Mt. St. Mary’s,
Greenmeadows.
Sun. 9th Aug. ‘70

Dear Mum & Dad,

No, I missed out on being bellman! Murray Cox landed the job. He has to give a sung call every morning, & he’s tone-deaf.

We were supposed to have a Conge on Thursday. But it rained, & again on Friday & Saturday, but it’s fine again today. It was the first rain we had had for a month. If you want rain, go on a Conge. We are having one tomorrow now, so I’m glad it rained on Thursday.

Frs. Bourke, Bennett & Connolly (next year’s Novice Master) are here this weekend for a meeting. Frs. Bourke & Connolly will be leaving for Rome soon for the 2nd Session of the Society’s General Chapter.

Last night we went into Napier to hear the N.Z. B.C. Symphony Orchestra. Mary O’Brien sang some songs. It was very enjoyable. I think Sr. Mary Leo was in the audience.

During the week a man has been putting varnished skirting boards around the dining room & library. They had this black plastic-type skirting, but it kept shrinking with glue on it every six months, so now they’ve got wooden skirting.

Our tabby cat, “Richardson”, has been missing for 2 days & it is causing quite a stir among the students!

The operetta this year is “Geisha”. It is set in Japan. I have been asked to play the piano again. The music is much easier than “My Fair Lady” which I played in my 1st year. Do you know it? If you have any old Japanese parasols & fans, etc. they would be much appreciated!

Next Wednesday in class I am giving a sermon on “Hope”. I haven’t written it yet however, so that’s all I can say about it at the moment.

I think that I have told you sometime about the Students’ Missionary Society. We sort stamps & tea-coupons & make money; we also make statues & rosary beads for the missions, send books over, make displays for schools on the missions if they want them, etc. etc. We also write to missionaries. Recently a large notice-board has gone up in the Rec. Room – a “Mission Stand” for displays, etc. to stimulate interest in the missions, & I have been put in charge of it. The problem is, the Mission Society seems a bit dead at the moment. Every stamp that is sorted is a sheer drudgery for the students, & there’s not much interest. I was wondering if you had any ideas for displays or any material (esp. Society of Mary Missions – which is mainly Western Oceania). Also, if you have any ideas for stimulating interest in the Mission Society itself – any “new” works it can do; or any ideas on its reorganization; etc.

Well, it’s almost tea time.

Love from
Bruce

P.S. I played the Organ at Mass this morning - & there were wrong notes everywhere! It must have been the night out last night.




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