Marian devotion
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On a hill in Guanxi, in Hsinchu County, a stone grotto offers the Taiwanese pilgrims a place to pray to Our Lady of Lourdes. The sanctuary was born in 1958 and preserves the simplicity of a mountain enclosure that was built with effort by missionaries and faithful.
Advocation: Our Lady of Lourdes.
Chinese name: 關西露德聖母 · Guānxī Lùdé Shèngmǔ.
Place: Guanxi, Hsinchu County, Taiwan.
Paraje: Mount Lourdes, formerly Tiger Mountain.
Initial construction: April 1958.
Founder: Father Ji Min-yi.
Jurisdiction: Catholic diocese of Hsinchu.
Party: 11 February; local pilgrimages especially in May and October.
A grotto on the mountain
The official directory of the diocese of Hsinchu places the sanctuary in Shiguangzi, Guanxi, on a hill formerly known as the Tiger Mountain. In April 1958, Father Ji Min-yi promoted the construction of a Grotto inspired by Massabielle. His successor, Father Man Si@-@ qian, continued the improvements.
Access was then difficult. When Father Geng Tiandao took pastoral care in 1976, he gathered help to place a cover before the grotto. The materials, banks and reclinations had to be transported from below by priests and faithful because the vehicles could not reach the compound.
The image and prayer
The image of Mary in white, with a blue band and the Rosary in her hands, is raised before the rock. One side is represented by Saint Bernardite. The composition is not intended to narrate an apparition in Taiwan, but to visually present the 1858 meeting in Lourdes.
The pilgrims light candles, pray the Rosary and celebrate the Eucharist. The hill favors silence and contemplation. The pilgrimages of May and October link the month of Mary and the month of the Rosary to the spirituality of conversion of Lourdes.
The message received in Lourdes
Between February and July 1858, Bernardita Soubirous claimed to see 18 times a young woman in the Grotto of Massabielle in France. Our Lady asked for prayer, penance and conversion, and she identified herself as the Immaculate Conception. The Bishop of Tarbes recognized the apparitions in 1862.
Devotion spread throughout the world, with special ties to the attention of the sick and poor. Guanxi receives this universal tradition within the Taiwanese culture and landscape.
Verified location
The diocese publishes address 5-1, Shuikeng, Guanxi Township, Hsinchu County. The individual cartographic point of the church, next to the grotto and within the sanctuary, is in 24.80928, 121.14494. The marker does not correspond to the urban centre of Guanxi, located several kilometres south-east.
Prayer to Our Lady of Lourdes of Guanxi
Our Lady of Lourdes, Mother Immaculate, receives in the mountain of Guanxi our joys and wounds. Take us to conversion, teach our families to pray and support the sick, poor and tired. May every step of the pilgrimage bring us closer to Jesus Christ and make us humble servants of our brothers. Amen.
Sources consulted
- Diocese of Hsinchu: history, foundation, description and direction.
- Taiwanese liturgical Commission: Guanxi among Marian shrines and months of pilgrimage.
- Catholic Weekly de Taiwán: historia pastoral de la gruta.
- GCatholic: ecclesial identification and direction of the sanctuary.
- OpenStreetMap: individual location of the church within the enclosure.
- Sanctuary of Lourdes: source of advocation and its spirituality.
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