China was consecrated to Mary at the Shrine of Our Lady of Sheshan

The Shrine of Mary Help of Christians of Sheshan, located in the heart of Catholic China, on a hill a few miles from Shanghai, is one of national significance.

In 1844, a jesuit missionary, noticing a dilapidated Buddhist temple, thought of building a shrine in honor of Mary. His dream came true in 1867, and soon Christians came there on pilgrimage. In 1924, the Apostolic Delegate to China, all the bishops and many priests came to this shrine to publicly consecrate China to the Virgin Mary.

The present shrine, inaugurated in 1935, was declared a minor basilica by Pius XII in 1942. in 1946, the bronze statue of Mary lifting up the baby Jesus, known as Our Lady of Zo-sé, was hoisted onto the bell tower. After the military victory of Mao Se-tung, the shrine was desecrated and remained closed for twenty years. Eventually 30,000 courageous pilgrims managed to change things.

In 1978, between the 15th and 17th of March, the pilgrims entered the ruined shrine and placed a small statue of the Virgin inside. The government could not prevent them because they had acted peacefully. Thus reopened to worship, the shrine was entrusted to the priests of the National Church, then separated from Rome, and on May 1, 2000 the statue of Our Lady of Zo-sé was once again hoisted onto the bell tower, towering above the horizon from the hill.

Attilio GALLI, Madre della Chiesa dei Cinque continenti, Ed. Segno, Udine, 1997, p. 395-41

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