The Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel ( zh, 圣母圣衣堂), more often colloquially referred to as Xizhimen Church ( zh, 西直门天主堂), is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church located on the southern side at No. 130 of Xizhimen Neidajie in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. It is commonly referred to as Xitang (, the West Church) to the locals.

History

The church at Xizhimen was the last among the four historic Catholic churches in Beijing. The West Church was first built in 1723 during the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

by the Italian

Lazarist The Congregation of the Mission (), abbreviated CM and commonly called the Vincentians or Lazarists, is a Catholic society of apostolic life of pontifical right for men founded by Vincent de Paul. It is associated with the Vincentian Family, ...

missionary

Teodorico Pedrini Teodorico Pedrini, C.M. (June 30, 1671 – December 10, 1746), also known by his Chinese name De Lige (), was an Italian Vincentian priest, musician and composer, but he was mainly a missionary at the imperial court of China for 36 years. Ped ...

: it was the first non-

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

church in Beijing. After Pedrini's death the church was run by

Carmelites The Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (; abbreviated OCarm), known as the Carmelites or sometimes by synecdoche known simply as Carmel, is a mendicant order in the Catholic Church for both men and women. Histo ...

and then

Augustinians Augustinians are members of several religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written about 400 A.D. by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13 ...

, who were there when it was destroyed in 1811. The church was rebuilt in 1867. After a second destruction in 1900 during the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, was an anti-foreign, anti-imperialist, and anti-Christian uprising in North China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious F ...

, it was built again in 1912 as we can see it today. Delicate Corinth pillars and Gothic peaked arches inside the church create a grand, elegant and solemn impression upon visitors. There is red graffiti written on the church from the time of the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

, which the church deliberately retained. Mass is conducted in French every Sunday at 11 a.m.CHINE (86) - Aumônerie Générale des Français à l’Étranger
some mass in China (french, chinese, english) from the french-speaking almoneries

Stone inscription

　　改建聖母聖衣堂碑記

　竊維聖教永存蒼生洪濟數千年軼

　廢軼興誠大主之仁慈靈佑在焉遣

　使會司鐸德理格於一千七百二十

　三年獨輸巨資購置斯基恭建

聖母七苦堂一座一千八百一十一年

　適清嘉慶間聖教蒙難全堂被毀迨

　至一千八百六十七年主教孟慕理

　重為構築宏工鉅製規模一新詎意

　一千九百年六月十五日遭拳匪之

　禍本堂金司鐸遇害臺宇院落一炬

　無遺一千九百十二年仁愛會脩女

　博郎西耶氏復捐資新剏更易今名

　落成之日北京林主教飭勒石以誌

　顛末云爾

　西曆一千九百十三年二月　勒石

: : : TEODORICUS PEDRINI. PRESB. CONGR. MISS., INFAN- : TIUM IMPERATORIS KANGHSI PRÆCEPTOR, AN. DOM. 1723 : HUNC FUNDUM PROPRIO ÆRE EMIT, IN EOQUE ECCLESIAM : SUB AUSPICIIS SEPTEM DOLORUM B.M.V. DEO DEDICAVIT, : QUÆ TEMPORE PERSECUTIONIS KIATSING (1811) FUNDI- : TUS EST DESTRUCTA. : : POSTEA A.D. 1867, ILL. DD. MOULY, C.M., HIC NOVUM SA- : CRUM ÆDIFICAVIT. QUOD DIE 15 JUNII 1900 BOXORES : FLAMMIS TRADIDERUNT, DUM PAROCHUM ECCLESIÆ : MAURITIUM DORE, C.M. SACERDOTEM CRUDELITER : TRUCIDANT. : : TANDEM, ANNO DOMINI 1912 LARGITATE BENEMERITÆ : ROSALIÆ BRANSSIER, SOCIETATIS PUELLARUM CA- : RITATIS, TERTIA HÆC ECCLESIA SUB TITULO B.M. DE : MONTE CARMELO ÆDIFICATA EST. : IN QUORUM MEMORIAM ILL. DD. JARLIN, C.M., VIC. AP. : PEKINESIS, HUNC LAPIDEM EREXIT.

History

Stone inscription

References

See also