St. Albert the Great Priory

St. Albert the Great Priory was a Roman Catholic monastery at 41A and 41B Stubbs Road (I.L. no. 3550) in Victoria City, on the mid-levels of Mount Nicholson near Wong Nai Chung Gap on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong, inaugurated on 24 November 1935, which came to be known as Rosaryhill or Rosary Hill.[1][2][3] It was a house of studies of the Dominican Order's Province of Our Lady of the Rosary in the Far East.[1][4][self-published source]

During the 24 years of existence, the house of studies was the breeding ground for four bishops.[5] A convent in the name of St. Albert the Great Priory has remained to this day following the monastery's conversion into the campus of a school.[6][7]

The old monastery was used as a civilian internment camp during the Japanese occupation of the territory (1941–1945) in the Pacific Theatre of the Second World War.[8][9] It remained a rehabilitation centre until 1947. From 1949 onwards, bishops, priests and seminarians from across the border sought refuge in the monastery.[5]

A Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima was dedicated on the southeastern side of the site.[5][10]

The choir loft of Santo Domingo Church, Quezon, the Philippines, where the pipe organ was rebuilt.

A pipe organ was built by William Charlton Blackett for the priory. It was moved in the 1950s to the Church of Santo Domingo in Quezon City in the Philippines.[11][12][13][14][15][self-published source]

New centres of studies became available in Saigon, South Vietnam and Manila, the Philippines and along with the fall of the régime across the border the monastery was closed in the 1950s.[1] In its place are the campus of Rosaryhill School (41B Stubbs Road) and Villa Monte Rosa [yue] (41A). The Fatima Shrine remains part of the campus' territory; and the St. Albert the Great Chapel forms part of the school's campus building constructed in the 1960s.[1]

The house of St. Albert, from which time became a convent, moved to the west side of the sixth floor of the new campus building. The expanded convent started to be used as novitiate again on 10 January 2010. The east side of the sixth floor had become available with the closure of the Business Section of the school in 2012. Since 2014, St. Albert convent has also been estudiantate for Chinese brothers.[1]

One of the stone markers of the boundaries of the City of Victoria, erected in 1903, is located near the Fatima Shrine.[16][17][18]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "St. Albert the Great Priory–Rosaryhill, 85 years | Hong Kong | Sunday Examiner | 27 November 2020". 27 November 2020.
  2. ^ "【專頁】道明會來港一百五十周年 | 昔日‧搜尋 | 天主教香港教區週報".
  3. ^ "周日話題:少年與玫瑰 | 明報".
  4. ^ "Rosaryhill and the Conversion of China". 8 July 2021.
  5. ^ a b c "35th anniversary" (PDF). rhs.edu.hk. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
  6. ^ "Men's Religious Institutes and Societies of Apostolic Life – Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong". Retrieved 8 May 2024.
  7. ^ "Fathers' Council | Rosaryhill".
  8. ^ "House of Commons - Public Administration - First Report". Retrieved 8 May 2024.
  9. ^ "Rosary Hill "Internment" camp".
  10. ^ "60th anniversary" (PDF). rhs.edu.hk. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
  11. ^ "Santo Domingo — Organographia Philipiniana".
  12. ^ "HKG1935 | the Pipe Organ in China Project".
  13. ^ "La Naval's 76-year-old pipe organ to be restored". 9 October 2011.
  14. ^ "Photos capture facets of a religious shrine and National Cultural Treasure". 9 December 2012.
  15. ^ "Sd14c copy". 18 December 2012.
  16. ^ "St Albert's Priory / Rosary Hill [1935-1962] | Gwulo".
  17. ^ "Moddsey | Gwulo".
  18. ^ "Hong Kong confirms authenticity of 3 boundary stones marking first urban settlement". 17 December 2021.