Our Lady of the Angels of the Mozishan Portable - Marian Sanctuary of Inner Mongolia

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In the plains and hills of Inner Mongolia, Mozishan has become one of the great Marian places in northern China. Each August 2, Feast of Our Lady of the Angels of the Porciuncula, pilgrims from far-off villages ascend by praying the way of the crucis, celebrate the Eucharist and carry water from the hill spring.

A sanctuary at the border of the steppe

Mozishan is located about 30 kilometres north-east of Jining and about five kilometres north of Meiguiying. Catholic sources describe it as the largest Marian sanctuary in Inner Mongolia. Its high location allowed faithful scattered across villages and fields to recognize the hill as a common point of prayer.

The foundation is attributed to a Belgian missionary of the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, known as the missionaries of Scheut, around 1900. The local tradition relates the beginning of the pilgrimage to a pastor who would have seen the Virgin on the hill; as the story spread, the nearby communities began to rise to pray.

The Porciuncula in Inner Mongolia

En 1906another Belgian missionary promoted the spiritual link of the place with the Franciscan Porcuncula and established 2 August as a pilgrimage day. The Chinese chronicle states that Rome was asked for the indulgence of the Porciuncula. The Chinese name & quot; Phonetic & quot; is an ancient "Porciuncula" phonetic transcript.

The complete advocation is Our Lady of the Angels of the Porciuncula. Remember the small chapel of Santa Maria de los Angeles, next to Assisi, restored by Saint Francis and associated with a indulgence held every 2 August. Although Mozishan was attended by Scheut missionaries and was not born as a Franciscan foundation, he adopted that date and penitential spirituality.

The stone church and the spring

The same year of 1906 began the opening of the rock and the construction of a stone church. The work lasted three years. The temple was about twenty-five meters long by eight wide, remarkable dimensions for a rural mission of the early 20th century.

The hill also had a spring that was blessed and joined the experience of the pilgrims. Decades later continued to carry small amounts of that water as a symbol of Christ, a source of living water. Devotion does not make water a magical object: it refers to baptism, grace and the renewal of Christian life.

Destruction and return of pilgrims

En 1958 the church was destroyed and its stones were used in civil works, including a warehouse and a well. The public pilgrimage disappeared during the years of the greatest religious persecution, but the memory of August 2 survived among Catholic families.

The concentrations could be recovered since 1980. In 1985 a simple altar was raised in the open air. In 1998, a large covered altar was completed, the pavilion of the Virgin, stations on the cross road, auxiliary units and the closure of the enclosure.

A popular and sacramental pilgrimage

Missions Étrangères of Paris documented a celebration with more than thirty thousand Catholics. Many walked for a day or two and spent the night in nearby churches. The groups left from the foot of the hill with banners, followed the stations of the road crucis, sang and prayed to the summit.

The pilgrimage gives a central place to the confession and the Eucharist, especially valuable for rural communities who for long periods could hardly receive a priest's visit. In 2006, the centenary gathered tens of thousands of faithful, two bishops, eighty-three priests and more than one hundred religious. Later chronicles record pilgrimages from Beijing and Baotou, confirming the continuity of the sanctuary.

Graces attributed to Mary

The testimonies of the sanctuary speak of conversion, reconciliation and comfort, and some chronicles mention healing. Such accounts express the gratitude of the pilgrims, but they do not replace the medical research or the discernment of the Church.

Mozishan's most visible grace is community: Catholics scattered by an immense region meet, receive the sacraments and return to their strengthened homes. The Virgin brings her children together and leads them to Christ.

Verified location

The historical descriptions place Mozishan about 30 kilometres north-east of Jining and five kilometres north of Meiguiying. The mapping of OpenStreetMap delimits the entire religious enclosure by means of the polygon 913024693, known as the & quot; & quot;, and classifies it as a place of Christian veneration.

The polygon ranges from approximately 41.12046 to 41.12105 latitude and from 113.34662 to 113.34829 longitude. The marker is set at its center, 41.12076, 113.34745 (WGS-84). It is not an approximate coordinate of the mountain: it corresponds to the inside of the Cartographed Marian enclosure.

Spirituality of the Mozishan Porcuncula

The Porciuncula talks about starting over. San Francisco restored a small chapel and from that poverty a great work of renewal emerged. Mozishan lived something similar: he lost his church, kept his memory and reconstructed a place of prayer for thousands of people step by step.

To rise the path of the crucis, to reconcile, to celebrate the Eucharist and to go to Mary form a single path. indulgence is not an automatic prize, but a call to receive God's mercy with sincere conversion and to offer that mercy to others.

Prayer to Mozishan's Our Lady of Angels

Holy Mary of Angels, Mother venerated in Mozishan, gathers your children scattered through the great plains and condone them to Jesus. Give us a repented heart, love for the Eucharist and strength to rebuild what suffering has destroyed. It protects the families of Inner Mongolia and makes us instruments of reconciliation and peace. Amen.

Sources consulted

• Faith Press / Xinde: history, title of the Porciuncula, architecture, destruction, reconstruction and centenary.
• Missions Étrangères de Paris: development of the pilgrimage, sacraments, via the crucis and fountain.
• Faith Press / Xinde: Contemporary pilgrimage from the diocese of Baotou.
• Chronicle of pilgrims from Beijing to Mozishan in 2013.
• GCatholic: International identification of the shrine of Our Lady of the Porcine.
• Mapcara / OpenStreetMap: local name, polygon and site coordinates.

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