Posted on 02/02/2008 7:08:17 AM PST by NYer
Hong Kong
Trappist priest Rev. Nicholas Kao Se-Tsien, Hong Kong’s oldest man, who recited the rosary devotion 15 times a day for world peace every day from 1932, has died at the age of 110.
Father Kao was a member of the Trappist monastic community in Hong Kong, and he was believed to be the oldest Chinese priest in the world. His superior, Dom Anastasius Li, said Father Kao died peacefully in his sleep on Dec. 11 in Hong Kong, having been well prepared for his last day.
The Roman Catholic priest witnessed turbulent changes in China from the day he was born on Jan. 15, 1897, in Fujian province, when the country was ruled by the imperial Qing Dynasty, which lasted from 1644 to 1911. He was baptized in 1915, four years after the Republic of China had been founded.
Ordained a priest in 1933 to serve Fuzhou Cathedral in the capital city of Fujian province, Father Kao left mainland China in 1949, after Mao Zedong’s Communist Party founded the People’s Republic of China and religious activities were under threat.
Father Kao then served in Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, before he joined the Hong Kong Trappist community in 1972. He took his final vow in 1997, at the age of 100.
The monk shared a deep devotion to the Virgin Mary and built six Marian temples in mainland China, Taiwan, Malaysia and Hong Kong.
Father Kao embarked on his quest for world peace in 1932, by beginning his recital of the rosary, a traditional Catholic devotion that involves sets of prayers in tens using beads as counters.
When the late Pope John Paul II lengthened the rosary prayers with the “Mysteries of Light” in 2002, the monk increased his rosary recitals to 20 times a day.
The rosary is used sometimes by some adherents of other Christian denominations, particularly in the Anglican Communion, the Old Catholic Church, and some Lutherans, and occasionally by some Methodists. More evangelical Protestants, however, such as Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists and churches such as the Assemblies of God, do not use the rosary and may discourage their members from using this method of prayer.
Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
Eastern Christian monks started the Christian practice in the third century. The modern Roman Catholic rosary's origin is most often associated with St. Dominic, founder of the Dominican order in the early 13th century.
The rosary is a devotion in honor of the Virgin Mary. It consists of a set number of specific prayers. First are the introductory prayers: one Apostles’ Creed (Credo), one Our Father (the Pater Noster or the Lord’s Prayer), three Hail Mary’s (Ave’s), one Glory Be (Gloria Patri).
When Catholics recite the twelve prayers that form a decade of the rosary, they meditate on the Gospel mystery associated with that decade.
It is the meditation on the mysteries that gives the rosary its staying power. The Joyful Mysteries are these: the Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38), the Visitation (Luke 1:40-56), the Nativity (Luke 2:6-20), the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:21-39), and the Finding of the child Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:41-51).
Then come the Sorrowful Mysteries: the Agony in the Garden (Matt. 26:36-46), the Scourging (Matt. 27:26), the Crowning with Thorns (Matt. 27:29), the Carrying of the Cross (John 19:17), and the Crucifixion (Luke 23:33-46).
The final Mysteries are the Glorious: the Resurrection (Luke 24:1-12), the Ascension (Luke 24:50-51), the Descent of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4), the Assumption of Mary into heaven (Rev. 12), and her Coronation (cf. Rev. 12:1).
O.C.D.?
I pray brother Nicholas Kao Se-Tsien spent some time each day calling onshalom b'SHEM Yah'shua
the Name of the creator of the universe: Yah'shua. for his salvation.
**Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.**
Amen!
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for me now and at the hour of my death.
Amen!
This is a division of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (O.C.S.O.: Ordo Cisterciensis Strictioris Observantiae), which in turn is discended from a group of monks who in 1098 founded a monastery for the "strict observance" of the Rule of St. Benedict in a region of France just south of Dijon called Cîteaux (Latin: "Cistercium").
Called the "White Monks." An ardent, devotedly prayerful, poor, chaste, obedient, and fascinating group.
Ah, no. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
No.
It isn’t OCD. It’s called holiness and reverence. Both are common traits among the saints.
It was humor. Sorry
Jesus is the focus of the Rosary, as posted above.
Not in the 1950s or before !
Yes, since forever. The Rosary is a meditation on the Gospels. The Joyful Mysteries draw us into The Annunciation (Luke 1:28), The Visitation (Luke 1:41-43), The Nativity (Luke 2:6-7), The Presentation (Luke 2:22) and The Finding in the Temple (Luke 2:46). The other mysteries are similar. The Sorrrowful Mysteries draw us into a reflection on Christ's Agony in the Garden, The Scourging, The Crowning with Thorns, Carrying the Cross and The Crucifixion. The Glorious Mysteries focus on The Resurrection, The Ascension, Descent of the Holy Spirit, Assumption and Coronation of Mary (Rv. 12:1). The beads draw us deeper into these mysteries through the eyes of the Mother of God.
Well in the late 40s i was in grade schools with nuns it was all about
worshiping the queen of heaven and the "mother of god" !Later in prep school with brothers it was all about adoring the queen of
heaven and the "mother of god"Three years in senior prep school (mid 50s) with the jesuits, they mocked the nuns
and brothers as blackbirds on a wire to be ignored but talked about the queen of heaven and the "mother of god"Salvation was never discussed.
The Holy Word of Elohim was never discussed !
However we were drilled on Baltimore Catechism # 3.
No discussion; just drill.
It is the mediations on the the life of Christ, and His life in the Church (the last 3 of the Glorious Mysteries) that produce holiness in the life of the believer.
I'm not knocking saying the prayers, there have been too many times in my own life where all I could pray was "forgive me my trespasses, as I forgive _______, who has trespassed against me. Lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil by letting me forgive ________." I know how very strong the words of holy prayers can be. However, in the case of the rosary, the prayer are mainly placeholders or timekeepers for the mediations. Those mediations are most definitely focused on the Lord Jesus Christ.
16 posted on 02/02/2008 3:10:30 PM MST by Talking_Mouse
I attend a weekly Bible study. I listen to an hour of scriptural commentaries a day. Once a week, I worship with others the creator of the universe: I remember Yah'shua each Shabbat I observe His feasts as foreshadowing metaphors for prophesy as He commanded. I prefer to read and exegete the Holy Word of Elohim
shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua
with the illumination of the Ru'ach HaKodesh.
YHvH as my salvation ==>Yah'shua
as He commanded me with wine and unleavened bread.
O my Jesus! Forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to Heaven, especially those in most need of Thy Mercy.
Does that one meet with your approval?
“The rosary is used sometimes by some adherents of other Christian denominations, particularly in the Anglican Communion, the Old Catholic Church, and some Lutherans, and occasionally by some Methodists.”
There is a “Christian denomination” called the “Old Catholic Church”? Who wrote this? No wonder people get the wrong ideas about religion.
Part of the Rosary is the Fatima Prayer:
Oh My Jesus forgive us our sins, lead all souls to heaven especially those who are most in need of Thy Mercy.
I got your humor and smiled. I think it’s OK to make a little joke with NO disrespect meant to this holy, devout, and saintly monk whose prayers may have produced countless miracles and blessings.
The Rosary is also used to pray the “Divine Mercy Chaplet” (revealed) which prayers include the Pater Noster and these short prayers:
“Eternal Father, I offer you the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinty of your dearly beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.”
“For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us, and on the whole world.”
“Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.”
As has been often pointed out, the most ardent of opponents of the Church are former Catholics, post #17 being an example.
No problem!
I no longer worship with the man made traditions. I follow all of YHvH's commandments. I keep holy His Shabbat. I now worship Yah'shua the creator of the universe as He has commanded.
shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua
Thank you for pointing this out. For the benefit of those who are unfamiliar with these prayers, our Lord appeared to a Polish nun and gave asked that this chaplet be prayed.
My daughter, encourage souls to say the chaplet which I have given to you. It pleases Me to grant everything they ask of Me by saying this chaplet. When hardened sinners say it, I will fill their souls with peace, and the hour of their death will be a happy one. (1541) Write that when they say this chaplet in the presence of the dying, I will stand between My Father and the dying person, not as the just Judge but as the merciful Saviour. (1541)
You wrote:
“Well in the late 40s i was in grade schools with nuns it was all about worshiping the queen of heaven and the “mother of god” !”
Nope. Never happened. No Catholic nun in the 1940s ever told you to worship Mary or anyone else other than God. Also, if Jesus is the King, than His mother is the queen mother and they’re in heaven. And if Jesus is God - and He is - then His mother is the mother of God. This isn’t hard.
“Later in prep school with brothers it was all about adoring the queen of
heaven and the “mother of god””
Again, no. Never happened. No one ever taught you - in a Catholic school - to adore anyone other than God Himself.
“Three years in senior prep school (mid 50s) with the jesuits, they mocked the nuns
and brothers as blackbirds on a wire to be ignored but talked about the queen of heaven and the “mother of god””
I’m not surprised to hear that Jesuits mocked other orders. That’s happened between orders before. I’m glad they talked to you about truths like Mary being the queen of heaven and mother of God, but are you really claiming that’s ALL they taught you about? No, sorry, I don’t believe you.
“Salvation was never discussed.”
R-I-G-H-T. So, the Fall of Man in the Garden was never discussed. EVER? Jesus’ death on the Cross for our sins WAS NEVER DISCUSSED even ONCE? Baptismal regeneration? Grace? Faith? None of that - even though much of it comes up in the liturgy? And you were taught by Jesuits in the 1950s? Yeah, right.
“The Holy Word of Elohim was never discussed !”
So, they never had Mass at your Jesuit high school? You never had sermons at Mass? Please be honest.
“However we were drilled on Baltimore Catechism # 3.”
Really? Which one? I ask because Unit 1 of Fr. Connell’s Baltimore Catechism #3 starts off with “Man, God, Creation, the Fall.” That’s on PAGE ONE! It says, right there on page 1, that we were created to “share God’s happiness in heaven.” On page 2 there is a diagram showing the “Path to Heaven”. Imagine that.
After a few pages about the need for Christ’s Incarnation for our redemption there are specific questions and answers on the Redemption:
221 (90) What is meant by the redemption?
222 What is a Redeemer?
223 Why is Christ called our Redeemer?
224 What do we mean when we say that Christ’s sufferings and death were a sacrifice?
Then, shirtly after that, there is Lesson 9 which is all about “The Holy Ghost and Grace” with questions like:
260 What does the Holy Ghost do for the salvation of mankind?
261 What is grace?
Are you sure you went to Catholic school?
No discussion; just drill.
Good reply.
Don’t you just love the way a tribute to a holy Catholic man is turned into a grudge session.
I hope I have enough class never to dance on someone’s grave and enough respect to know when to kevtch and when to be quiet.
“Father Kao embarked on his quest for world peace in 1932, by beginning his recital of the rosary, a traditional Catholic devotion that involves sets of prayers in tens using beads as counters.”
Wow, 1932. He went through the worst of Japan’s invasion, Mao’s long march and takeover, Chaing Ki Shek and the revolution and then the Communists all the way up to the Cultural (De)volution and massacres.
What a life. His prayers probably mitigated some of the horrors and kept them from happening as God listened to him.
We Catholics do not need to apologize for the Marian dogmas. Yes, the Rosary is Christocentric and Gospel-oriented, but that is not all. It originated with St. Dominic as a way for the laity (who in those days could not read) to focus on the mysteries, including those of Mary as well as Jesus, with 150 beads for the 150 psalms. It includes prayers to Mary, we don’t have a problem with that. Some of Jesus’ last words referred to her: “Behold your Mother!”
Revelation has vouchsafed to the Catholic Church that Mary is (ironically, in the words of Wordworth) “our tainted nature’s solitary boast.” In other words, she was conceived without original sin (”immaculate”) and is the only sinless human beside her son. We do not “worship” Mary, but she is ever-virgin, Assumed into Heaven and is the Queen of Heaven and the Mother of God. There is no other Saint or Angel worthy of the reverence and devotion we owe her. Jesus always rewards love and respect for his mother.
So, I am understanding the article correctly that he prayed all 15 decades each day, until Pope John Paul II added the Mysteries of Light, then he prayed all 20 decades? Or did he pray 15 times each day the 15 decades of the rosary, then 20 times the 20 decades?
I would read it as 15 five decade Rosaries a day until the luminous were added, and then 20 five decade Rosaries—probably four to six hours of prayer in this form. I would think 400 decades/day verging on the impossible, as I think when one’s prayer life deepens one tends to slow down rather than speed up. However, I would be interested in Koloktronis’ insights—would some one devoutely praying the Jesus prayer (roughly one-third the length of a Hail Mary)reach the point of reciting it 12,000 to 15,000 times a day?
What an incredible testimony of faith, to pray with such trust in God's Providence through so many horrors.
What an answer to those who say they can't believe in God because bad things happen in the world or to them.
Oh, my Jesus, forgive us our sins! Save us from the fires of Hell. Lead all souls to Heaven, especially those in most need of Thy mercy.
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