Our Lady of Lourdes

Our Sunday school animated the next novena, sharing reflections on Our Lady of Sheshan in China.

The Shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Sheshan is located in the district of Song Jiang, near the great metropolis of Shang Hai, and is dedicated to Our Lady Help of Christians of Sheshan. 

In 1863, the then Superior of the Jesuit community in Shang Hai purchased the south side of the mountain of Sheshan, that offers a beautiful panorama of bamboo forest. On this site, a retreat house was built for Jesuit Fathers, with a small chapel next door, and the construction of the Shrine began. On March 1, 1868, the then Bishop of Shanghai, Bishop Adrien Languillat, SJ, consecrated the chapel and blessed the image of Our Lady Help of Christians. Every year, on May 24, her feast day, many faithful visit the Shrine.

 
In June 1870, unrest in Tianjin led to the burning of churches there. During the attack of rebels from the Army of Tai Ping, the Superior of the Jesuit community in Shanghai, Fr. Gu Zhen Sheng, went up to the mountain of Sheshan to pray to the Blessed Virgin, saying: “If the diocese is saved from the attack of the rebels, we will build a basilica in thanksgiving for Our Lady’s special protection.” The Diocese was spared from destruction. In September 1870, Fr. Gu made known his invocation to the Blessed Mother and the promise to build a new church in thanksgiving. In a document, he explained the details of the event to the faithful and began asking for donations in order to build the basilica. On May 24, 1871, feast of Our Lady Help of Christians, in the presence of 6,000 people, the Bishop of Shanghai, Bishop Languillat presided the ceremony of the laying of the cornerstone of the new church, thanks to the generous offerings of the faithful. On April 15, 1873, Bishop Languillat himself consecrated and inaugurated the great Basilica on the mountain top. Since then, “Our Lady of Sheshan” has become the special protector of the Diocese of Shanghai. 

During Mao’s Cultural Revolution the statue of Our Lady of Sheshan was destroyed, it was rebuilt in 2000, with the Blessed Virgin standing atop a Chinese dragon.

Pope Pius XII raised the Marian shrine to the status of Minor Basilica via his Pontifical decree Compertum Habemus on 12 September 1942.

The Basilica of Our Lady of Sheshan can hold 3,000 faithful and is known are the first basilica of eastern Asia. After the revolution, once it was returned to the Catholic community, the Basilica came back to life. In the month of May, especially, faithful from all over China and the rest of Asia come to the shrine to pay homage to the Blessed Mother. The Stations of the Cross are situated at the end of each zig-zag path up the steep hill leading to the church. At the mid-level in an open square where there are two shrines, one in devotion to the Sacred Heart and the other to the Virgin Mary. Nearby is the Sheshan Observatory originally built by the Jesuits.

In 1874, Pope Pius IX declared that pilgrims who went to Sheshan in May (traditionally a Marian month) would receive a plenary indulgence. As a result, pilgrims from all over China began to congregate at Sheshan in May, a practice that continues to this day.

Every May, the church becomes the destination for pilgrims who travel far and wide to make their annual pilgrimage at Sheshan, praying the Way of the Cross, the Rosary and attending Mass at this holy site. Traditionally, many of the Catholics in the area were fishermen, who would make the pilgrimage by boat. This tradition continues among local Catholics, with the result that the creeks around Sheshan are often crowded with boats in May.

Our Lady of Sheshan is very close to our hearts. In today’s context every house, family, especially mothers are going through the pain for their children. We are surrounded by many temptations, trials, tribulations and bad influences. Not only these are damaging our bodies but also destroying our souls. If we truly and devoutly pray to our Lady, Our Mother then definitely she will come to save us just like she saved the people of Tianjin from the rebels. She will send angels to protect and guide us. We must keep our faith alive and keep on praying to God through the intercession of Our Lady Of Sheshan

In 2007 Pope Benedict set aside May 24, the feast of Our Lady Help of Christians, as a day of prayer for the Catholic Church in China. It has special significance to the Marian Shrine of Sheshan. Pope Benedict wrote the following prayer to Our Lady of Sheshan:

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 cooperated 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 trials, 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!