Our Lady of Zose (She Shan)

Today is the feast of Our Lady of She-Shan, aka the Holy Mother in China. It is also known as the feast of Our Lady Help of Christians.

Last Wednesday as he spoke at general audience, Papa Benedetto made the following request:

Tuesday, 24 May, is dedicated to the liturgical memorial of Our Lady, Help of Christians, who is venerated with great devotion at the Shrine of Sheshan in Shanghai: the whole Church joins in prayer with the Church in China. There, as elsewhere, Christ is living out his passion. While the number of those who accept him as their Lord is increasing, there are others who reject Christ, who ignore him or persecute him: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4). The Church in China, especially at this time, needs the prayers of the universal Church. In the first place, therefore, I invite all Chinese Catholics to continue and to deepen their own prayers, especially to Mary, the powerful Virgin. At the same time all Catholics throughout the world have a duty to pray for the Church in China: those members of the faithful have a right to our prayers, they need our prayers.
We know from the Acts of the Apostles that when Peter was in prison, everyone prayed fervently, and as a result, an angel came to free him. Let us do likewise: let us all pray together intensely for this Church, trusting that by our prayers we can do something very real for her.
Chinese Catholics, as they have said many times, want unity with the universal Church, with the Supreme Pastor, with the Successor of Peter. By our prayers we can obtain for the Church in China that it remain one, holy and Catholic, faithful and steadfast in doctrine and in ecclesial discipline. She deserves all our affection.
We know that among our brother Bishops there are some who suffer and find themselves under pressure in the exercise of their episcopal ministry. To them, to the priests and to all the Catholics who encounter difficulties in the free profession of faith, we express our closeness. By our prayers we can help them to find the path to keep their faith alive, to keep their hope strong, to keep their love for all people ardent, and to maintain in its integrity the ecclesiology that we have received from the Lord and the Apostles, which has been faithfully transmitted to us right down to the present day. By our prayers we can obtain that their wish to remain in the one universal Church will prove stronger than the temptation to follow a path independent of Peter. Prayer can obtain, for them and for us, the joy and the strength to proclaim and to bear witness, with complete candour and without impediment, Jesus Christ crucified and risen, the New Man, the conqueror of sin and death.
With all of you I ask Mary to intercede that all of them may be ever more closely conformed to Christ and may give themselves ever more generously to their brethren. I ask Mary to enlighten those who are in doubt, to call back the straying, to console the afflicted, to strengthen those who are ensnared by the allure of opportunism. Virgin Mary, Help of Christians, Our Lady of Sheshan, pray for us!

About the shrine: The shrine is the Basilica of Our Lady of She Shan. It is located on the western peak of She Shan Hill, in Songjiang District, to the west of Shanghai's metropolitan area. The original Church was build by Jesuit missionaries in 1863 & a small pavilion was built containing a statue of the Madonna. In 1870 the Church was burned down in the unrest in the area. The Jesuits, praying at the pavbillion promised to build a Church in Mary's honor in return for her protection. In 1925 because it was too small, the Church was torn down & a new Church was built. It was finished in 1935. In 1942 Pope Pius XII declared it a minor basilica. In 1946, the statue of Our Lady of Zose located at the apex of the tower was crowned by the Holy See.

During the Cultural Revolution the Basilica was heavily damaged. The stained glass windows of the church, carvings along the Via Dolorosa, the statue atop the bell tower, & various other works of iconography were destroyed. Over the years the Basilica has been restored. The statue was replaced in 2000. Unfortunately, the Basilica is still under the control of the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association & the Bishops not recognized by the Vatican.

In 1874 Pope Pius IX declared that pilgrims who visited the Shrine in May could receive a plenary indulgence. To this day, & despite the takeover by the Communists, the Shrine remains a pilgimage site.

Papa Benedetto 1st asked for special prayers by the whole Church for the Catholics in China every year on 24 May. It was a part of his letter to the Catholic Church in China. In 2008 he composed a special Prayer to Our Lady of She Shan for use on this day.

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 co-operated 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 trails, 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!