After months of preparation by Srs. Anne, Maureen, Marilu, and Michelle, 12
sisters from China region, Sr. Margarita, Sr. Teresa, a laywoman from
Philippines and nine lay people from Hung Shui Kiu-Hong Kong went for a pilgrimage
to the early mission places of Maryknoll Sisters: Guilin, Wuzhou, and Jiangmen as
part of China Region Centennial Year celebration.
Sr.
Anne prepared booklets of each place from several sources, including from the
book “Maryknoll in China” by Jean-Paul Wiest and then I copied part of it for
this article. A travel agent helped to arrange the itinerary
of our pilgrimage which was held on Dec 27-Jan 1.
First
Day
We
went to Huanggang-Shenzhen immigration border on Dec 27 am. After having lunch at Sihui, we continued the
trip to Sacred Heart of Jesus Church Yunfu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yunfu, which were Maryknoll Fathers’ mission and then Sr.
Annie’s mission for one month. Fr.
Constantine Burns, MM was the last Maryknoll pastor there. Fr. Thomas Ma Si Wahn replaced him in 1949
but three months later, the People’s Liberation Army came into the area. In 1950 Sr. Lau and one other Sister of the
Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Jiangmen came as catechists to the
parish. During the Cultural Revolution
Father Ma and Sr. Lau were sent to different labor farms while the other Sister
was assigned to a factory close to the church.
After the Cultural Revolution Fr. Ma and Sr. Lau were able to return to
service in the parish, while the second Sister returned to Jiangmen. After several rounds of negotiation with the
Central Government, most of the original property of the church was returned.
After chatting with Fr. Chen and the
two pastoral sisters from Jiangmen Diocese, we attended a Cantonese Mass
celebrated by Fr. Chen. Then we visited
the Yunfu Catholic
Elderly Home, which began receiving elderly women catechists, Catholic single women,
and Catholic widows in the late 1980s.
At present the number of women being accepted is limited to 12 including
Sr. Lau. Residents are admitted free.
We spent our first night in Guilin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guilin. In 1933, the Kweilin territory was annexed to the Maryknoll territory of
Wuchow and in 1940, Srs. Barbara Mersinger
and Cornelia Collins began the direct apostolate. Maryknollers in Guilin encouraged the
formation of the Legion of Mary. In 1939, Msgr. Romaniello requested Srs. Mary
Gonzaga Rizzardi, Dominic Kelly and Agnes Devlin (Gabriel Marie) to take over
the direction of the novitiate and to help in the parish. The Sister Catechists of the Blessed Virgin
Mary were officially recognized on March 2, 1939 and first four candidates were
professed on May 31, 1942. During Japanese
occupation in 1937-1944, Sr. Antonia Marie Guerrieri ran a free clinic and during
the war, the novitiate was forced to close and the professed sisters were sent
to Wuzhou. The novitiate reopened on Oct
15, 1945 under the direction of Sr. Barbara Mersinger assisted by Sr. Agnes
Devlin. Soon there were 14 professed
Sisters. Between September and December,
1950 most Maryknollers were ordered to leave China and Msgr. Romaniello
dispensed the professed sisters from their vows and they went home. Srs. Rose Chin, Joan Ling, and Agnes Chou
were studying in Macau at the time and, unable to group with their Community,
they moved to Hong Kong and eventually they were welcomed into the Maryknoll
Sisters Congregation. Three young women
entered novitiate in 1993 and now there are six sisters who work as pastoral
sisters or undergo further study.
Second Day
After
attending Mandarin Daily Mass celebrated by Fr. Li and Fr. Tang at Guilin Church,
we had a time for chatting with Fr. Li, Fr. Tang, deacon and sisters. Then, we went for boating to four lakes and two
rivers http://www.chinaodysseytours.com/guilin/guilin-two-rivers-four-lakes.html,
overlooking the Elephant Trunk Hill http://www.chinaodysseytours.com/guilin/guilin-elephant-trunk-hill.html.
After drinking tea in a tea house
including learning how to hold the small tea cup, we went to Reed Flute Cave http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reed_Flute_Cave.
Third Day
We attended
Mandarin Daily Mass celebrated by Fr. Li and then go for boating to Xanadu to
see the several native tribes along the river http://video.cultural-china.com/?x0y1TLBMuky1TI5MhkyETIRM&x0y6TKVMukzFTL1MtkyOTKVMw0yyTMdMtky9TA==.
After going to West Street of Yangshuo http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/guangxi/yangshuo/west_street.htm
and having dinner, we watched the wonderful show of the Impression Liu San Jie http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/guangxi/yangshuo/impression-sanjieliu.htm.
Fourth Day
After breakfast at Yangshuo, we left
for Wuzhou http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuzhou
to have lunch with Fr. Yu and several sisters of the Congregation of the Sacred
Heart of Wuzhou. The Maryknoll Fathers
first went to Wuzhou in 1920 and followed by the Maryknoll Sisters in 1935 to assume
the direction of the women’s catechumenate under the direction of Sr. Moira
Riehl. In September of 1935 Srs. Mary Gonzaga and Moira
started to direct the pre-novitiate of the Sisters of the Congregation of the Sacred
Heart of Wuzhou which had an enrollment of 38 students from the Guilin and Wuzhou
areas ranging from 10 to 20 years old. A postulancy was started on Aug 8, 1936
and the canonical recognition on July 1, 1937. First profession was held on January
6, 1940 and four sisters made their final vows on July 3, 1949. On September 4, 1943, the Maryknoll mission
suffered a direct hit from Japanese bombers. Sr. Chanel Xavier was leading
children in reciting the rosary when the entire front of the building
collapsed. By June 1944, the situation became so dangerous that the Maryknoll
Sisters were evacuated, the small convents were closed and the Chinese sisters
moved to a mountain village. In 1946-1948
Srs. Rose Bernadette Gallagher, Agnes Cazale, Mary Lou Martin, Doretta Leonard,
Mary Diggins, and Dorothy Rubner were assigned to Wuzhou. After language study,
they were to learn direct evangelization techniques from Sr. Rosalia Kettl who
was assigned to Wuzhou after 13 years in Meizhou (Kaying). They also helped to
direct the women’s’ catechumenate and helped in the Chinese Sisters’ novitiate. On July 1, 1950, there were 10 Chinese professed
sisters and 6 Chinese novices. In December
1950 Bishop Donaghy, Fr. Justin Kennedy, and Sr. Rosalia Kettl were arrested
and by 1951 all Maryknoll personnel was forced to leave Wuzhou. In 1957 due to intense pressure of the Government,
the Community was disbanded. The
Congregation opened again in 1988 and had eight novices besides a few older
Sisters. There are around twenty sisters
now who work in the parishes, leprocy center or further study.
After attending Cantonese Holy
Family Feast Day Mass celebrated by Fr. Yu at Wuzhou Cathedral and a chat with
him, the sisters and several parishioners including two women who were disbanded
from novitiate in 1957, we continued the journey to Zhaoqing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhaoqing.
Fifth Day
We attended the
Cantonese Daily Mass in Immaculate Conception Church Zhaoqing and then visited another
Catholic Church in a Catholic village, the Matteo Ricci and Sino-Western
Culture Exchange Museum and the memorial plaque to
commemorate Ricci's six-year stay there. Then, we continued the journey to Jiangmen.
Sixth Day
We attended
Cantonese-Mandarin Daily Mass at Our Lady of Immaculate Conception Jiangmen celebrated
by Bishop Paul Liang http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic_Diocese_of_Jiangmen. The compound consists of two floors ex
seminary, three floors Bishop’s house, four floors convent, one floor
Cathedral, and one floor guard room. After
having a chat with Bishop Paul Liang and Sr. Huang, several of us visited the ex-Maryknoll
Sisters Convent. It’s the number five building in a
big school compound next door, our sisters left it as they were expelled from
the country during revolution and never came back. The big compound were belongs to Maryknoll,
and then the government only gave back the convent to the Immaculate Heart of
Mary Sisters, but they never occupied the convent, and it is rented out to the
school.
The Congregation
of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary were founded in 1936 in Jiangmen
by Bishop James E. Walsh. In 1954 some
of the Sisters went to Hong Kong, others stayed in Jiangmen. On August 22, 1991, thirteen elderly Sisters
made their Final Vows, five young Sisters made the First Vows, and eight young
women entered the Novitiate. There are thirty
Sisters now who work as pastoral sisters or undergo further study.
We continued our trip to Cangshan Health
Center, where we were welcomed by a lion dance.
In
October 1933, Bishop Walsh assigned Fr. Joseph Sweeney to work full time with
lepers in the Kongmoon area. In Sunwui,
lepers were living in graveyards. The Fathers built temporary shelters and were
soon caring for 218 patients in Toishan, Sheung Yeung, and Sunwui. In January, 1934, 300 acres were given to the
Maryknoll Fathers by the Government for a leprosarium. In the summer of 1937, construction started
but due to several reasons, there was a three and a half year delay in
construction. Br. Albert Stauble was the
main architect and builder and today we see one of his building still standing
and in use. Three hundred lepers arrived
from Sunwui to begin life in Gate of Heaven.
In April 1941, 196 lepers from
Hong Kong arrived so the number of residents up to 450. On March 24, 1945, the Japanese stormed Gate
of Heaven and forced the lepers to run for the hills. Those who were not able
to do so were killed. The Fathers had to hide in the hills and only 15 of the
original residents returned to Gate of Heaven in October 1945. The Fathers
repaired some of damage and were starting out anew when the Communist soldiers
came. Although treated well at first, the Fathers were eventually deported from
China on Aug 10, 1953. There remains a
gut fear of leprosy which often prevents sufferers from receiving adequate
medical attention. As well as suffering the physical deformity and sensory
deprivation of the disease, lepers are effectively exiled from society, and
wounded psychologically and emotionally. Today, Gate of Heaven is again a happy place
for almost 100 adults suffering from Hansens’ Disease. It is very well run by several
volunteers.
We continued our trip to Zhongshan
Ferry Terminal as several of us went back to Hong Kong while four Sisters continued
the trip to Gongbei immigration border (with Macau).
As I reflect on this meaningfull pilgrimage
including the opportunity to see the beauty of the places, I look with great
admiration to our heroic Sisters (some of them are still living in our
Maryknoll Sisters Center New York) who faced so many hardships including
imprisonment for our mission in mainland China and for sure, I am not as heroic
as they are.
The pictures of
this pilgrimage can be seen at: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151165383481556.434373.658706555&type=1
Hong Kong，January 9, 2013
Sr.
Anastasia B. Lindawati, M.M.
Let’s
do simple things with simple love to make God’s love visible
