Dear Confreres, Sisters, Cooperators & Other Members of the Salesian Family,
The peace of the Lord be
with you always!
In this sesquicentennial
(150) anniversary of the foundation of the Salesian Society by our
dear Father St. John Bosco, in response to the serious difficulties
that our educational and pastoral work is facing, I write to invite
you to do, during the coming month of October, a very meaningful act
of piety and devotion, namely, the entrustment of all Salesian works
in China to Mary Help of Christians.
I am prompted to
encourage you to do this, because of the very interesting historical
background that I outline here below (for a more detailed account
see Attachment I).
Ninety years ago in
Shiuchow, on Friday, October 24, 1919, in the poor chapel of the
first missionary residence of the Salesians (San Tung Mun), Don
Luigi Versiglia (the Head of the Salesian Mission, but not yet a
Bishop), together with a dozen other missionaries, solemnly
entrusted the incipient Salesian mission to Mary Help of Christians,
reciting the Prayer of Entrustment used one year before, on June 9,
1918, in the Church of Mary Help of Christians in Turin, while World
War I was still raging, by the Rector Major Fr. Paolo Albera. A
special
characteristic of this Prayer is that it is made not only for the
Salesians, but also for the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians and
the Cooperator Salesians, i.e for the whole Salesian Family.
Again in Shiuchow, sixty
years ago (in 1949), Mons. Michele Arduino, second successor of
Mons. Luigi Versiglia as Bishop of Shiuchow, given the difficult
times that in that year had come upon the Salesian work in China,
renewed together with his missionaries the Entrustment of Salesian
works to Mary Help of Christians, using the same Prayer formula used
thirty years before by Fr. Luigi Versiglia and his missionaries.
This year, ninety
years since the Entrustment made by Fr. Luigi Versiglia and sixty
years since that made by Bishop Michele Arduino, I invite all
communities of the Salesian Family (each community of the Salesians
of Don Bosco, of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, of the
Salesian Cooperators, of the Volunteers of Don Bosco, of the Sisters
Announcers of the Lord, of the Past Pupils, and of the ADMA) to
renew this Entrustment, using the Prayer of Entrustment written by
Fr. Paolo Albera and used by Fr. Luigi Versiglia and Bishop Michele
Arduino. The exact date for the renewal is Saturday, October 24th,
2009, but any other date, deemed more suitable for the local
community, can be chosen. The Salesian Family as a whole will
perform this Act of Entrustment on
Sunday, October 11th,
2009, on the
occasion of the
meeting of the Salesian Family representatives with our Regional
Superior Very Rev. Fr. Andrew Wong.
Enclosed please find,
besides the Historical Background mentioned above, the Chinese and
English translation of the Prayer of Entrustment. The difficulties
that the
Salesian work is
encountering today are not lesser or smaller than those met by our
forefathers. We still need to entrust ourselves completely to the
loving care of our heavenly Mother and Help. Each community may
choose the date and the way it prefers for making this Entrustment,
but let this Entrustment, however simply done, be one of the
highpoints of this sesquicentennial year of the foundation of the
Salesian Society.
In Jesus, Mary, Don Bosco,
Yours affectionately,
Fr. Simon
Lam Chung Wai
Provincial
Hong Kong, September 24th, 2009
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將慈幼事業託付給瑪利亞進教之佑邀請信
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奉獻給聖母進教之佑誦
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奉獻給聖母進教之佑誦
(英文 ENG)
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歷史背景
(附件一,英文 ENG) |