Come, little children
Someone going by the handle "Domenico" left some comments on this post, which reminded me that I want to get a post on the history of Nantou Church together. Actually I wanted to post something some others already wrote and translated into English, but I don't have it yet.
Last week some parishoners and the priest from St. Paul's visited the English-speaking Mass. The priest that comes up from Hong Kong a few times a month greeted them warmly and urged the usual English Mass go-ers to acquaint themselves with Nantou St. Paul in case there are ever in urgent need of a priest. Our Mass last week was then concelebrated by both the priest from Hong Kong and the priest from Nantou. I wish I had been rude enough to take a picture, only because it is something that doesn't necessarily happen often here in Shenzhen.
After Mass a brief historical introduction was distributed, and I thought I would hit the high points I can remember until I get the final version. The original mission parish was established in Nantou town (which is now a part of the Nanshan district in Shenzhen) by Italian missionaries in the 1870's. They built a church, a school, and, in 1913, an orphanage.
During the Cultural Revolution, the church property was destroyed, except for the orphanage buildings, which were then used for a public school. That is what survives today and is used for the present-day parish. So, the Bible verse, above the door, does in fact reference receiving children in His name, because that was the original use of these buildings.
Matthew 18:5
And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me
And yes, if I were running a contest, Uncle T was the first with the right answer, but Domenico did leave a comment worth high-lighting because in the past week I have learned much more about the parish history.
Last week some parishoners and the priest from St. Paul's visited the English-speaking Mass. The priest that comes up from Hong Kong a few times a month greeted them warmly and urged the usual English Mass go-ers to acquaint themselves with Nantou St. Paul in case there are ever in urgent need of a priest. Our Mass last week was then concelebrated by both the priest from Hong Kong and the priest from Nantou. I wish I had been rude enough to take a picture, only because it is something that doesn't necessarily happen often here in Shenzhen.
After Mass a brief historical introduction was distributed, and I thought I would hit the high points I can remember until I get the final version. The original mission parish was established in Nantou town (which is now a part of the Nanshan district in Shenzhen) by Italian missionaries in the 1870's. They built a church, a school, and, in 1913, an orphanage.
During the Cultural Revolution, the church property was destroyed, except for the orphanage buildings, which were then used for a public school. That is what survives today and is used for the present-day parish. So, the Bible verse, above the door, does in fact reference receiving children in His name, because that was the original use of these buildings.
Matthew 18:5
And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me
And yes, if I were running a contest, Uncle T was the first with the right answer, but Domenico did leave a comment worth high-lighting because in the past week I have learned much more about the parish history.
Comments
All I have about the original mission founders were that they were from Milan. I'll see if I can find more specific information.
Google is a beautiful thing.
I am very happy to learn that the small seed dropped by some Italian missionaries in the past was not lost, but now it is a living parish with Chinese priests and even with international faithfuls.