Catholic Missionary in China: Fr. Thomas S. Langley
[Historical Documentation of Catholic Missionary in China (1)]
By Edith Lou
In 1949, Father Langley was hosting a funeral for a local parishioner at the cemetery in the countryside of Wuchow. The parishioners gathered around Father Langley and the tomb while listening Father Langley reciting the prayers for the ritual. They were wearing dosa - hats made of bamboo - and holding up umbrellas. The bamboo sticks shown in the photograph were used to carry the coffin.
This photograph presents that in 1950, Wuchow/Danzhu, Father Langley along with Bishop Frederic Anthony Donaghy, M.M and Fr. Drew was released from short imprisonment by the local communist People's Government, and were blessing the male parishioners who newly received the sacrament of baptism inside a church.
"Thomas S. Langley was born on October 2, 1904 in Caribou, Maine. When he was thirteen his family moved to Framingham, Massachusetts, where he was instructed and brought into the Catholic faith by an old friend of Maryknoll, Father Thomas Garrahan. He attended public schools before entering the Venard in 1926.
He was ordained on June 16, 1937 by Bishop James E. Walsh and assigned to Wuchow where he faithfully fulfilled his mission work until 1951, at which time he was jailed by the Communists. Released in 1952, he returned to the United States and for three years did promotion work in Chicago and Detroit.
Before being assigned to Hawaii in 1955, he worked as chaplain to Thule Air Base in Greenland. From 1955 until his return in 1969 on sick leave he did parochial work in Hawaii.
Father Langley died at St. Teresa’s on December 21, 1970. He had resided in Mountain View until about a month before his death, when his condition worsened and he was brought to St. Teresa’s.
On December 23 he was buried at Maryknoll after a concelebrated Mass at which Father General was principal celebrant and Father John Joyce, Regional Superior of Hawaii, preached the homily."
(Short bibliography cited from https://maryknollmissionarchives.org/deceased-fathers-bro/father-thomas-s-langley-mm/)
(Short bibliography cited from https://maryknollmissionarchives.org/deceased-fathers-bro/father-thomas-s-langley-mm/)
*Wuchow was a village in Kwanghsi/Guangxi province
The following photos reflected Father Langley's missionary life in Kwanghsi/Guangxi, China. He took a Chinese name for himself as Ngaan Fuk-man/ Yan Fu-min (顏福民).
The following photos reflected Father Langley's missionary life in Kwanghsi/Guangxi, China. He took a Chinese name for himself as Ngaan Fuk-man/ Yan Fu-min (顏福民).
In 1949, Father Langley was hosting a funeral for a local parishioner at the cemetery in the countryside of Wuchow. The parishioners gathered around Father Langley and the tomb while listening Father Langley reciting the prayers for the ritual. They were wearing dosa - hats made of bamboo - and holding up umbrellas. The bamboo sticks shown in the photograph were used to carry the coffin.
As this photograph shows, Father Langley and Father Ed Moffett, Father John Drew was celebrating a Requiem Solemn High Mass outside of a chapel in Wuchow, with the congregation in the back.
The characters on the chapel's wall spelled "風折(two characters missing)" "霜推慈竹""失恃".
"霜推慈竹" means the frost damaged the Omei Mountain Bamboo, which was a metaphor referred to a mother's deceased (the meaning of"失恃") and her hardship during life.The characters on the chapel's wall spelled "風折(two characters missing)" "霜推慈竹""失恃".
This photograph presents that in 1950, Wuchow/Danzhu, Father Langley along with Bishop Frederic Anthony Donaghy, M.M and Fr. Drew was released from short imprisonment by the local communist People's Government, and were blessing the male parishioners who newly received the sacrament of baptism inside a church.
This photograph presents the same background as the last one, where they moved on to bless the female parishioners who newly received the sacrament of baptism.
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