Our Lady of Fatima of Wolnam-dong - A million mysteries and a temple reborn from fire

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The story of Wolnam-dong is through the Rosary. His faithful offered a million mysteries to raise the first temple, they chose to Our Lady of Fatima As a patron and, decades later, they rebuilt the church, destroyed by a fire.

Advocation confirmed

The Korean Episcopal Conference and the Good News directory record a MatureOur Lady of Fatima, as patron of Wolnam-dong. The diocese of Masan also explains when and why the title was adopted.

A Marian apparition in Changwon is not documented. The patronage refers to the apparitions recognized by the Church in Fatima, Portugal, and to her call to prayer and conversion.

The message of Fatima

In 1917, Lucía dos Santos and his cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto reported meetings with the Virgin in Cova da Iria. The spiritual core recognized by the Church calls for prayer, conversion, reparation of evil and work for peace.

Fatima does not add a new gospel or offer a calendar to feed fear. Private revelation helps to live the only revelation completed in Jesus Christ.

The Rosary leads to Christ

The request to pray the Rosary occupies a central place in Fatima. Each mystery contemplates the life, death and resurrection of Jesus with Mary.

Counting mysteries can express community perseverance, but the figure is not a magic merit. Authentic prayer produces conversion, reconciliation and service.

Born Shinmasan

La parroquia nació el 20 June 1957 with the name Shinmasan, still within the diocese of Busan. Masan's parish priest, Aloysius Kim Du@-@ ho, promoted his creation and initially attended it simultaneously.

The community acquired through a committee a building of the former Siksan Bank, adapted it as a provisional church and began its celebrations there.

A date clarified by the community itself

For years some sources placed the foundation in 1967, due to the shared management with Masan and the transition between dioceses. In preparing for the sixtieth anniversary, the parish reviewed their files.

The investigation officially established the 20 June 1957. In January 1965, with the arrival of Basil Yoo Jae-guk, Masan's pastoral separation was fully defined.

A million mysteries to build

In May 1965 the work of a new temple began. Bishop John Choi Jae- seon promised financial support if the community offered a million mysteries of the Rosary.

The faithful fulfilled the commitment. The bishop responded with an important contribution and a bronze bell made in France.

From Busan to the new diocese of Masan

As the works advanced, the diocese of Masan was erected in 1966. The parish thus passed to the new ecclesial jurisdiction before the end of its church.

Bishop Stephen Kim Sou@-@ hwan presided over the dedication in March 1968. Local history keeps the passage from one diocese to another without erasing the previous contribution.

Fatima, patron on a special anniversary

The work coincided with the surroundings of the fiftieth anniversary of the 1917 apparitions. The mass prayer of the Rosary and that ephemeride led to the choice of Our Lady of Fatima as patron.

The dedication does not turn the temple into a place of apparition. It expresses the memory of Fatima lived in a particular Korean community.

The 1990 fire

In the morning of 21 July 1990, a fire probably attributed to an electric failure completely destroyed the interior of the church.

The chronicle recalls the soil covered with water and ash and the pain of priests and faithful. The tragedy is not embellished: it was a real loss that demanded security, resources and work.

Signs preserved between the ruins

The priest wrote that the image of the Sacred Heart near a window, the sacrary with the Eucharist and ornaments kept in a closet survived the fire.

The community interpreted that conservation as spiritual breath. It is presented as a parish witness, not a canonical declaration of miracle.

Ten months to get up

Under the motto "Our church, with our hands," the parish prepared a prayer for restoration and moved again as in the 1960s.

Ten months later, the 21 May 1991Bishop Michael Pak Jeong-il presided over the dedication of the restored church to some nine hundred people.

Help to be born to another parish

As soon as the recovery was completed, Wolnam-dong collaborated in the creation of the Daetgeori temple. Since January 1997, he has offered a hundred thousand mysteries of the Rosary and organized fund-raising activities.

The new church was dedicated on April 5, 1998 and the community separated as Haegoon-dong, today Wolyeong. History shows that Wolnam-dong did not lock himself in his own reconstruction.

The image and the old bell

A small garden with a new Marian image of artistic design was prepared in 2001. The bronze bell donated decades earlier left the warehouse and received its own bell tower.

The bell is specially reserved to accompany funerals. Unite memory, prayer for the deceased and continuity between generations.

Sixty years of memory

In 2016 the celebration of the sixtieth anniversary began, extended until 2017. The parish published a story of sixty years after ordering dates and testimonies.

Bishop Constantine Bae Ki-hyen, from Wolnam-dong, presided over the commemorative mass. The historical review made it possible to thank without concealing confusing or painful stages.

The current community

The consulted episcopal directory has 3,167 faithful, a priest, the Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres and no dependent missionary station.

The official phone is 055-222-3041. The figures, responsible and time-bound can be changed and must be confirmed before travelling.

verified location for the map

The address corresponds to 79. 3., plot Duwol-dong 2-ga 4. The matching cartographic point in name and address is 35.1869008, 128.5612929.

The marker is in the Wolnam-dong temple, not in the center of Changwon or in the Yongjam parishes, Seokjeon-dong or Wolyeong.

To visit and pray

Wolnam-dong is an active community. It is appropriate to confirm schedules, respect celebrations and funerals and ask for permission before photographing people.

They can pray for those who rebuild their lives after fires and losses, for peace, for the elders of the parish and for the communities that were born of it.

Prayer to Our Lady of Fatima of Wolnam-dong

Our Lady of Fatima, patron of Wolnam-dong, receives the prayer of this community that raised and rebuilt its temple. Teach us to contemplate Christ in the Rosary, not to surrender to loss and to share our goods with new communities. It protects those who suffer fires and misfortunes, accompanies the elderly and makes us workers of a just peace. Amen.

Sources consulted

• Episcopal Conference of Corea: official record of Wolnam-dong.
• Good News Catholic: corroboración parroquial.
• Diocese of Masan: detailed story of Wolnam-dong.
• Diocese of Masan: historical and parish record.
• Road record: direction and plot of the temple.
• Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith: message from Fatima.
• Pope Francis: hope and mercy in Fatima.
• Mapping verified by name and address.

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