May 24
Well, I have blogger access at the moment through AOL which I haven't had since Saturday. No telling how long it will last this time.
Yesterday was May 24, World Day of Prayer for the Church in China. I went to Mass with a stack of print-outs---Mass readings in English for Ascension, for the Seventh Sunday of Easter, and the English-language text of the Pope's Prayer. Yes, blogger is blocked and the Vatican website is still accessible in Chinese and English. Anyway, I was prepared for (hopefully) whatever the morning would bring my way.
Last year, I was living in Shenzhen. Friends at that Chinese parish sent me several text messages during the days leading up to May 24 to make sure I knew there was a special Mass that day, though it wasn't completely clear to me what the purpose of the Mass would be until I got there. We were still in those early weeks of the aftermath of the Sichuan Earthquake and the entire country was still in shock and mourning.
Of course, this year we are in Beijing and things are different. Beijing is a place where one (a foreigner) should assume a need for more caution. I didn't ask around about May 24.
When I arrived at the Church, a half-hour before Mass this time (sometimes it takes 35 minutes, sometimes an hour and thirty five minutes), I ran into my current favorite seminarian that it not my cousin. He lets me speak Chinese even though his English is perfect. I asked him which readings we were to do today, and he told me in his perfect English, "We are celebrating Ascension today." Thanking him, I walked away, forgetting to ask him about May 24.
Inside the Church, I noticed that the altar candles were blue. Yes, two blue candles on the altar. Not bright blue, not crazy blue, but Marian blue. Maybe after Mass? At the end of Mass?
No reference that I could understand was made to May 24. Our celebrant this morning was one whose accent really gives me trouble. He made announcements before the dismissal, but I think they were about Pentecost. After Mass, most people knelt for their usual after-Mass prayer or filed out of the church for their cars, bikes, or the walk to the bus stop.
Yesterday was May 24, World Day of Prayer for the Church in China. I went to Mass with a stack of print-outs---Mass readings in English for Ascension, for the Seventh Sunday of Easter, and the English-language text of the Pope's Prayer. Yes, blogger is blocked and the Vatican website is still accessible in Chinese and English. Anyway, I was prepared for (hopefully) whatever the morning would bring my way.
Last year, I was living in Shenzhen. Friends at that Chinese parish sent me several text messages during the days leading up to May 24 to make sure I knew there was a special Mass that day, though it wasn't completely clear to me what the purpose of the Mass would be until I got there. We were still in those early weeks of the aftermath of the Sichuan Earthquake and the entire country was still in shock and mourning.
Of course, this year we are in Beijing and things are different. Beijing is a place where one (a foreigner) should assume a need for more caution. I didn't ask around about May 24.
When I arrived at the Church, a half-hour before Mass this time (sometimes it takes 35 minutes, sometimes an hour and thirty five minutes), I ran into my current favorite seminarian that it not my cousin. He lets me speak Chinese even though his English is perfect. I asked him which readings we were to do today, and he told me in his perfect English, "We are celebrating Ascension today." Thanking him, I walked away, forgetting to ask him about May 24.
Inside the Church, I noticed that the altar candles were blue. Yes, two blue candles on the altar. Not bright blue, not crazy blue, but Marian blue. Maybe after Mass? At the end of Mass?
No reference that I could understand was made to May 24. Our celebrant this morning was one whose accent really gives me trouble. He made announcements before the dismissal, but I think they were about Pentecost. After Mass, most people knelt for their usual after-Mass prayer or filed out of the church for their cars, bikes, or the walk to the bus stop.
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