We also had the privilege of attending Masses as often as we were able to during the trip. It was eye-opening for us to experience the "patriotic" Catholic Church in China. Our experience there was quite different from what we learned about the patriotic church prior to the trip. We were deeply touched by the total devotions to our Lord from the Catholics in China, and utterly amazed at the level of freedom people have to practice Catholicism! From what we could tell, the liturgy was almost identical to ours here in the US.
Daily Masses were well attended. On weekends, churches were packed with hundreds of believers! Their publications freely publish news in the Catholic world, from (the) Pope's schedules to local Catholic events such as retreats (and) Summer camps for students.We once had a chance to ask a priest as to what the differences were between the patriotic church and the underground church. He sincerely told us that he believes the patriotic church is in the mid-ground, somewhere between the underground (underground church) and the above ground (patriotic church). More research is yet to be done, but we feel that the spiritual soil is much richer there than we initially perceived, and the harvest shall be abundant!
How amazing! The seed was sown long ago. Cannot wait for the harvest. How great it will be for all of us to worship Our Lord, girded in freedom.
