Our Lady of Fátima Church
花地瑪聖母堂
Copyright © Cultural Mapping 2020
Built in 1929, Our Lady of Fátima Church was originally attached to a mission center in the Freguesia de Santo António in Macao. And Our Lady of Fátima Church could only hold about 30 people in that period. In the 1930s, there was just a little population in Zona Norte of Macao. By the end of the Second World War, a large number of refugees from the mainland came to Macao. The population of Macao has doubled, and the demand for missionary work increased at that time. Because of Zona Norte’s development, the church was officially elevated to parishes in 1965. In 1966, Since the church could not satisfy the demand of church members, Bishop of Macau (D. Paulo José Tavares) decided to rebuild the church. The reconstruction plan of the church was initially under the responsibility of the father Mai Wenjie in that period. Afterward, Father Mai was transferred to Canada to preach and the project was handed over to Father Gao Tianyu to continue. The reconstruction of Our Lady of Fatima Church was slightly different from the traditional church design because it was the first church built in Macao after “The Second Vatican Council”.
The new church was completed on December 7, 1968, consecrated by Bishop Davide and dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima. At that time, Our Lady of Fátima Church mainly served church members in the northern area of Macau and Toi San. At present, the different charities of this church will actively promote the enthusiasm of strengthening the faith of the church members and serving others. Support church members and non-church members in the district in participating in the church district activities after work and after school.
花地瑪聖母堂始建於1929年，一開始附屬於聖安多尼堂區的一個傳教中心，只能容納30人左右。在1930年代，澳門的人口很少。至第二次世界大戦後期, 大量内地難民湧至,人口數值倍增,與此同時牧民和傳教工作之需求亦隨之暴增。 因應北區的發展，聖堂在1965年被正式升格為堂區，至1966年，時任澳門教區主教戴維理(D. Paulo José Tavares)因聖堂的規模已不能應付教友所需，決定重建聖堂。聖堂的重建計劃起初是由當時的主任司鐸麥文傑神父負責，其後麥神父因前往加拿大傳教而轉交由高天予神父繼續聖堂的重建任務。重建後的花地瑪聖母堂跟傳統的聖堂設計略有不同，因為這是「第二次梵蒂岡大公會議」後澳門第一所建造的教堂。新的聖堂於1968年12月7日落成，由戴維理主教祝聖並將聖堂奉獻給花地瑪聖母。當時主要對澳門北區及台山一帶的教友服務。現時，本堂的不同善會積極發揮推動強化教友的信仰及服務他人的熱枕, 支援區內的教友及非教友, 工餘及課餘時間參與堂區活動。
Butterfly analysis：
The mAAn’s butterfly method has been split into two parts, emotional and rational. In the emotional part, it is believed that people still have a strong emotional connection with the Our Lady of Fatima Church since many people have gotten help and have received the love of Christ from the parishioners in the past. Moreover, the Our Lady of Fatima Church has originally attached as a mission center in the Freguesia de Santo António in Macao and it was elevated as a parish, in order to assist the development of the Zona Norte. Nowadays, the Our Lady of Fátima Church is still providing help to local resident especially who are living surround by. Compare to the other charitable organizations, the Our Lady of Fátima Church has a stronger belief and its active enthusiasm which is strengthening the beliefs of the parishioners. In addition, Our Lady of Fátima Church also provides numerous activities to parishioners and non-parishioners.
For the rational part, the Our Lady of Fatima church has a rich history and the architectural structure of the church is still in a relatively good condition. The current design of the church is slightly different from the other traditional church in Macao, and it is because this church was built after the Second Vatican Council.
整個分析被分為情感和理性兩個部份。在情感層面上，普遍大眾對於花地瑪聖母堂仍然存有強烈的感情，這是因為許多人曾經在這獲得過支持和幫助，他們因此而渡過了生活中的難關。花地瑪聖母堂在最初落成時，只是作為一座附屬於聖安多尼堂區的傳教中心，但在1965年因應北區的發展，它正式被升任為堂區。花地瑪聖母堂現今仍為本地居民提供服務，他們積極宣傳助人為樂服務他人的熱誠和信念，並為教友及非教友在工餘和課餘時間提供活動場所。在理性層面上，花地瑪聖母堂區擁有深厚的歷史，現今建築物的結構仍處於良好的狀態。因為花地瑪聖母堂是繼第二任梵蒂岡會議後在澳門設置的第一座教堂，因此相對於其他傳統教堂，花地瑪聖母堂的設計略有不同。
Reference:
Our Lady for Fatima Church Macau. (2020). Information. Retrieved from https://www.fatimachurchmo.org/ourchurch/
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