Posted on 05/16/2008 1:54:17 PM PDT by NYer
.- Pope Benedict has composed a prayer to Our Lady of Sheshan to celebrate the Day of Prayer for the Church in China, which will be observed on May 24.
In a letter written to the Catholic Church in China last year, the Holy Father expressed his hope that May 24, the memorial of Our Lady Help of Christians, who is venerated at the shrine of Seshan in Shanghai, would become a day of prayer for the Church in China.
The full text of the English-language version of the Holy Father's prayer is given below:
"Virgin Most Holy, Mother of the Incarnate Word and our Mother, venerated in the Shrine of Sheshan under the title 'Help of Christians,' the entire Church in China looks to you with devout affection. We come before you today to implore your protection. Look upon the People of God and, with a mother's care, guide them along the paths of truth and love, so that they may always be a leaven of harmonious coexistence among all citizens.
"When you obediently said 'yes' in the house of Nazareth, you allowed God's eternal Son to take flesh in your virginal womb and thus to begin in history the work of our redemption. You willingly and generously co-operated in that work, allowing the sword of pain to pierce your soul, until the supreme hour of the Cross, when you kept watch on Calvary, standing beside your Son, who died that we might live.
"From that moment, you became, in a new way, the Mother of all those who receive your Son Jesus in faith and choose to follow in His footsteps by taking up His Cross. Mother of hope, in the darkness of Holy Saturday you journeyed with unfailing trust towards the dawn of Easter. Grant that your children may discern at all times, even those that are darkest, the signs of God's loving presence.
"Our Lady of Sheshan, sustain all those in China, who, amid their daily trails, continue to believe, to hope, to love. May they never be afraid to speak of Jesus to the world, and of the world to Jesus. In the statue overlooking the Shrine you lift your Son on high, offering him to the world with open arms in a gesture of love. Help Catholics always to be credible witnesses to this love, ever clinging to the rock of Peter on which the Church is built. Mother of China and all Asia, pray for us, now and for ever. Amen!"
Our Lady of Sheshan, pray for us!
I love this representation.
She looks like our Peng!
Whoops link:
http://mattstone.blogs.com/photos/asian_icons/christmas2004_our_lady_of_china_with_chi.html
The church has been through so much martyrdom. I believe that through our prayers and the intercession of the Mary and the saints, God will raise up a prayerful, Christian people.
The ground has been watered enough with blood of the martyrs.
What a beautiful prayer.
Our Lady of Sheshan, pray for the poor earthquake victims in China.
Another wonderful title of Our Lady.
You know, there is something curious about that image. I have seen another different Chinese version of the same theme. While it is a Qing era Chinese representation of Mary with Christ, there is something with the image that is incongruous with most Western depictions I have seen. Most people (almost no one really) will not have picked up that the Chinese depictions of Mary with the infant Christ weds spiritual with temporal authority. That is the images portray Christ as the emperor of China and Mary as that of the dowager. What is particularly noteworthy about the image in your link is that it actually depicts Mary as a symbol of legal/political authority. She is actually depicted wearing a man’s clothes.
It is one rendering by a Hong Kong artist. It could be his desire for freedom in Christ in the political system and like the fish or egg symbols of the early Christians, it could send a message of his desire for Christianity to others without endangering himself or others. Hard to fathom the meaning sometimes.
This is Mary with the Infant under the auspices of Our Lady of Sheshan.
http://www.cardinalkungfoundation.org/PrayerRoom/SheShan.htm
This is a link to Icons by Asian Christians.
http://mattstone.blogs.com/photos/asian_icons/index.html
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