Blogs

By Sister Celia Chua, MIC, STD, visiting professor at the International Marian Research Institute

The Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception (MIC), my religious congregation, first went to China in 1909, shortly after their foundation Montreal, Canada in 1902. Following in the footsteps of my pioneering sisters (counting 205 sisters), I heard the call to be a bridge builder and to dare to encounter others in China since the year 1995.

This past April and May I visited, yet again, and participated in the following Marian activities throughout China.

Guangzou City, Guangdong Province in the southern part of China
The Chinese Sisters of the Immaculate Conception celebrated their centennial (founded in 1908 as consecrated virgins and assisted by the MIC sisters). The theme of a three-day Marian session focused the significance and sprituality of the Immaculate Conception.

Wuxi, Nanjing Diocese, Jiangsu province in the eastern part of China
I shared, with some 40 members of the laity, the two continuing challenges in Christian formation in Pope Francis' The Joy of Love where he writes about integral and right relationship as well as proper formation of conscience.

Taiyuan, Shanxi, the western part of China 
This is a formation center for Chinese religious. Some 60 participants attended a two-year course. I gave an introduction to Mariology for two weeks (about 50 hours with some Marian activities such as Marian films, a pilgrimage etc.