johey24
In Shanghai, never expect to find what you went looking for 12/19
1st Surprise
Pamphlets to advertise the Church
When we did not find what we originally went looking for, we noticed this Christian Cross towering above the houses surrounding the area. We went to where the Cross was and discovered St Theresa's Cathedral.
On the ground floor there were 4 people packaging things (looks like a delivery service or something). Mau asked them about the Church and they said we should go up to the 2nd floor (American English 3rd floor). One of the packers followed us up the stairs and with a key from her pocket opened the locked door we found on the 3rd floor.
We took another half a flight of stairs up - and discovered St Theresa's Catholic Church ...... we were the only people in there and it was quite awesome. Could feel the history, the presence of Something Bigger than little us ..... after about 30 minutes of taking photos and simply enjoying the quiet and peace, a really lovely lady entered (she is the cleaner and up-keeper) and she explained to us that nowadays they have several services a week and that we are most welcome to attend any of them. All in Chines, of course, so we did miss quite a bit of what she said.
Last night, back home, I did some research on the internet and managed to find the following info on the Church.
It is called St Theresa's Catholic Churh, built in 1920. Back then it had this majestic 3 storey high ceiling with parishioners sitting on ground level (we saw the pillars you see in my photos on the ground (AE 1st) floor amongst all the parcels and packages). During the Cultural Revolution, Mao had the tall Church converted into a 3 storey building full of apartments for the poor with the top floor as an open storage space .... and this was where the Brothers and Sisters secretly managed to keep the church going amongst all the stored stuff. Today, it is no longer a secret but still, the Church is located on the top floor, redecorated et al, proudly out in the open ..... In the photos you will see how close we are to the ceiling - hence the ugly insulation hanging from the ceiling and the fans standing all around ... it is bloody hot in there ....
Lastly, as we left the Church, the lovely lady we met up in the rafters came running after us (Mau told her about his mom being a Christian) and handed him an almanac for 2015, saying, "This is for your Mother".
Went Walkies yesterday, looking for one thing unsuccessfully but found many other surprises in this amazing city.
In Shanghai, never expect to find what you went looking for 12/19
1st Surprise
Pamphlets to advertise the Church
When we did not find what we originally went looking for, we noticed this Christian Cross towering above the houses surrounding the area. We went to where the Cross was and discovered St Theresa's Cathedral.
On the ground floor there were 4 people packaging things (looks like a delivery service or something). Mau asked them about the Church and they said we should go up to the 2nd floor (American English 3rd floor). One of the packers followed us up the stairs and with a key from her pocket opened the locked door we found on the 3rd floor.
We took another half a flight of stairs up - and discovered St Theresa's Catholic Church ...... we were the only people in there and it was quite awesome. Could feel the history, the presence of Something Bigger than little us ..... after about 30 minutes of taking photos and simply enjoying the quiet and peace, a really lovely lady entered (she is the cleaner and up-keeper) and she explained to us that nowadays they have several services a week and that we are most welcome to attend any of them. All in Chines, of course, so we did miss quite a bit of what she said.
Last night, back home, I did some research on the internet and managed to find the following info on the Church.
It is called St Theresa's Catholic Churh, built in 1920. Back then it had this majestic 3 storey high ceiling with parishioners sitting on ground level (we saw the pillars you see in my photos on the ground (AE 1st) floor amongst all the parcels and packages). During the Cultural Revolution, Mao had the tall Church converted into a 3 storey building full of apartments for the poor with the top floor as an open storage space .... and this was where the Brothers and Sisters secretly managed to keep the church going amongst all the stored stuff. Today, it is no longer a secret but still, the Church is located on the top floor, redecorated et al, proudly out in the open ..... In the photos you will see how close we are to the ceiling - hence the ugly insulation hanging from the ceiling and the fans standing all around ... it is bloody hot in there ....
Lastly, as we left the Church, the lovely lady we met up in the rafters came running after us (Mau told her about his mom being a Christian) and handed him an almanac for 2015, saying, "This is for your Mother".
Went Walkies yesterday, looking for one thing unsuccessfully but found many other surprises in this amazing city.