ARCHBISHOP MASTERSON BURIED

My dearest friend by the Cardinal
CARD1NAL Griffin paid tribute to "my dearest friend" when he preached the panegyric at the Solemn Pontifical Requiem Mass for Archbishop Masterson on Monday in St. Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham.
His Eminence described the Archbishop not only as a man "born to the purple," but as "a family man, devoted to his parents and his home." who found pleasure in his elevation to the episcopate "because of the joy it brought to his aged mother, to his brothers and his sisters."
"Almost inevitably he became captain of his school at Douai-and, of course, captain of games, for he was God's athlete in every sense of those words."
He served in the first World War with the Dublin Fusiliers, and then, as soon as possible. became a priest and "a soldier of God."
'Quite unspoiled' At the English College, Rome, he was "the rock upon which our student life was built . . a man's man, generous and dependable, playing his full part in the life of the house, the essence of good humour, the soul of loyalty."
His "brilliance left him quite unspoiled." and he, who never knew a day's illness, had a special affection for the sick.
In Manchester, this brilliant priest was the servant of the people, a man most at home with priests and when he was with children.
He was an orator who listened to others with patient understanding, a man whose physical strength was matched by "supreme gentleness," a man with an immense capacity for friendship.
"No roan was better loved," said the Cardinal. "No man's counsel was more frequently sought . . .
"At no time was he greater than this last year when in face of death. It was only in April last that he learned the full gravity of his illness. He accepted it unflinchingly and thanked those who broke the news to him . . .
Bl. Cuthbert
"At his bedside he had the relic of his great patron Blessed Cuthbert Mayne. On November 30, 1577, Blessed Cuthbert went forth from Launceston Castle to give his life for the Church. On November 30. 1953, the soul of Joseph Masterson went forth to meet his Creator."
Many churches cancelled their evening services on Sunday to enable the people to go to the cathedral to receive and pray by the body of the Archbishop, and the cathedral was kept open until 10 p.m.
Bishop Bright, preaching in the cathedral on Sunday, said that the Archbishop was "an extremely humble man-the hall mark of a great personality."
"His friends were world-wide because he received everyone as a friend and never forgot a name, or face, or the interests of other people, "He knew the name and place of every priest in this diocese before he set foot on the railway platform on his first arrival as Archbishop."
The Cardinal presided at the Solemn Requiem Mass offered by the Apostolic Delegate. Archbishop Godfrey, who was assisted by two cousins of Mgr. Masterson, Canon Earley and Fr. Thomas Keville.
The absolutions at the catafalque were given by Bishop Bright, Auxiliary of Birmingham and Provost of the Chapter. Bishop Rudderham of Clifton, Bishop Murphy of Shrewsbury, Bishop Grimshaw of Plymouth and, finally, by the Cardinal.
Present, too-with some 400 priests -were the Archbishops of Cardiff and St. Andrews and Edinburgh, the Bishops of Leeds, Mencvia, Northampton, Portsmouth, Salford, Southwark, Nottingham and Kilmore, and the Abbots of Downside, Prinknash, Belmont, Mount St. Bernard and Douai.
In the congregation were the Anglican Bishop of Birmingham with the Archdeacons of Birmingham and Aston, the Lord Mayor and other civic leaders, and Mr. Harold Traynor, Irish Minister of Defence, who also attended the interment at Oscott College.
Each parish in the diocese was represented by two of the laity. and eight laymen representing Catholic organisations bore the coffin from the cathedral.