The
Catholic Weekly
Online
Sydney
21 September 2003
Home
Archive
Subscribe
Links
Contact
Heaven
scent floral feast
Welcome
strangers’ call
Bishops:
Fight racism
Bishop
Mayne dies at 75
Senate
‘yes’ to gay bid
Benedictine
nuns gather in Sydney
Tears
of joy at Marriage Sunday Mass
Donor
club
His
Holiness, the poet
Concert
to mark Pope’s jubilee
It’s
‘weakness of faith’
Still
a need for Catholic voice: Dr Pell
Editorial:
Spectre of fear
Letters:
Christian values
Conversation:
Amanda McKenna, Catholic singer and songwriter - ‘God’s messenger’ on a journey
of faith
Opintion:
‘Good mother of all ...’
Voice
of Youth: ‘Most wonderful day’
Insights:
Biblical ancestors?
Religious:
Spirit-ualities are everywhere
North
American, Irish, Australian sisters in historic Loreto reunion
Education:
Decade a day at school
Social
Work degree course at Strathfield
Balmain
kids hit right note
Catechism:
Daytime course
New
bishops ‘help God’s light shine in darkness’
Capacity
to forgive ...
‘Heroic
witness’ to the Gospel of hope
‘Kids
worth dying for’
Inspirations:
‘Schoolies’ faith patrol
Heaven scent floral feast
By Marilyn Rodrigues
The light, joyful strains of Vivaldi’s Spring, and the scent of blooms greeted the first visitors to the Flower Festival at St Mary’s Cathedral this month.
The four-day festival was organised by the St Mary’s Flower Festival Committee as a fundraiser for the cathedral’s restoration appeal.
The Governor, Prof Marie Bashir, who opened the festival, said the cathedral was a “truly magnificent and uplifting sight” with more than 100 floral displays, She congratulated the artists and donors of the displays which evidenced such “effort and love”.
The Archbishop of Sydney, Dr George Pell, said: “Many unbelievers and people unsure about God are still touched by nature and many have been brought to God by contemplation of its beauties.
“Since the fall, humanity’s longing for paradise has been reflected in our delight in the beauty of nature. Gardens give nourishment to the body and mind and should also awaken spiritual hunger.”
The archbishop blessed the flower arrangements and prayed that all drawn to this “pageant of beauty” be also drawn closer to God.
Mons Tony Doherty, dean of St Mary’s Cathedral, said that his favourite arrangement was the huge explosion of red and gold roses from the centre of the large wooden cross near the confessionals, because it caused him to reflect on the great beauty of redemption that came from the great pain of the crucifixion.
Dame Monica Gallagher, of the Friends of the Cathedral, initiated the festival in 1987 as a prelude to the bicentenary celebrations.
Now the festival is held every three years and is accompanied by a variety of live choral and other music. This year the entertainers included St Mary’s Cathedral College Band and Orchestra, the Royal Australian Air Force Band and soloists from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, plus the St Mary’s Cathedral Choir and the St Mary’s Singers.
Festival sponsors included businesses, embassies, Church organisations and parishes.
Many arrangements were donated by people in honour of deceased loved ones.
There was also an arrangement in memory of the Bali terrorist bomb victims last October, donated by St Mary’s Flower Festival Committee.