Background:
Parish below named "Our Lady of Lourdes"
because original centre was a sanatorium....
and Lourdes is dedicated to praying for and caring for the sick
This
beautiful article from last week's HK Sunday Examiner
describes how the faith community at Chi Fu
began as a small seed....and grew into a lovely tree
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2012-06-16
Visit to Lourdes by parish group
from Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Chi Fu, Hong Kong
Report by parish priest, Fr Stephen Ip (thank you Stephen! - jw)
The
pilgrimage tour “In Search of the Footsteps of Fr. Chevalier – France
Pilgrimage” organized by our Parish and Friends of Tai Koo Lau was
successfully completed in early June this year.
Together with 39 participants, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we
commenced our 12 days tour delightfully and with different expectations.
We have visited many places including Lourdes, Le Chataignier (the
hometown of Fr. Chevalier), MEP Headquarters in Paris, etc.
I believe many of us were deeply moved when we entered into the Lourdes
baths inside the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes and visited the family members
of Fr. Chevalier in Le Chataignier.
I am particularly thankful to our Lord as we have a chance to celebrate a
Mass in Cantonese at 6am in front of the Grotto, where the apparition of Our
Lady took place. Besides members of
our tour, faithful from different parts of the world have also joined in our
Mass. The number of attendance was
over a hundred. After the Mass, we
prayed inside the Grotto and gave thanks to Our Blessed Mother, asking her to
pray for our Church in China, our Parish, the sick, and the family and wishes of
individual members.
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Footnote:
Inside the altar of Our Lady of Lourdes Church is a relic of
Saint Jean-Gabriel
Perboyre (1802 – 1840)
who was martyred in China