BREVITIES

The Bishop of Southwark assisted, in St. George's Cathedral on the 18th inst., at the solemn requiem for Canon Sheen, whose death was recorded in the Catholic Herald last week. The celebrant was the Bishop-Auxiliary, Mgr. Provost Brown, Bishop of Pella. Scores of clergy were present from many parts of the diocese. The large congregation included also representatives of a number of convents and
other institutions. After the Mass the interment took place at Kensal Green.
A District Council of the Catholic Young Men's Society has been formed for Worcestershire, to keep in closer touch the various branches of the organisation in that county. The Rev. W. E. Warner, Rector of St. Peter's, Bromsgrove, has been appointed as the chaplain.
Otherwise unemployed men at Blacnavon, Mon., have been engaged for about a year past in building an assembly hall in the town, from the design of one of their number, Mr. Walter H. Higgs. Named the Mostyn Catholic Hall, in honour of the Archbishop of Cardiff, the building reflects high credit on all concerned. Praise and gratitude to the voluntary workers came from the Archbishop, when His Grace opened the hall last week, and from Canon Quigley, Fr. R. Jennings, and Fr. C. Thomas.
Fr. Harold (Joseph Naylor), O.S.F.C., of Pantasaph, sang a requiem Mass at St. Mary's, Louth, on the 16th inst., for the soul of his widowed mother, Mary Josephine Naylor, who prior to her marriage was for several years in the choir of that church. By a coincidence this, Fr. Harold's first solemn requiem, took place on the second anniversary of his ordination. Other members of the family rendered the music of the Mass.
Canon James Mahoney, Ph.D., Rector at Deptford, although recovered from his recent serious illness, will not be able to return to duty in the borough, it is stated, for another six months.
The window erected in St. Swithun's, Southsca, as a memorial to Canon Patrick O'Leary, who died in 1935, was blessed, on St. Patrick's Day, by the present Rector, the Rev. Patrick J. McSwiney.
The annual meeting of the Birmingham Roman Catholic Friendly Society, held in Birmingham on the 18th inst., had before it a report which again showed the exceptional financial strength of the society, the assets now exceeding £13,000. The recent quinquennial valuation was highly satisfactory, and a surplus was again disclosed. It was remembered that many old members, for a contribution of 6d. weekly, are now covered for sickness benefit ranging from 12s. per week, and in addition a death benefit, with accumulated surplus appropriations, of nearly £50. A truly remarkable society, which deserves the attention of every Catholic man in the archdiocese. A new table, covering sickness benefit and a cash payment at sixty-five at a very low rate of contribution, has been adopted to encourage Catholic boys to join the society as soon as they leave school.
* * Thirty-seven pupils from the Oratory Central Girls' School at Chelsea, accompanied by their mistresses, are leaving London on Easter Monday for an eight days' tour of Belgium, making Bruges their headquarters. They will spend a day also in Holland, visiting Middleburg.
The new junior elementary school for the parish of St. Hubert at Warley, Oldbury, was opened last Saturday by the Mayor of Oldbury and chairman of the Borough Education Committee. The school accommodates close upon two hundred children and has cost £8,500. The Galton trustees provided two-thirds of the cost of the site. At the opening ceremony the Archbishop of Birmingham referred to the Hadow reorganisation scheme. Catholics, His Grace said, hoped, with the help and goodwill of
the local authorities, to combine their schools in such a way that they might have good senior schools, even though these might not be so large as the council senior schools.
Mr. D. J. Walsh is retiring next autumn from the positiog of headmaster of SL Joseph's school, Highgate. During his twenty-five years' work at the school, Mr. Walsh has seen upwards of two thousand pupils pass through his hands. Before going to Highgate he was for many years a teacher in Bermondsey.