Garden Hill Catholic Church

Huayuanshan Shengjia Hall

synonym

Huayuanshan Catholic Church generally refers to huayuanshan Holy Family Church

Huayuanshan Shengjia church is a 19th century Catholic Church located in huayuanshan, Wuchang District, Wuhan City, Hubei Province. It is also the Episcopal Church of Wuchang Catholic Diocese. There is Zhongnan Theological College (now closed).

Historical evolution

In 1862, eustachics zanoli, bishop of Hubei pastoral area and Franciscan Church of Italy, moved the Bishop's mansion and convent from Yingcheng to huayuanshan in Wuchang, the capital of Hubei Province. After becoming bishop in Ming Dynasty, he bought a large area of land in huayuanshan of Wuchang, built a large-scale Bishop's office and expanded the convent.

In 1889 (the 15th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty), epiphanus caitassace, who succeeded him, built a magnificent cathedral, 36 meters long, 18 meters wide and 20 meters high, which can accommodate 500 people.

On December 12, 1923, Daimu in the east of Hubei Province was divided into Hankou Daimu District, Wuchang Jianmu district and Hanyang Jianmu District, which managed the educational affairs of Wuchang, Xianning, Tongshan, Echeng, Daye and Yangxin counties. The three dioceses belong to different missionary orders. In Hankou, the Italian Franciscan church is the representative pastoral area; in Wuchang, the American Franciscan church is the representative pastoral area; in Hanyang, the gaolongpang missionary church is the representative pastoral area. AI Yuandao, the first bishop of Wuchang pastoral area. During his term of office, AI Yuandao established the Chinese Saint Joseph's good work nuns' Association, and set up huayuanshan baby rearing hall, Saint Joseph's Hospital, good guidance women's middle school, Fang Ji printing library, etc.

In 1940, bishop aiyuandao died, and rembertus Kowalski, a Polish American Franciscan, succeeded him as the vicar. Soon after the Pacific War broke out, Guo was detained by the Japanese in Shanghai. In 1946, Wuchang was promoted to diocese and Guo was the first bishop. In 1951, Guo Shiji was arrested for the huayuanshan yuyingtang incident and deported in 1953.

Since then, huayuanshan diocese has been succeeded by Chinese Clergy Shi Xianzhang, Zhao xingeng, Jiang Su and others. In 1958, Yuan Wenhua was elected as the diocese bishop. In 1966, when the Cultural Revolution broke out, all religious activities stopped, Wuchang Shengjia church was transformed into a factory, and the internal facilities and interior and exterior architectural decoration were seriously damaged.

In October 1983, the holy family hall was renovated and religious activities resumed.

Architectural design

The hall of the Holy Family in Wuchang garden mountain is rebuilt on the basis of the original Hall of the holy family, which is a Roman basilica style building.

Its north facing south, brick and wood structure, excellent workmanship, magnificent momentum. The first thing to get into people's sight is the center of the gable window on the facade. A delicate Western sundial is installed, which is specially used to observe the sun's reflection and count the time. This kind of antique timer installed on the front of the church is rare at home and abroad. In addition, on the wall of its facade, there is a long arch niche, in which there is a box of olive tree sculpture. According to the old members of the church, the sculptures in the niches were decorated with gold and jewelry at that time. After restoration, they were replaced with two statues of saints.

The main entrance of the hall is opened in the south, and the door arch is high. There is a special platform for the choir above the arch, which echoes the north and south of the main altar. The hall is 36 meters long and about 18 meters wide, with a rectangular inner space and barrier free. It can hold nearly a thousand people to watch mass at the same time. The north end of the hall is the main altar of the holy body, on which the huge oil portraits of the three members of the holy family are worshipped. The two altars in the east wing are the pictures of shepherd Jesus and Saint Francis, while the two altars in the west wing are the pictures of the ascension of the Virgin Mary and Saint Andoni. The five Roman style long arches decorated with gold altars are smooth in line and tall in shape, which makes the rectangular tone in the hall appropriate and varied.

Most praiseworthy of all, the interior decoration of huayuanshan Catholic Church, especially the trellis pattern on the top of the 20 meter high inner space, is inlaid with real gold. It is said that on the eve of the "Cultural Revolution", the precious gold ornaments on the ceiling of the church were reasonably covered by obstacles such as bamboo mats organized by the priests of the church. Later, the inside of the church was changed into a factory, but no one found it, so it survived to this day. It was restored and opened in October 1983.

Now, after careful maintenance, this century old church with golden caisson is more and more different. Therefore, in early 2005, the church was officially promulgated as the second batch of excellent historical buildings in Wuhan.

Sunday mass time

Sunday Mass: 6:10 am, 8:00 am, 10:30 am (English or French)

4:00 p.m. (after 11:00 to before 5:00 p.m.), 4:30 p.m. (after 5:00 to before 11:00 p.m.).

Church features

Foreign faith groups were established in the parish in 2005. Believers are mainly African, Indian and European students or teachers in China. At first, it was Christmas, and Indian students asked for an English mass until the following weekly mass. Now this group of believers is growing, and there are three or four hundred foreign believers. English / French mass is provided at 10:30 every Sunday. The first three weeks of each month are mass in English, and the last week is mass in French. Presided over by Irish priests and Chinese priests.

The parish also held Latin mass from time to time.

Central South Theological College

Central South theological college is located in huayuanshan. It was originally a small Convent of Hankou diocese. Its mission is to serve Hunan, Hubei and Guangdong. The dioceses of Guangxi, Hainan and Henan are training students. Jointly run by the six provinces, the convent opened on October 18, 1983, with 40 students. In 2002, the college had 9 priests and friars, and more than 100 friars from about 20 parishes in eight provinces. In recent years, the college has become increasingly open, and actively invited some overseas experts and scholars to give lectures. The quality of teaching is gradually improving. Chairman: bishop Gan Junqiu of Guangzhou diocese; Dean: Acting father Chang pingqiang; Deputy Dean: father Chang; Dean: father Shen Siming; theologian: father Wang Limin; new and Old Testament: father Lu Shoude; faith Theology: father Shen Siming, father Zhou Guangyang; etiquette: father Bai Hongwei; Church History: Father Shu Zigeng; ethical theology: father Chang pingqiang.

The academy is now closed, with the cloister of the deadly French Catholic saint.

Baolu Youth League

Baolu Youth League was founded in 2001 by monks of Central South theological college. Its purpose is "to enable young friends inside and outside the church to follow Paul's example, have a clear understanding of Jesus, the mystery of Christ and the church, and do a better job in evangelization and service.". At present, there are more than 150 members of Baolu Youth League, mainly composed of college students in Wuhan, young Catholics of the same age and young friends outside the University. After Sunday mass, the group holds activities such as chanting, church lectures and Bible sharing.

Address: No.2 huayuanshan, Yanzhi Road, Wuchang District, Wuhan

Longitude: 114.30791175521

Latitude: 30.5511966723

Ticket information: free.

Chinese PinYin : Hua Yuan Shan Tian Zhu Tang