Marian devotion
In northern Seoul, where residential streets rise towards Bukhansan, the parish of Jeongneung 4-dong is entrusted to Our Lady of the Rosary. Founded in 2001, it has built its identity through small communities, prayer, shared art and meetings that open the liturgy to the landscape of the neighborhood.
Official address: Our Lady of the Rosary.
Temple: 정릉4동성당 · iglesia católica de Jeongneung 4-dong.
Address: 14 Bungmun-ro 14-gil, Jeongneung-dong, Seongbuk-gu, Seúl 02717, Corea del Sur.
Foundation: 5 October 2001
Consecration of the temple: 18 May 2003
Jurisdiction: Archdiocese of Seoul, Central Seoul region, fourth Seongbuk district.
Coordinates checked: 37.6096535, 127.0103683.
The patronage is in the episcopal directory
The Episcopal Conference of Korea records The Castle of RosarioOur Lady of the Rosary, as patron of Jeongneung 4- dong. The title belongs to the canonical identity of the parish from its early years.
No documentation has been found of a Marian apparition in this place or of a recognition as a sanctuary.
The Rosary is a memory of the Gospel
The Rosary travels with Mary the mysteries of Christ. Their repeated prayers create a rhythm in which the mind can stop in the Incarnation, public life, Passion and glory of the Lord.
John Paul II called it a prayer of deeply Christological orientation. Mary does not take the place of Jesus: she teaches to contemplate, listen to and follow him.
A prayer to walk
The location of Jeongneung, next to steep streets and roads leading to Bukhansan, recalls that the Rosary can pray walking. Each ten allows for a passage, breathing and attention.
The landscape helps to gather, but prayer does not depend on a perfect environment. It can hold anyone who travels by bus, works, takes care of another person or goes through a difficult day.
Foundation on 5 October 2001
The archdiocese of Seoul erected the parish 5 October 2001. His first stage was in charge of Father Ignatius Song Rak.
The date is very close to the liturgical memory of Our Lady of the Rosary, held on October 7, which harmonizes with the chosen patronage.
The first small communities
In November 2001, just one month after the foundation, the parish organized eleven sectors of small communities. This beginning reveals a priority: not to limit parish life to anonymous attendance at mass celebrations.
Small communities allow them to know needs, share the Word and care for those who stop participating. They must remain open and avoid becoming closed circles.
First pastoral structure
On 18 November 2001, the first pastoral council was formed. Organization and spirituality advanced together from the beginning.
A parish structure is useful when it makes the mission possible, distributes responsibilities and is accountable. It's not an end in itself.
The presence of a religious community
On February 21, 2002, a house of the Sisters of Our Lady of Perpetual Relief was opened. The religious went on to collaborate in the pastoral life and the accompaniment of the community.
Between May and November of that year, the priestly residence and the convent were built, consolidating the spaces necessary for a stable presence.
Care for the elderly
On May 12, 2002, the Maria- Joseph College, today senior academy of Jeongneung 4-dong, began. The initiative recognized that training, friendship and participation do not end with retirement.
In a rapidly ageing society, these activities can combat isolation and offer a place where the experience of the elderly is heard.
Consecration of the temple in 2003
The temple was solemnly consecrated the 18 May 2003less than two years after the parish creation.
The speed should not hide the contribution of many people. An ecclesial building brings together professional work, donations, community decisions and later care.
A parish that gave vocations
In 2009, the first priest from the parish, Andrew Jo Seong-dong, was ordained. In 2011 he received the ordination Methodius Kim Jin- ha, the second priest from the community.
The vocation is not just the result of specific activities. It grows in families, catechesis, liturgy and consistent testimonies that allow us to wonder how to serve.
The garden of Mary
A Marian garden was created in the courtyard in May 2010. These spaces provide an accessible place for short prayer, especially for those who cannot make long pilgrimages.
The garden does not automatically turn the parish into a sanctuary. It is a devotional area within a local community.
Adoration and silence
In April 2012, a chapel of Eucharistic worship was set up. Rosary and worship can be complemented: the first leads by the Gospel and the second invites us to remain silent before Christ.
Marian devotion reaches its full meaning when it guides the Eucharist, listening to the Word and charity.
Art made by the whole community
Between April and June 2017, the faithful participated in the production of glass windows for the lobby on the first floor. They were not just spectators or financiers: they intervened in the creative process.
In August 2018, new windows were installed at the access doors to the main temple on the third floor.
Beauty as a shared work
Community art leaves a memory of concrete hands and strengthens the sense of belonging. It also requires technical guidance to ensure safety, quality and liturgical coherence.
Jeongneung's experience shows that embellishing a temple can be at the same time formation, coexistence and prayer.
Organization by area
In 2011, the parish reorganized its territory in four regions and fifteen areas. The adaptation responded to the growth and need to better coordinate pastoral care.
The territorial division only makes sense if it helps reach real people: sick, newcomers, families with children, young people and older people alone.
A community of more than 3,000 faithful
The episcopal directory records approximately 3,600 Catholics. The temple serves a residential sector of Seongbuk-gu in the central region of the archdiocese.
The figure offers a scale, but it does not measure vitality on its own. Participation, service, training and capacity to host are equally necessary indicators.
The open mass in the forest
On the occasion of the twenty-fourth anniversary, on October 18, 2025, the parish held an outdoor mass in a pine tree next to the Jeongneung primary school. Some 230 people participated.
The celebration sought to praise God in the autumn nature and to strengthen communion between the different sectors.
Liturgy, music and coexistence
During that meeting a small concert was offered and, after the Mass, the communities shared food in areas.
Music and coexistence do not replace the liturgy; they can prolong their community dimension when they are integrated with respect and sobriety.
Creation as a gift and responsibility
Celebrating near the forest recalls that nature is not decoration. It is a creation received, threatened by human decisions and entrusted to our care.
The devotion of the Rosary can incorporate intentions for climate, water, forests, biodiversity and people most exposed to environmental degradation.
Jeongneung y Blhansan
Jeongneung extends on the southern slopes of Bukhansan. The name of the neighborhood is associated with the royal tomb of Queen Sindeok, although the parish is more north, near Bogungmun-ro.
Dense housing, slopes, schools and mountain access form the daily landscape of the community.
A parish on tilted ground
Topography may make it difficult for older persons or persons with disabilities to move. The reception requires clear information on access, lifts, transport and accompaniment.
Marian spirituality becomes concrete when no one is excluded by a barrier that can be corrected.
The Rosary and the Neighbourhood Life
Each mystery can illuminate a dimension of the neighborhood: the Visitation inspires visits; Cana, attention to discreet needs; the Cross, stay with suffering; Pentecost, reconciled diversity.
Praying together should not put the community away. It must make it more attentive to schools, shops, homes and natural spaces around it.
verified location for the map
The episcopal directory and parish history coincide in 14 Bogungmun-ro 14-gil, Jeongneung-nung, Seaclo. Mapping by name and address returns 37.6096535, 127.0103683.
The point is the parish building. It has not been located in the royal tomb of Jeongneung, in the main entrance of the national park or in the administrative centre of the neighborhood.
Avoid name confusion
In Seoul there is the parish of Jeongneung-dong and that of Jeongneung 4-dong, with different codes and addresses. This file corresponds exclusively to the following:
The number "4" is part of the parish name and is essential to correctly identify it.
To visit and pray
It's an active parish. The published hours may change, so it is appropriate to consult them in the directory or in the parish channels. You should remain silent during the celebrations and ask for permission to photograph people.
One ten can be prayed in the Marian garden, one for the elderly, one for the young and another for the care of Bukhansan and his visitors.
Prayer to Our Lady of the Rosary of Jeongneung 4-dong
Our Lady of the Rosary, guards the parish of Jeongneung 4-dong and the neighborhoods that ascend to Bukhansan. Teach us to contemplate Christ, to know us by name and to care for the creation received. He accompanies the elders, calls young people to service and makes our hands instruments of beauty and communion. May each avemary open the heart to the Gospel and to the needs of the neighbor. Amen.
Sources consulted
- Episcopal Conference of Korea: patronage and official record.
- Mobile Episcopal Directory: direction, jurisdiction, date and population.
- Parish Archives: complete chronology of Jeongneung 4-dong.
- Catholic Times: Mass in the Forest and Twenty-fourth Anniversary.
- San Juan Pablo II: Rosarium Virus Mariae.
- Mapping contrasted by name and city.
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