Pope Francis: Call to prayer for the Church in China
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has called Christians worldwide to prayer this Friday
for our brothers and sisters in China. Speaking at the end of his general audience
in Italian, the Holy Father noted that Friday, May 24th, is the day dedicated to the
liturgical memory of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Help of Christians, who is venerated
with great devotion at the Shrine of Sheshan in Shanghai. Emer McCarthy reports
listen:
He said :
“I urge all Catholics around the world to join in prayer with our brothers and sisters
who are in China, to implore from God the grace to proclaim with humility and joy
Christ, who died and rose again; to be faithful to His Church and the Successor of
Peter and to live everyday life in service to their country and their fellow citizens
in a way that is consistent with the faith they profess.
Making our own
a few words of prayer to Our Lady of Sheshan, together with you I would like to invoke
Mary : " Our Lady of Sheshan, sustain all those in China, who, amid their daily trials,
continue to believe, to hope, to love. May they never be afraid to speak of Jesus
to the world, and of the world to Jesus".
Mary, Virgin most faithful, support
Chinese Catholics, render their commitments, which are not easy, more and more precious
in the eyes of the Lord, and nurture the affection and the participation of the Church
in China in the journey of the Universal Church”.
In May 2008 Pope-emeritus,
Benedict XVI, composed a special prayer for the Feast of Our Lady Help of Christians
(May 24), venerated at the shrine of Sheshan, near Shanghai. He also designated May
24 as the yearly World Day of Prayer for China and asked that we recite this prayer.
Below
we publish the full text of the prayer to Our Lady of Sheshan
Virgin
Most Holy, Mother of the Incarnate Word and our Mother, venerated in the Shrine
of Sheshan under the title "Help of Christians", the entire Church in China looks
to you with devout affection. We come before you today to implore your protection. Look
upon the People of God and, with a mother’s care, guide them along the paths of
truth and love, so that they may always be a leaven of harmonious coexistence among
all citizens. When you obediently said "yes" in the house of Nazareth, you allowed
God’s eternal Son to take flesh in your virginal womb and thus to begin in history
the work of our redemption. You willingly and generously cooperated in that work, allowing
the sword of pain to pierce your soul, until the supreme hour of the Cross, when
you kept watch on Calvary, standing beside your Son, who died that we might live. From
that moment, you became, in a new way, the Mother of all those who receive your
Son Jesus in faith and choose to follow in his footsteps by taking up his Cross. Mother
of hope, in the darkness of Holy Saturday you journeyed with unfailing trust towards
the dawn of Easter. Grant that your children may discern at all times, even
those that are darkest, the signs of God’s loving presence. Our Lady of Sheshan,
sustain all those in China, who, amid their daily trials, continue to believe,
to hope, to love. May they never be afraid to speak of Jesus to the world, and
of the world to Jesus. In the statue overlooking the Shrine you lift your Son on
high, offering him to the world with open arms in a gesture of love. Help Catholics
always to be credible witnesses to this love, ever clinging to the rock of Peter
on which the Church is built. Mother of China and all Asia, pray for us, now and
for ever. Amen!