage your people in prayer, that this Visitation may be attendecL with every success.

Parish Priests will take précautions to hâve the accounts of their churches ready, and arrange ail receipts and vouchers in proper order, accordi ng to their respective numbers. They will likewise be careful to conform, in ail matters, to what is prescribed or recommended to be done on the occasion of the riait of the Ordinary.

In order that there may be a sumcient interval between two collections, that which should be taken up on Pentecost Sunday is postponed, for this year, to the first Sunday in August.

Parish Priests will please bring the proceeds with them, when comingto the annual retreat, which shall commence the next evening, August 2nd, and close on the Saturday morning foliowing.

I am in duty obliged to call your serious attention to the foliowing decrees of the First and Second Councils of Québec :

II Glerici in sacris constituai domi apud se non " retineant nisi matrem, aut sororem, aut amitam, " neque famulas accipiant vel retineant ni>i provectœ " setatis, juxta receptam sacrorum canonum interpre- " tationem, et famse illibatœ, de quibus nulla possit " haberi suspicio." (I Conc. Queb. d. XIV.)

11 Auimadvertere débet parochus quod licet indul- " tum sit ut avia. mater, aut soror, aut amita, cum " sacerdote commorari possint, si tamen in eadem " domo versantur alii presbyteri, praefatas mulieres " œtatem cauonicam attigisse omnino requiratur." (II Conc. Queb. d. XV.)

I profit of this occasion to intimate to you, that I prjpose. during the Visitation, to examine whether Parish i riests hâve, conformably to the Diocesan Régulations, procured the Decrêes of the Provincial Councils, which they should read again and again, in order not to be in ignorance of what is therein ordained.

During the pastoral retreat of 1878, you agreed that ît was proper, useful, and even necessary, that I should re-pubhsh the Pastoral Letters and Circulars

of my vénérable Predecessor, of which few, if any, copies remained, and also the fîrst séries of my own Pastorals, in order that they might hâve the same forrn as the other Bishops of/the Province hâve given to similar documents.

In accordance with the désire you then expressed, I hâve ordered them to be boandin one volume. Every church or fabrique, should procure a copy. The price will be six dollars. Àt this ligure. I do not expect to be able to cover the cost of publication, which should be bo/ne by the différent parishes, sînce thèse Episcopal documents are for the use ofthe faithful ineach parish, and it is not just that the Episcopal Corporation should hâve to b^ar such heavy expenditure.

Those who can forward me the price ofthe volume immediateiy will, by so doing, render a service, as I shall soon be called to meet the printer's bill.

In order to obviate many dimculties which arise from a contrary procédure, I hereby ordaiti that, ou and after the 15th of the présent month, Parish Priests and Trustées shall grant receipts toall persons paying them any s unis of money for pew-rents burials, priest's dues, dispensât ions, high -masses, and for any casuel, gil't or subscriptiou, of which account should be kept in the books of the church or fabrique, or an account be rendered to the Bishop.

For the future, ail applications for dispensations of consanguinity or affinity must be accompanied with a genealogical tableau showing the origin anû the degree. This tableau should be prepared vvithcare, on a separate paper, signed by the priesl applying for

the dispensation. The baptismal names md the family names of the parties must be given. Thèse names should be written correctly and legibly. Ail necessary researches should be made before applying for a dispensation.

I request you, whenever au occasion présents, to recommend the following named pamphlets to your parishoners : " Une Mine " by the Rev. Zach Laçasse, O.M.I. ; " Conférences sur les propriétés délétères des liqueurs spiritueuses" by Kev. L. P. Paquin, O.M.I., and u Petits Conseils pour la pr mière communion" Mgr. Ig. Bourget, then Bishop of Montréal, published in 1859, a little work entitled " Questions sur le marriage." It has been re-published, with the approbation of the Bishop of St. Hyacinthe, through the enterprise of the Rev. Pierre Matthieu of the Collège of Sorel. This book, which will prove very useful to you, costs but 35 cts. I advise you to procure it.

Accept, Beloved Co-operators the assurance of my entire devotedness.

t J. THOMAS, Bp. of Ottawa.

OF THZ