Yongning Church again
We often try to visit Sacred Heart Church in Yongning when we are in that village in the far north of Beijing. We have not been there for several months, so we missed the renovations earlier this year. I had seen online that the renovations were complete, so last weekend we paid a late afternoon visit. We were amazed at what we saw.
Instead of winding down narrow, dirt alleyways to find the almost-hidden entrance, we entered through the new main gate right on the street. There's no way to miss the entrance to the church property now.
We were immediately greeted by Jesus.
More after the jump
This whole area between the new gate and the church was previously full of older buildings in disrepair. Cleared away, the church community in Yongning has a giant courtyard for parties, processions, and, of course, basketball. I can't help but think that Easter Vigil would be phenomenal out here.
The Grotto has been rebuilt. Since it was still light out, we only go to enjoy a little bit of the Marian songs that play on the speakers. At night, there are apparently also lights up through the fish pond. As I always do, I reminded the kids that Ave Maria is 万福玛利亚 in Latin.
Before, I never considered the interior of the church to be lacking. Yes, it was rather plain, decorated in a post-Cultural Revolution style, but it wasn't in a state of deterioration. Today, though, the church is quite beautiful. It has more of a finished, intentional feel to it.
New crucifix, new tabernacle, new statuary, new altar.
It's hard to tell from my pictures, but the tableaux under the altar is of a sacrificial lamb being led to a holocaust. There's even a bit of electric flame under there. It was startling, calling to my mind the history of this church building.
The windows were also replaced. Previously they were plain glass with some colored decals paper on them. How long has it been since the sunlight streamed in vibrant colors across the sanctuary?
Brigid did not want to leave, comfortable on one of the many child-sized benches surrounding the courtyard.
I couldn't blame her. While previous trips were more about the meaning and the history, the current Sacred Heart Church feels like someplace we would like to visit. We spent a quite a bit of time chatting with some of the people who were at the church. They occasionally host English-language Masses, a surprise to me because I did not know there were that many foreigners living around Yanqing County. Complimenting them on the beautiful work that had been completed there, we told them we looked forward to returning again for Mass sometime.
Instead of winding down narrow, dirt alleyways to find the almost-hidden entrance, we entered through the new main gate right on the street. There's no way to miss the entrance to the church property now.
We were immediately greeted by Jesus.
More after the jump
This whole area between the new gate and the church was previously full of older buildings in disrepair. Cleared away, the church community in Yongning has a giant courtyard for parties, processions, and, of course, basketball. I can't help but think that Easter Vigil would be phenomenal out here.
The Grotto has been rebuilt. Since it was still light out, we only go to enjoy a little bit of the Marian songs that play on the speakers. At night, there are apparently also lights up through the fish pond. As I always do, I reminded the kids that Ave Maria is 万福玛利亚 in Latin.
Before, I never considered the interior of the church to be lacking. Yes, it was rather plain, decorated in a post-Cultural Revolution style, but it wasn't in a state of deterioration. Today, though, the church is quite beautiful. It has more of a finished, intentional feel to it.
New crucifix, new tabernacle, new statuary, new altar.
It's hard to tell from my pictures, but the tableaux under the altar is of a sacrificial lamb being led to a holocaust. There's even a bit of electric flame under there. It was startling, calling to my mind the history of this church building.
The windows were also replaced. Previously they were plain glass with some colored decals paper on them. How long has it been since the sunlight streamed in vibrant colors across the sanctuary?
Brigid did not want to leave, comfortable on one of the many child-sized benches surrounding the courtyard.
I couldn't blame her. While previous trips were more about the meaning and the history, the current Sacred Heart Church feels like someplace we would like to visit. We spent a quite a bit of time chatting with some of the people who were at the church. They occasionally host English-language Masses, a surprise to me because I did not know there were that many foreigners living around Yanqing County. Complimenting them on the beautiful work that had been completed there, we told them we looked forward to returning again for Mass sometime.
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