Taiwan is a state in East
Asia. Neighboring states
include the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the northeast, and
the Philippines to the south. Taiwan is
the most populous state and largest economy that is not a member of the United
Nations. Kaohsiung is a coastal city in southern Taiwan. With an area of 1,140 sq mi as of
2018, the municipality has a population of 2.77 million, making it the third
most populous administrative division in Taiwan.
We met Richard and Kathleen at the ship’s gangway at 10:15
AM. Kathleen had been ashore earlier. A helpful Taiwanese terminal worker, who just
happened to be Catholic, had written out instructions in Taiwanese on her map for
the taxi driver, and directed her to a place where she could exchange
money. She had already obtained $20.00
worth of Taiwan dollars, which was enough to get the four of us to the church
and back. As we walked through the
terminal, we ran into the man who had helped Kathleen, and we all thanked
him. A line of taxis was waiting outside
the terminal. The four of us boarded the
first taxi in line and showed him the address of the church that our friend had
written on the map. We arrived at the
church at about 10:30 AM.
The Holy Rosary Cathedral is the oldest Catholic Church
in Taiwan and the seat of the Bishop
of Kaohsiung.
As we waited outside for the Mass to begin, a friendly man came over and
started a conversation with us. He spoke
English very well and had visited the US as a child with his parents and knew
quite a bit about our country. He also
introduced us to one of the priests, who just happened to be in the parking
area at the time.
 |
| Holy Rosary Cathedral, Kaohsiung, Taiwan |
Construction of the original church
was completed in 1863, and rebuilt between 1928 and 1931 in order to become a
cathedral. In terms of
its architecture, the church has a magnificent design comprised of Gothic and
Romanesque steeples, and arched and rose windows. Its elegant exterior is particularly
eye-catching, nestled as it is among the modern buildings nearby. It is considered one of the most beautifully
decorated Catholic churches in Taiwan. In an effort to encourage others to
worship through the Lady of Holy Rosary, believers donated to the church in
1972 for the building of an outdoor altar and accompanying statue. The statue’s design is similar to the one
inside the church, with the Virgin Mary holding the infant Christ.
We stood outside until about 10:50
AM; then went inside and sat on one of the wooden bench seats, about 10-15
rows from the front. The church was very
beautiful inside. Attendees were mostly
young and mostly female. There was a
choir of young men and women. Most of
the songs were very familiar to us and the words were displayed on screens on either
side of the altar. When exchanging the
“Sign of Peace,” the attendees bowed to each other in lieu of handshakes. (Sally wishes we could do this in our church
– zero transmittal of germs!) Also, at
communion, no orderly lines formed, similar to what we had experienced in Berlin,
Germany in 1999, although the attendees here were very courteous to one
another. Later, Jesse realized that he
had left a very nice umbrella in the church!
After returning to the ship, we
went for a swim. Although the air was a
little cool, the water was warm, so we had a nice swim, and then lunch. A concert was going on near the pier, so we
could hear the music from the ship. Since
we had reservations to meet Donna and Anne for dinner in the Tuscan restaurant
at 6:30 PM, we danced early tonight, 5:30 to 6:15 PM, in the Horizons. During dinner, we talked a lot and did not
return to our cabin until about 9:00 PM.
No comments:
Post a Comment