Today's new words
Fu huo jie kuaile! Happy Easter, which is literally Resurrection Holiday
We did not attend the Easter Vigil Mass at any parish last night. While I received reports this morning of how beautiful it was, the Mass lasted until 11 pm. That would have been, unfortunately, a wholly unpleasant experience for this family.
We did go this morning. Easter Masses at the Nantou St. Paul parish were held outside in the parking lot under a tarp. From other pictures I've posted in the past year and a half, I hope I been able to convey how small the inside of the Nantou church is. The original church building was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, so when the parish was able to petition for the return of the parish property, they were able to get the orphanage building that was attached to the old church.
There have been some construction projects at Nantou St. Paul this past year. A small apartment building has been added behind the church to house elderly church members who need or want to live close to the church. Also, the parking lot was reconfigured to allow for outdoor Masses as needed. Like Easter.
Even from where I took the above picture, there were scores of people behind me. Since there was no English-language Mass in Shekou this weekend, a few foreigners other than our family attended this Mass. Out of the hundreds at this Mass, maybe only 20-25 were not Chinese, but Father wanted to make sure that they felt welcome at our church. Minutes before the start of Mass I was handed an English-language missal and asked to recruit someone to read the English readings after the Chinese. I asked a French friend of mine, Isabelle, and she graciously volunteered to read the Colossians reading since it was shorter.
I wish I had gotten a picture of the altar flowers. I think I've mentioned before (but I can't find it), but the altar flowers at all the Masses I've been to in China (Chinese and foreigner) and Hong Kong are brought up with the offertory. This picture below was taken just at the beginning of Mass, so the four enormous arrangements of roses and lilies aren't seen.
The Mass was wonderful, but unfortunately, the rest of my pictures and video are pretty crummy. But we had a lot of Alleluias! The Lord has risen! Alleluia!
We did not attend the Easter Vigil Mass at any parish last night. While I received reports this morning of how beautiful it was, the Mass lasted until 11 pm. That would have been, unfortunately, a wholly unpleasant experience for this family.
We did go this morning. Easter Masses at the Nantou St. Paul parish were held outside in the parking lot under a tarp. From other pictures I've posted in the past year and a half, I hope I been able to convey how small the inside of the Nantou church is. The original church building was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, so when the parish was able to petition for the return of the parish property, they were able to get the orphanage building that was attached to the old church.
There have been some construction projects at Nantou St. Paul this past year. A small apartment building has been added behind the church to house elderly church members who need or want to live close to the church. Also, the parking lot was reconfigured to allow for outdoor Masses as needed. Like Easter.
Even from where I took the above picture, there were scores of people behind me. Since there was no English-language Mass in Shekou this weekend, a few foreigners other than our family attended this Mass. Out of the hundreds at this Mass, maybe only 20-25 were not Chinese, but Father wanted to make sure that they felt welcome at our church. Minutes before the start of Mass I was handed an English-language missal and asked to recruit someone to read the English readings after the Chinese. I asked a French friend of mine, Isabelle, and she graciously volunteered to read the Colossians reading since it was shorter.
I wish I had gotten a picture of the altar flowers. I think I've mentioned before (but I can't find it), but the altar flowers at all the Masses I've been to in China (Chinese and foreigner) and Hong Kong are brought up with the offertory. This picture below was taken just at the beginning of Mass, so the four enormous arrangements of roses and lilies aren't seen.
The Mass was wonderful, but unfortunately, the rest of my pictures and video are pretty crummy. But we had a lot of Alleluias! The Lord has risen! Alleluia!
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