Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
An Guo (Agenzia Fides) - "He was a true priest, a true religious and true man of God", "his testimony was given with his own life", "he was salt and yeast, as recommended by the Lord", "his life is a crystal decorated with charity": are some of the many poignant memories of the priests, nuns and faithful of the community of An Guo, He Bei Province, Fr. John Chen Huang Zhang, Lazarist, who died on March 10 at the age of 88, after a long life during which he gave an amazing testimony of his vocation and religious life.
According to what Faith of He Bei reported to Fides, Fr. John Chen had entered the minor Seminary at age 13. Because of the war and the Chinese Cultural Revolution, he was ordained a priest at 60. In his 88 years of life he lived between the family, the seminary, schools, factory and prison, his convictions of faith and devotion to the Virgin Mary had always remained the same. Every day of his life he always prayed for world peace, the unity of the Church and the communion of the priests. Being also the spiritual director of two women religious congregations, he travelled between Guo and Tian Jin An and other cities, hundreds of miles distant from each other, despite the rain and snow, and then the fatigue of travelling and then his sickness and old age, because according to him, "the sisters cannot miss Mass". He always refused any celebration for his birthday or the anniversary of priesthood, because he believed that "every penny saved can be useful for the mission". In fact, with his savings he established scholarships for nuns, seminarians and students of needy families, he helped the poor and sick, supported the construction or reparation of churches and chapels. The Adoration of the Eucharist and reading of sacred texts were his way to spend the little free time he had available. He gave the example to the young priests and women religious with his behavior, as some of them remember: "when he went out or came back from outside, he first went to his superior or to the pastor to inform him 'now I am going out, I have just come back', and he behaved like this even with superiors or parish priests who were much younger than him". (NZ) (Agenzia Fides 12/03/2012)
