Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 15.djvu/769

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WORCESTER


703


WORCESTER


Brothers of the Sacred Heart, putting Brother Camil- his (Terence Woods) at their head, for the work of boys' schools. At Father Woods's suggestion Bishop Sheil invited (1S09) the Sevenhill Jesuits to establish themselves at Norwood. A gifted missionary, Father Woods, Wiis invited (1870) by Bishop Quinn of Bath- urst to give missions in his diocese; and for eleven years he laboured with great success in New South Wales, Queensland, and Tasmania. During his absence, however, difficulties arose; by episcopal authority the Brothers were disbanded and the Sisters for a time dispersed. Their manner of observing poverty and their freedom from diocesan control were objected to. In a short time the storm subsided. Father Tappeiner, S.J., of Norwood, took Father Woods's place as director and friend. Mother Mary was sent to Rome by Bishop Reynolds, then (1873) administrator of the Diocese of Adelaide. Pius IX, 20 April, 1874, approved of the rule of the Sisters after it had lieen revnsed and reported on by Father Anderledy, later Gen- eral of the Jesuits. The Sisters were allowed to hve under cen- tral government, possess prop- erty, and accept fees for tuition. This was affirmed anew when Leo XIII erected the institute into a congregation, 2.5 July, 1888. During his apostolic labours leather Woods found opportunity for scientific pur- suits.

His " Geological Observat ions in South Australia" (London. 1862) won him the friendsliip of Sir Charles Lyell. In lxs:i he accepted the invitation of .'^ir Frederick \A'eld to visit Singa- pore, lie then explored Malacca for minerals, traversed Java, and spent some time in Siam. That same year he received a gold medal from the King of Holland in recognition of his scientific labours. The British Admiralty requested him to re- port on the coal resources of the East, ;u3 he was |)robably then the leading authority on this subject. His discoveries were of great benefit to the British na\-j', and he was munificently recompensed by the Admiralty, which placed his reports in its archives. After visiting China and Japan his health became impaired, and on his homeward journey in H.M.S. "Flying Fish", before landing at Port Darwin, he \nsited several islands previously unknown. At the request of the government resident at Port Dar- win, he thoroughly explored the mineral districts of the Northern Territory of South Australia. After a short visit to Queensland he returned to Sydney, where he gradually became paralysed. Some of his best work was done as an invalid. He received the Passionist habit on his death-bed, and wiis buried in Waverley Cemetery, Sydney. Father Woods was a fellow of the Geological Society of London (LS-TO), and W!is elected president of the Linnean Society of New South Wales in 1880. In addition to the works mentioned above, he %\Tote: "Not quite as old as the hills" (Melbourne, 1864); "History of the Dis- covery and P^xploration of Austraha" (London, 186.5) ; "Fish and Fisheries of New South Wales" (Sydney, 1882); "Austrahan Essays"; "Australian Bibliogra- phy"; "On Natural History in New South Wales" (Sydney, 1882); "On the Volcano of Taal, Philip- pines" (Sydney, 1SS7); "North Austraha and its Phj'sical Geography" (Adelaide, 1887); "Fisheries in


Oriental Regions" (Sydney, 1888); "Anatomy and Life History of MoUusca" (Sydney, 1888), a prize essay which won the W. B. Clarke medal; "Desert Sand Stone of Australia" (Sydney, 1889); "On Vege- tation in Malaysia" (Sydney, 1889); and "Geographi- cal Notes in Malaysia and Asia" (Sydney, 1888). The catalogue of the Public Library, Adelaide, contains the names of seventy-nine books, pamphlets, and articles written by pVther Woods; the articles, which treat chiefly of geology, conchology, and zoology, were mainly contributed to the journals of the various Australasian scientific societies.

William O'Dowling.

Worcester, Ancient Diocese of (Wigornien- sis), England, created in 680 when, at the Svnod of Hatfield under St. Theodore, Archbishop of "Canter- oury, the great Mercian diocese was divided into five sees. Tatfrith, a monk of Whitby, was nominated first bishop, but he died before con- secration, and Bosel, one of his fellow monks, was consecrated in his stead. The history of the diocese was singularly un- eventful, and it was specially fortunate in the fact that it never was long vacant, as so many other sees frequently were. The line of its bishops from 680 to 156.5 was unbroken. The Mercian kings w'ere pro- fuse in the endowments which they lavished on the cathedral 1 hurch, which was originally dc(lic:ited to St. Peter but af- li'rwanls to Our Lady. It was originally served by secular canons, but in tlie tenth cen- tury St. O.swald replaced them In' Benedictines. He also re- built the cathedral, finishing the work in 983, bvit in 1041 the Danes burned the city and ruined the cathedral, and it was reserved for another saint, St. Wulstan, to rebuild it (1084- S9). This new building fre- quentlv suffered from fire (1113, 1180, "1202). In 1216 King John was buried there, between the shrines of the two Worcester saints, O.swald and Wulstan; and two years later the cathedral, once more restored, was consecrated at a great gathering at which the king and many prelates and nobles were present. At various times modifications were made in the structure, which gi'adually assumed the Early (!othic character it now bears. Probably the Worcester nave is among the earliest instances of English Gothic, dat- ing from the later part of the twelfth century. The transepts are a mixture of Norman and Porpendicular work; the choir. Lady chapel, and east transe|)ts are Early EngUsh (1224). The crypt alone remains of St. Wulstan's work. The monastic buildings, of which only the cloister, chapter-hou.se, and refectory remain, were on the south and west of the cathedral. From the time of Henry VII the see was filled by Italian prelates, who rei)resented the king's interests at Rome. Among these was the future Pope Clem- ent VII. It Wiis the special i)rerogative of the bishop to act as chaplain to the Archbi.shop of Canter- bury, and thus to celebrate Ma.ss at all assemblies of the clergy at which the jirimate was present. The following is the complete list of bishops: — Bosel 680 1 Wilfrith 1 718

Oftfor 691 Mildred about 743

St. Ecgwine 693 1 Wa^rmund 775