Immaculate Heart of Mary of Jamsil 7-dong - Listen, prayer and service in Seoul

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In Jamsil, one of the most recognizable urban sectors in southeast Seoul, there is a parish that looks at Mary from the intimacy of her Immaculate Heart. His history unites prayer, hears of Scripture, community building and a very concrete effort to meet and accompany vulnerable people.

Official dedication offers no doubt

The Episcopal Conference of Korea is a patron of Unbelievable Holy Spirit. In this case, unlike other chips that only say "Heart of Mary," the Korean expression explicitly includes the absence of stain. The faithful translation is therefore, Immaculate Heart of Mary.

The title belongs to the institutional patronage of the parish. It has not been deducted from an image or added for this page.

The heart in the language of faith

In the Bible, the heart represents the center of the person: memory, will, intelligence, discernment and love. To speak of Mary's Heart is to contemplate her complete response to God, not to isolate an emotion.

Mary listens to the Word, meditates on the events of Jesus, serves Elizabeth, intercede in Cana and remains next to the Cross. Its interior always flows into presence and service.

Why is it called Immaculate

The Church confesses that Mary was preserved from original sin by God's grace and in anticipation of Christ's merits. His holiness comes not from an independent force, but from the salvation of his Son.

The adjective "immaculate" expresses an entirely open life to grace. Devotion calls for the purification of selfishness, lies and indifference to love with greater freedom.

A parish born in 1993

The archdiocese of Seoul decided to create Jamsil 7-dong the 18 October 1993. The parish chronicle indicates that it began with 1,033 Catholic homes and 2,883 faithful from Jamsil territory.

The purchase of the land had begun in January of that year. The first parish priest arrived on November 5 and the first mass was held two days later in the church of Jamsil, while the new community was preparing its own space.

A provisional chapel for Christmas

A provisional structure was completed on 24 December 1993. There was the Mass of the Gallo, just two months after the parish erection.

The scene summarizes the birth of the community: there was not yet the final building, but there was already altar, assembly and celebration of the mystery of the Incarnation.

Forming a community from its first months

During 1994, the first bulletins were published, baptisms were held, liturgical and youth groups were born, the territory was organized in small communities and a house of missionary religious was established.

Chronology is not just an administrative list. It shows how a parish is built with catechesis, prayer, music, altar service and neighborhood links before having a large temple.

From the provisional space to the present temple

The community began to provide inputs for the new temple in 1997. In 1999 he formed the construction commission, commissioned the project and organized a bazaar to raise funds.

The provisional structure was dismantled in February 2000 and the first stone was held on 23 February 2000. In August the basement hall was already used and, on June 17, 2001, Sunday Mass passed to the main church on the second floor.

Dedication of the temple in 2002

The final inspection of the new building was completed on 26 September 2001. The liturgical dedication took place 27 January 2002, chaired by the then Archbishop of Seoul, Nicholas Cheong Jin@-@ suk.

The building is the result of almost a decade of organization, prayer and contributions. The date of the foundation of the parish, 1993, should not be confused with the dedication of the final temple, 2002.

A Marian memory visible

The community blessed an image of Mary and completed her landscaped environment in November 1996. In 1998 he held a seminar on Marian spirituality for eight weeks.

These actions show that patronage was not limited to the episcopal record. Devotion was a stable place in the prayer and formation of the parish.

Rosary, liturgy and contemplation

The chronicle indicates that since May 2009 the Rosary was prayed daily before the image of the Virgin. In 2010, a monthly mass of Marian spirituality was established and a pilgrimage of the Rosary was carried out through the different parish sectors.

That same year a space dedicated to the Rosary of the Seven Dolores was blessed. Mary's pain is not seen to feed sadness, but to learn to stay with those who suffer without abandoning the paschal hope.

The Scripture kept in the heart

In 2003, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary, 239 people were recognized for completing the manuscript copy of the New Testament. The community joined the slow reading of the Word with the memory of its own history.

Two years later, the parish collaborated on an initiative to read thirty-three books of spirituality. The formation does not replace prayer; it can give you words, criteria and depth.

A heart that becomes service

In 2006, Jamsil 7-dong declared the "year with the poor" and entrusted each of its nine parish sectors with a stable relationship with a social institution. It was not limited to an isolated collection.

The parishioners visited the centres, prepared information to explain their needs, invited their leaders to the community and directed regular collections to the accompaniment. The initiative reached homes, study centres and communities that addressed different forms of vulnerability.

Know before you help

The 2006 proposal sought to avoid anonymous and disconnected aid. Each sector should know the people and the institution accompanied, understand their reality and maintain the commitment for a year.

This form of service well embodies the spirituality of the Heart of Mary: to look carefully, to keep the history of the other and to respond responsibly, always respecting his dignity.

The Cross carried with its own hands

During Lent 2011, the parish carried out a Via Cruces in which the participants carried small wooden crosses carved by the parish priest. The sign wanted to help the Passion not look like a distant scene.

Marian devotion and the contemplation of the Cross do not compete. The Heart of Mary remains united to Christ and leads to human suffering with fidelity.

Jamsil inside the big city

Jamsil belongs to the district of Songpa in the south-east of Seoul. It is an environment of dense housing, large infrastructure, educational centres and sports spaces, deeply transformed by urban growth.

In the midst of this intensity, a parish can offer silence, celebration, close relations and attention to those who pass unnoticed within a metropolis.

verified location for the map

The episcopal directory and the parish website are in the following direction: 26 Baekjegobun-ro 12-gil, Jamsil-dak, Songpa-gu. The cartography by the Korean name of the temple places the enclosure in 37.5039504, 127.0799911.

The score corresponds to the church, not to the administrative centre of Jamsil 7-dong or to another temple in the extensive district of Jamsil.

Do not confuse the administrative and parochial name

The church retains the name "Jamsil 7-dong Catholic Church," although its postal address uses Jamsil-dong. The names of the parishes may reflect historical or pastoral territorial divisions that do not exactly match the existing postal nomenclature.

The direction, episcopal code and coordinates eliminate ambiguity.

To visit and pray

It's a living parish, not a tourist attraction. It is appropriate to confirm the hours before going, to remain silent during the liturgy and to request permission before photographing people or activities.

A ten of the Rosary can be offered by those who live alone in the great city, another by the institutions that accompany poverty and another so that the reading of the Word will transform life.

Prayer to the Immaculate Heart of Mary of Jamsil 7-dong

Mary, Mother of a clean and attentive heart, keeps the parish of Jamsil 7-dong and the city of Seoul. Teach us to preserve the Word, to remain with the Cross and to recognize Christ in vulnerable people. Purify our intentions, give us perseverance in prayer and make all devotion become faithful service. Amen.

Sources consulted

• Episcopal Conference of Korea: patronage and official record.
• Mobile Episcopal Directory: direction, date and jurisdiction.
• Parish of Jamsil 7-dong: historical chronology.
• Parish of Jamsil 7-dong: official address.
• Catholic Times: programme to accompany nine social institutions.
• Catholic Times: thirty-three book reading initiative.
• Catholic Times: Community Cruces 2011.
• Holy See: Prayer of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
• Mapping verified by temple name.

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