Fr Kevin O’Neill SSC with Sr Mary. Photo: Fr Kevin O’Neill SSC
A new order of contemplative sisters in China sprang from the dream and vision of Sr Mary.
Sr Mary, the oldest of six siblings – three girls and three boys - was born in 1963 in a small rural village in China. The oldest boy died during the famine at the time of the Cultural Revolution (1966 – 1976). One of Sr Mary's other two brothers is a diocesan priest. Before the Cultural Revolution outbreak, Sr Mary's mother burnt all the religious books the family had in their possession. However, her grandmother ensured that a bible, a prayer book and a crucifix was kept. These were hidden in a secret location in the house and brought out when the family gathered for prayer.
During the years of the Cultural Revolution, Sr Mary's family prayed quietly in their home. The family home was often inspected and turned upside down by government officers searching for religious books and artifacts. During these searches, Sr Mary remembers her grandmother being beaten by the officers. These are some of Sr Mary's memories as a young child growing up in a catholic family in a village in rural China.
At school, Sr Mary was treated badly and given poor grades because she was catholic. She was one of the very few Catholics lucky enough to be able to finish high school. After high school, she went to college and studied mechanical engineering. After graduating, she worked as an engineer in a government run factory.
In 1990, Sr Mary was among 13 women in her village who decided to live together as a praying community. This group of young women wanted to start a religious congregation in their home diocese but the bishop, at the time, didn't permit them. Later, Sr Mary went on to study medicine at university. During her years at medical school, she was discerning a call to the contemplative life. Sr Mary was due to begin her hospital residency when she was allowed to go to England to live in a contemplative monastery with the Augustinian Canonesses. Her uncle, a priest in Taiwan, had a friend in the contemplative order. Sr Mary went to England and lived with the sisters for three years. Her vision was to one day return to China and establish a contemplative order of Augustinian sisters.
While in England, Sr Mary kept up her contacts with China. She eventually found a bishop who would grant her permission to start a contemplative order in his diocese. The diocese is the neighbouring diocese to her home diocese. Because government policy in China requires all religious sisters to belong to a diocesan congregation under the local bishop's authority, the sisters in the new contemplative order would, on the government books, be seen to be members of the diocesan congregation of sisters. Nevertheless, according to the church, they would be a separate congregation.
Sr Mary took her first profession in England. She then received a scholarship from the Columbans, which took her to Ireland to study religious formation and Spirituality. While in Ireland, she received a Masters degree in Spirituality.
During my six years in Ireland (2000 – 2006), I first met Sr Mary. The Columbans hosted a retreat for lay people, sisters and priests from China who were studying in Europe. Sr Mary was one of the organizers of the retreat, which I too was fortunate to attend. After my time in Ireland, I worked in China and then in Hong Kong. For about ten years, I had the opportunity to meet Sr Mary and her family on many occasions.
While Sr Mary was living overseas, the bishop in her home diocese eventually established an order of sisters in the diocese. Some of the 13 women living in the community with Sr Mary in the early '90s joined the diocesan congregation of sisters. Now back in China, Sr Mary still keeps in touch with them. She also has close contacts with the diocesan sisters in the diocese, where she and her fellow Augustinian contemplative sisters live in the community.
On her return to China, Sr Mary, with help from the diocese, purchased land from the government to build a monastery. The monastery site is on a hill overlooking a small rural village nestled in a valley with a river running through it. The monastery also has facilities for people to run seminars and accommodation for those who wish to make a retreat. The sisters are now in the process of having a nursing home constructed next to their monastery.
Fr Kevin O’Neill SSC with Catholics from the village. Photo: Fr Kevin O’Neill SSC
It was a joy for me when I first visited Sr Mary and the small community of sisters in the country village marked out to be the new monastery location. During the construction of their monastery, the sisters lived in a small building by the side of the village church. They received a warm welcome from the local Catholics who are very excited that their village was chosen as the location for the monastery. Over the years, during my return visits to the young contemplative community, the new monastery gradually took shape to the sisters' delight, the local catholic community and the bishop, priests, sisters, and lay faithful in the diocese.
With ongoing financial assistance from generous donors worldwide, Sr Mary's dream of establishing a new contemplative order in China, building a monastery and a nursing home, has been realised. The sisters hope that they will soon be able to welcome the elderly to come and join them in the picturesque valley in rural China.
Sr Mary's skills as an engineer were put to use during the monastery construction and now once again during the construction of the nursing home. As a medical doctor, Sr Mary will aptly take care of the elderly who come to live out the remaining years of their lives under the loving care of the Augustinian contemplative sisters, and as a theologian, she will continue to nourish the minds, hearts and souls of those who take the journey along the river into the valley to the monastery where they can rest in prayer amidst God's creation and in the company of the sisters.
Fr Kevin O’Neill is assigned to China. He is presently working in Australia while awaiting his return to China.
Related links
- Read more from the current Columban eBulletin
