A full study of the preaching in various forms undertaken by Oblates in the Anglo-Irish Province has yet to be undertaken. However, in view of the importance of the topic, and of the outstanding achievements of the first Fathers of the Province in preaching missions, it is imperative to say something about it, however incomplete. Preaching took various forms: city or parochial missions, rural missions, Lenten and Advent Stations, retreats to clergy and religious, enclosed retreats for the laity, occasional sermons. Lengthy contemporary newspaper accounts of these events are often available that reveal in graphic detail a society that has now passed away. In this article we limit ourselves to listing in summary form the popular missions preached by members of the British Province in the time of the Founder that have so far been identified, indicating sources of information about the mission, naming the missioners and briefly describing the features of the mission. Our list is almost certainly incomplete. It is to be hoped that with time further information will surface and the whole topic be examined in a wider context. We will narrate the story of one mission at greater length so as to convey more effectively what astonishing events these missions often were. Finally, it must be remembered that the missioners – Fr. Cooke in particular – were also frequently giving retreats of one kind or another and preaching the Advent or Lenten Stations, which were little short of missions.
The list of missions
The Oblates had frequently preached the Gospel at open-air venues around their Leicestershire and Yorkshire missions, as has been described graphically by Fr. Cooke in Sketches of the Life of Eugene de Mazenod. Although a mission was preached earlier in the year by Frs. Cooke and Noble in St. Patrick’s Church, Leeds, according to Fr. Aubert the first formal Oblate mission was given in St. Anne’s, Manchester in October 1849 and it is with this mission that our list begins.
Date and length: 1849, 6 October for three weeks
Venue: St. Anne’s, Manchester
Missioners: Frs. Aubert, Cooke and Noble.
Sources: Letter Aubert to Mazenod undated: Oblate Writings I, vol. 3, p.47 footnote 2. LM to Aubert 24 November 1849, Oblate Writings I, vol. 3, p.46. Denny, Vincent, o.m.i., Reaching Out, page 53.
Features: Packed church and confessionals, erection of stations of the Cross, enrolments in Fr. Matthew’s Temperance Society, no planting of the mission cross.
Date and length: 1850 for 5 weeks
Venue: Edinburgh
Missioners: Fr. Noble
Sources: Maureen Gillon, Stella Maris, Leith, March 1991.
Date and length: 1850 mid-February to Easter
Venue: Holy Cross, Liverpool
Missioners: –
Sources: Daniel Murray, Holy Cross Church, Celebrating 150 Years, pages 16-17
Features: well attended, many people returned to the sacraments, about thirty converts were received into the church
Date and length: 1851
Venue: London
Missioners: Frs. Cooke and Noble
Sources: LM to Aubert 20 July 1851 Oblate Writings I, vol. 3, p.80
Date and length: 1852, March
Venue: Edinburgh and other places in Scotland
Missioners: Frs. Cooke and Dutertre
Sources: Maureen Gillon, Stella Maris March 1991
Date and length: 1854, October
Venue: Jersey
Missioners: Frs. Cooke and Fox
Sources: Sicklinghall Codex under the date 2 November 1854
Features: Huge response. Extreme pressure on missioners. Conversions.
Date and length: 1855, closed 23 March.
Venue: Bermondsey, London.
Missioners: Frs. Cooke and Fox
Sources: Sicklinghall Codex 23 March 1855.
Date and length: 1856: 3 February to 2 March 1856.
Venue: St. Mary’s and St. Patrick’s, Bradford.
Missioners: Frs. Cooke, Arnoux, Fox and Noble.
Sources: Sicklinghall Codex historicus: 2 February 1856. Also, a contemporary French newspaper cutting contained in the manu entitled Chroniques de la Province d’Angleterre.
Features: church packed, crowded confessionals, 8000 communions, 200 persons over the age of 15 who were admitted to the sacraments for the first time, a number of conversions, a general spirit of conversion.
Date and length: 1856: 1 May to 31 May
Venue: St. Augustine’s Chapel, John Street, Dublin.
Missioners: Frs. Cooke, Gubbins, Arnoux, and Fox.
Sources: Article from The Telegraph found in Chroniques de la Province d’Angleterre, page 58, with further text written by the chronicler.
Features: The first Oblate mission in Ireland. The missioners arrived a few days early, as the Archbishop of Dublin wanted to see them before the mission began. Great crowds and busy confessionals.
Date and length: 1857: 19 April to 31 May.
Venue: Oblate church of the Immaculate Conception, Inchicore.
Missioners: Frs. Cooke, Noble, Dutertre, Gubbins, Fox and Crousel.
Sources: Inchicore Codex historicus, 19 April 1857 and following entries.
Features: crowded church and crowded confessionals. The large mission cross was planted in a conspicuous place in the chapel yard as a memento of the mission.
Date and length: 1858: opened 1 May
Venue: St. Laurence O’Toole, Dublin.
Missioners: Frs. Cooke, Arnoux, Fox and Gubbins
Sources: Codex historicus House of Retreat Inchicore 1 May 1858.; Oblate Writings I, vol. 3, p.145.
Date and length: 1858: 18 July to 8 August 1858.
Venue: Cathedral, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.
Missioners: Frs. Cooke, Noble, Fox, Gubbins and Ryan.
Sources: Codex Historicus Inchicore 17 July 1858 and a cutting from the Tipperary Examinerfound in the Codex Historicus Inchicore.
Features: See below.
Date and length: 1858: 3 weeks, 1-21 November 1858.
Venue: Mount St. Mary’s Leeds.
Missioners: Frs. Cooke, Fox and others.
Sources: Inchicore Codex 18 October 1858.
Features: 6000 persons received Holy Communion.
Date and length: 1859: 1 May to 3 June.
Venue: St. Augustine’s Chapel, John Street, Dublin.
Missioners: Frs. Cooke, Noble, Dutertre and Gubbins.
Sources: Inchicore Codex 28 April, 1 and 11 May, 2 and 3 June, 1859.
Features: This mission was attended “by an immense crowd of people. Pontifical mass was sung by the Right Rev. D. O’Connor, O.S.A., Bishop of Salves.” Fr. Gubbins fell ill during this retreat and was unable to take part in the last 10 days. Fr. Cooke held a provincial council meeting on 5 May and left on the 7 May to go to Galashiels and Edinburgh “where he had to see the archbishop the Right Rev. Dr. Gillis, who wanted us to take the administration of Leith”. He returned to the mission on 11 May.
Date and length: 1859:12 June to July 3
Venue: Chapelizod, Co. Dublin
Missioners: Frs. Cooke, Fox and Kirby.
Sources: Inchicore Codex 10 and 12 June, 3 July 1859.
Features: This was directed at the mill workers principally. It was well attended “as the proprietors of the mills gave time to the workmen to go to their duties.”
Date and length: 1859: 24 July 21 August
Venue: Naas, County Kildare
Missioners: Frs. Cooke, Bennett, Fox, Kirby and Gobert
Sources: Codex Historicus House of Retreat Inchicore 22 July, 21 August 1859
Features: – 7000 communions.
Date and length: 1859: November for four weeks.
Venue: Ballinity, Co. Wexford.
Missioners: Frs. Cooke, Arnoux and Ryan.
Sources: Codex Historicus Inchicore November 1859.
Features: “Most successful”.
Date and length: 1860: January.
Venue: Hull, England.
Missioners: Fr. Cooke and others.
Sources: Codex Historicus Inchicore 9 January 1860.
Date and length: 1860: 15 April to 6 May.
Venue: Dundee, Scotland.
Missioners: Frs. Cooke, Noble and Dutertre.
Sources: Missions OMI 1862 p.19; Codex Historicus Inchicore 16 April 1860.
Features: Huge crowds and insufficient missioners to serve them.
Date and length: 1860: 19 May to 17 June 1860.
Venue: Cappoquin, Co. Waterford, Ireland.
Missioners: Frs. Fox, Gubbins, Ryan, Nolan and Cooke.
Sources: Missions OMI 1862 page 20-1.See also Codex Historicus Inchicore May 1860.
Features: Huge crowds and insufficient missioners to serve them.
Date and length: 1860: 2 August to 9 September 1860.
Venue: Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, Ireland.
Missioners: Frs. Cooke, Fox, Gubbins, Nolan and Ryan.
Sources: Missions OMI 1862 page 21-2.
Features: Huge crowds, crowded confessionals. Four requests of entrance to the juniorate, one for entrance to the novitiate as scholastic, along with four candidates for the brotherhood, all able to teach school. Erection of a Cross.
Date and length: 1860: November 1860
Venue: Newtownbarry, Co. Wexford, Ireland.
Missioners: Frs. Cooke, Fox, Ryan and Nolan.
Sources: Missions OMI, 1862 p.27.
Features: 7000 communions, two hundred adult confirmations, eleven Protestants baptized and several marriages regularized. When the missionaries left they were accompanied despite their objections by an immense throng for a distance of some twelve miles before they reached the place where they could board the public transport.
Date and length: 1861: 3 to 17 February 1861.
Venue: Perth, Scotland.
Missioners: Frs. Fox and Noble.
Sources: Codex Historicus Inchicore 3 February 1861.
Features: About 800 people received communion.
Date and length: 1861: 17 February to Passion Sunday.
Venue: Holy Cross, Liverpool.
Missioners: Frs. Gobert, Kirby, Fox and Arnoux.
Sources: Missions OMI, 1862 p.28-29.
Features: Confessions heard for 9 or 10 hours a day. Conversions and countless communions. Devotions included Mass for the souls in purgatory, consecrations to the Sacred Heart and the Blessed Virgin, blessing of objects of devotion twice a week, the scapular of the Immaculate Conception given on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Some days before the closure, the Bishop of Liverpool Bishop Gosse confirmed 500 adults prepared by the missionaries. At the closure the mission cross was erected in Holy Cross church and baptismal vows renewed.
Date and length: 1861: April 1861 for two weeks.
Venue: Ballymare, [Co. Roscommon?]
Missioners: Frs. Cooke, Ryan and Ring.
Sources: Codex Historicus Inchicore April 1861.
Features: “much fruit”.
The Thurles Mission – 18 July to 8 August 1858
The departure ceremony for the main group of missioners – Frs. Cooke, Noble, Fox and Gubbins – took place in Inchicore on the afternoon of 17 July. The group was joined later in Thurles by Fr. Ryan. The mission began on the 18 July 1858 with Pontifical High Mass sung by the Archbishop of Cashel and Emly who then left to visit the Diocese and confer confirmation. The Inchicore Codex reports: “The Fathers had never seen such a crowd of people attending their instructions as in Thurles. His Grace the Archbishop had given an order from the beginning to them to hear the confessions only of the inhabitants of the city; the confessionals were besieged from morning till evening and it happened that there were those who went to the chapel to receive the holy Sacraments three successive days and could not be heard before the third day. It may be said that there were every day about 500 to receive the Holy Communion, between six and seven hundred adults were confirmed and the cathedral although containing 4000 people was too small for the crowds. Today took place the renewal of the baptismal vows. Such a great number of candles were distributed to the people in the church, the yard and the street that the sacristan counted more than 15,000 offered up to the Church. The Archbishop was much pleased with the fruits produced by the mission: and passing by the church, when he saw the multitude of the faithful, he indicated the confessionals and said it is there the work has been done”.
The closure of the Oblate mission in Thurles is described in a cutting from the Tipperary Examiner found in the Codex Historicus Inchicore:
“The mission of the Oblate Fathers closed here with due solemnity on Sunday evening, and never since O’Connell held his monster meeting at Knockroe, outside this town, was there so large an assemblage here as on this occasion. From six o’clock in the morning the people poured in their peaceful might until twelve, when the streets became literally impassable. After last Mass the holy Fathers, accompanied by the local Clergy and the Archbishop, came in solemn procession from the sanctuary, through the aisle of the church, to the yard, where a massive cross was erected as a memento of the visit of the holy Fathers to Thurles. It was consecrated by the Archbishop, after which one of the Fathers delivered an appropriate discourse to the vast multitude on bended knees, half of whom could not obtain admission to the spacious yard. After prayers in the evening the scene was no less imposing. The entire multitude, with lighted candles in their hands, renewed their baptismal vows, and, as one-fourth of the people could not gain admission to the church, one of the Fathers performed the ceremony in the yard, and anybody who knows the extend of Thurles Church, and the spacious yard, can form some opinion of the solemnity of the scene, when they learn that hundreds were on the street and could not gain admission. There were fully 7,000 people present. At half-past ten o’clock today the holy Fathers were accompanied to the railway station by a vast multitude, when they started for Dublin, amid the heartfelt tears and sighs of the good people who, on bended knees, testified their respect for them.”
We may conclude with this comment of Fr. Ryan, one of the missioners of that time, in his obituary of Father Gubbins: “Only some one who participated in the missions given by our Fathers between 1860 and 1866 could have any idea of the crushing workload they had to undertake. Prolonged hours in the confessional late into the night, rising early, no rest day, scarcely having the time to say the divine office, the immense crowds of people, packed churches, and often uncomfortable lodgings inadequate for a missionary…”
Michael Hughes, o.m.i.
