– Miguel Augusto
In response to the appeal made to the Catholic community by the Bishop of Macau, D. Stephen Lee, calling on all the faithful to unite in the Sé Cathedral church, in prayer for the Church in China, last May 24, at the end of the afternoon at 8 pm, lay and religious faithful of the most diverse nationalities – most of them Chinese – arrived at the church to join in prayer.
It was Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI who established the date of this prayer intention in 2007 in a letter addressed to all the faithful of the Catholic Church in China, having chosen May 24 as the “Day of Prayer for the Church in China,” a date on which the Church celebrates the feast of “Mary Help of Christians” who is venerated in China as Our Lady of Sheshan, in a shrine near Shanghai.
As the seats of the Cathedral were being occupied, D. Stephen Lee sat next to the faithful, contemplating the altar and Mary Most Holy, where he remained for some time before going to the sacristy, accompanied by two acolytes.
The ceremony began with the bishop of Macau going to the main altar accompanied by the acolytes and Father Cyril Law, and there they knelt. Father Cyril Law, after having placed the humeral veil, walked to the tabernacle to bring out the Blessed Sacrament. The whole assembly knelt, awaiting the presence of the Most Holy One, who was solemnly exposed in the monstrance on the altar throughout the entire period of this prayer, supplication, praise and hymns.
Bishop Stephen Lee at one point moved to the ambo and addressed to everyone present in a homily. The discourse was made in Chinese, but some brothers in the faith, who were present there and who dominate the Chinese, English and Portuguese languages, gave us key points of our bishop’s message.
D. Stephen Lee began by giving a historical overview of the development of the Church in China, which started in the 8th and 9th centuries when the first Christian missionaries there laid the seeds of the Gospel. He then recalled the 13th and 16th centuries, when Franciscan friars and later the Jesuits and Dominicans were sent as missionaries to China. In the early 20th century, the Catholic hierarchy was established throughout China and several clerics of Chinese ethnicity were raised to the episcopal dignity.
Our bishop invited us to reflect on the many persecutions that the Church has suffered throughout its twelve centuries of existence in China, urging us to place our hopes in Christ.
Bishop Stephen Lee also reflected on the new interim agreement between the Holy See and China on the question of the appointment of bishops, which was signed on 22 September 2018. He mentioned that this date would surely enter into the history of the Church in China, as a milestone, a date to be remembered by generations to come as the beginning of a deeper dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Chinese government.
The Bishop of Macau also warned of the need to foster the spirit of unity within the Church in China. D. Stephen Lee asked us to focus on Christ, on God, saying that the Church will never be built with human effort or human “politics,” but rather, the Church is built by the Lord.
Finally, he invited everyone to pray for the Catholic Church in China, which is the best help we can give.
The prayer gathering was concluded with the prayer of the Rosary recited in its decades and mysteries in three languages – Chinese, English and Portuguese – throughout the assembly, and by the singing of the Salve Regina.
The Blessed Sacrament returned to the tabernacle, through the hands of Father Cyril Law, with those present on their knees, who – in the form of a farewell – consolidated their prayers in faith and hope in the Lord.
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