04-019 Busking CD

04-019
Busking CD

Life is full of choices and regrets.

It was a sunny weekend back in the early 2019. I was walking with my son in Central. We have just taken the Star Ferry from Tsimshatsui and was on the way to the Exchange Square for a bus back home. Enroute, I saw a band busking on a footbridge.

I am dump about music. I did not know what music they were playing. Their instruments also looked strange to me. I had no idea what they are. But their music was so good and attracted a large group of people.

My son has ADHD. If you have come across any ADHD kids, you will know that it is difficult to have them standing still on the street, listening to live music. I wanted to stay there for a little while. But if I did that, my son would start yelling. I knew I should better keep walking. And just before I left, I found that the band was also selling CD.

“Should I buy their CD? Then I can enjoy their music at home. I can also find out where they come from and what music they are playing.” But after struggling for a few seconds, I decided not to buy. Their CD was selling at $200, which is a bit over my budget. And I did not even have a hi-fi at home.

I started to regret soon after I have arrived home.

Busking CD

On the next day, I went back to the footbridge, hoping to see the band again. But they were gone. I told myself, “Next time when there is a good busker, just grab the CD and skip the dinner.” However, that seemed to be an easy task suddenly became very difficult.

Just months later, Hongkong went into chaos. And a few more months later, the whole world went into chaos.

Foreigners were no more. Local buskers were still busking in this semi-lockdown city. But I have not seen any of them selling CD. We locals have all migrated to YouTube, Instagram and Facebook for years. In fact, many houses do not even have a CD player nowadays.

Hongkong has opened its border to foreigners since early last year. With the lift of compulsory quarantine in last September, Hongkong has seen a gradual increase in inbound travelers from overseas. And I am so glad to meet Pepito GJ in Wanchai this week.

Pepito GJ busking in Wanchai

I was in a hurry. I needed to fix my internet bill and be back home before 7:30. But I was stopped by Pepito’s music. Pepito GJ is a musician who plays gypsy jazz. As I am dumb about music, I do not know what gypsy jazz is. I have not heard of Pepito neither. But I just love his music. Not allowing myself to have another regret this time, I dumped $200 into his hat and grabbed his 2 CDs.

The 2 CDs by Pepito GJ

Busking CDs are usually self-produced and sold by the buskers themselves, either on the street or online. They contain music recorded by a busker, which is a street performer who plays music for voluntary donations. Busking CDs can be a way for buskers to share their music with a wider audience, earn some extra income, and promote their artistic identity.

Most of the busking CDs are limited production. They are rare and unique recordings that are not available in mainstream or digital platforms. Pepito’s CDs are nothing exceptional. They are made by recordable CDs and did not come with a jewel case. I am so glad to add his CDs in my music collection.

 The CD titled “Pepito” contains 6 songs:
Swing 39, Love, Blue drag, Honey suckle rose,
Bossaka & Improvisation

His new album titled “Gypsy Jazz” contains 9 songs:

All of me, Amelie Waltz, Besame Mucho, Blue Bossa,

Bossa Dorado, I’ll see you in my dreams, Minor swing,

Out of nowhere & Rose room 

Welcome to Hongkong, Pepito and thanks for bringing your music here.

His music is also on YouTube and Instagram.

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07-004 My family relics

07-004
My family relics

After talking about Christian relics, I would like to move the topic further to talk about family relics.

To general public, relic simply means remaining of the deceased. I guess most of us have at least some relics at home, the wall clock of your granddad, the sweater passed down from your grandma, etc. etc.

We love relics. They are not necessary expensive items but we treasure them. Relics remind us the memory of our beloved. We are living in different world now but relics connect our hearts together. It is a common belief shared between different cultures.

However, in my culture, some relics may look creepy. It happens that I got 2 of these creepy relics at home. I am going to talk about them.

Note: China is a big country. This post only reflects the culture of Hongkong and the surrounding areas. People from other areas of China may not have the same practice.

 

Grave goods

Grave goods are items buried along with a body. They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into an afterlife, or offerings to gods. Despite the differences between religions, burying with grave goods seems to be a global practice. Grave goods are usually a type of votive deposit, which means once buried, they are not supposed to be taken out.

My family relics

Not so here. In a city with very limited land supply, most deceased was not buried but cremated. The government does give us an option for burying. But we need to move the coffin away to somewhere else seven years after burial.

My grandma passed away when I was 10. Like many old people, she was superstitious. Long before her death, she has requested us not to have her body cremated. She scared of fire. My dad followed her will and applied a piece of government land for burial.

It is not a permanent cemetery. After 7 years, her coffin was taken out and her body was cremated. Chinese believes 7 years as a cycle. So most likely, her soul has reincarnated and should feel nothing, according to my dad.

Being know that the grave goods can be retrieved some years later, my father placed a piece of jade into her coffin. Jade is a wonderous stone. Its colour changes when being worn by a human. And the longer it is worn, the more greenish it becomes. And the chemistry works even better with dead body.

So, my grandma’s funeral was a rare opportunity to “enhance” our jade objects! All my uncles and aunties dumped lots of jade objects into her coffin. Now, that piece of jade is in my hand. It has absorbed all the essence of my good old grandma. Creepy!

The other side of the jade piece

We believe grave goods have magical powers. The jade from the grave is a protection charm to the descendants. Believe it or not!

 

Coffin nail bracelet

With a similar concept of grave goods, coffin nails also bear the same magical power. When a coffin was removed from the ground for cremation, the nails were usually preserved. Coffin nails are either made by copper or brass. Some will have them hammered into bracelets, to be worn by the descendants. They are again a sort of protection charm.

A bracelet made from a coffin nail

This coffin nail bracelet is from my wife. It is made from her grandma’s coffin nails. She keeps it in the drawer but never wears it. 

This is how it opens

The opening looks like this

I am getting blessing from my wife's grandma

Jade grave goods or coffin nails are nothing precious. But because of superstition, many people are willing to spend a lot to acquire them from the second hand market, even though this is greatly discouraged. The reasons are simple. First, there is no way to guarantee authenticity. There is no scientific way to prove whether a jade piece is from a grave or the nail has actually been used on a coffin. Second, believing of any grave goods or coffin nails to have magical powers is only a folk religion. There is no such doctrine in neither Buddhism or Taoism. Finally, even though my grandma is really protecting me through the jade piece, it does not mean that, if I give the piece of jade to you, she will also protect you!

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07-003 Third class relic prayer cards

07-003
Third class relic prayer cards 

In my last post, I talked about prayer cards and how did I start collecting them. It was all because of something selling on Etsy that caught my eyes. But I have not mentioned what I have seen in my last post. So, what it is? It is a pack of 49 assorted third class relic prayer cards.

Third class relic prayer cards

The seller is DNJC.org. According to their website, “DNJC.org is an international ministry dedicated to spreading the Good News of Our Lord Jesus Christ by promoting the veneration of His relics and those of His saints. We believe one of the best ways of doing this is making the relics available for public veneration and through the distribution of Third Class Relics, such as holy cards, at little to no charge.”

Cards are nicely printed with identical sizes

It is true. With just 32 bucks, you can get a pack of nicely printed palm size prayer cards. “Cards are printed on thick 14-16pt card stock then UV gloss coated to give them a laminated feel. Finished size is 2.75 inches by 4.25 inches.”, according to their description. All 49 cards bear a different image with no repeats. And most importantly, all cards have undergone a very special process done by human hand, one by one. What process? Don’t worry. I will tell you. But before that, let us talk about what exactly is a relic.

Relic, what is it?

In general culture, relics are belongings of a deceased. For example, my father left me his Rolex. That watch is a relic of my dad. However, the term “relic” in Christianity have a slightly different meaning.

Relics in Christianity do not refer to the belongings of an ordinary person. They normally refer to someone prominent, typically a Biblical figure, a Catholic saint or a priest. Some of the Catholic relics are even related to Jesus himself.

Also, relics do not only mean belongings. They also refer to the remains of a person, i.e. parts of his or her body, such as bone, hair or blood. And relics are further classified into 3 or 4 classes.

Classes of relics

First class relic is the “highest” form of relic. It refers to a piece of the body of the saint—including bones, hair, etc. This class also includes relics of Christ’s Passion, such as pieces of the True Cross.

Second class relics are items that belonged to or were used by the saint, such as clothing, books, and rosaries, or an instrument used in the torture or death of a martyr.

Third class relics are items—such as a rosary, piece of cloth, or prayer card—that have been touched to a first or second class relic. In many cases these are pieces of cloth or paper. These relics are sometimes referred to as “ex indumentis” which technically translated means from the clothing.

Some people further classify items that have been touched to a first class relic as third class and those have only been touched to a second class relic as fourth class.

Owning a piece of relic at home

First class relics are rare and extremely sacred. They are kept inside the Vatican or churches, sometimes being placed in an altar stone. Some relics, both first and second classes, are displayed, normally inside reliquaries or ornate boxes, for public veneration. A few relics are kept inside museums.

Buying and selling of relics can be dated back to the Middle ages as relics brought in pilgrimage, thus economy. The faithful believe that being near a relic of a saint can help strengthen faith, heal mental and physical ailments, and protect against the evil eye. Some may like to own a piece of relic in their homes for the purpose of creating a sanctuary in the midst of a harried and busy world.

The catholic church prohibits selling of first and second class relics but trading still happens everywhere. In fact, a piece of first class relic may be rare, second class relic often comes in large quantity. For example, a towel used by a saint can be cut into thousands of pieces and each individual piece is still considered as a second class relic.

Trading either happens publicly against the canon law of the Catholic church or does under a workaround. Local parishes running low of funds may seek ways to “convert” some of their not-so-rare relics into money. They are not selling them directly. They are not allowed to do that. Instead, they give away the relic for free but they charge for the container.

Third class relic prayer cards

As life is always busy in my hometown, I would also like to spare a little corner in my bedroom to create my own sanctuary. A piece of relics would definitely set the tone. However, I have full respect to the Catholic church and do not want to violate the decision of the Vatican, even though I am not a Catholic. But third class relics are permissible for trading.

DNJC prayer cards are just normal prayer cards on one side

On the other side, some cards have a stamp
showing the cards have been touched to a relic (left).
Some cards have a label (middle)
and on some cards, the note is pre-printed (right).

The prayer cards sold by DNJC.org are third class relics. A priest physically placed each card in contact to the associated relics as pictured. So, 49 pieces of third class relics for just 32 bucks is actually a bargain!

Relic veneration, my point of view

Many protestant churches oppose the idea of relic veneration, claiming that as nothing but modern day idolatry. Others, including Catholics, doubt the authenticity of the relics. As a Protestant Christian myself, I however remain open to relic veneration.

Making your own third class relics here!
The woman was placing icons and prayer cards on
the Stone of Unction in The Holy Sepulchre.
This stone is a first class relic and anything touching it
will become a third class relic.
I have also placed my hand on the stone.
Am I a third class relic?

I believe any religious practice that can enhance the relationship of human and God should be respected. In reality, it is also difficult to judge whether a nun praying to a relic is actually seeking help from the relic itself or just trying to get a tighter grip on her faith through the help of a relic.

I prefer not to judge without certainty.

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07-002 Prayer cards

07-002
Prayer cards

At the beginning of 2023, I did a little research on prayer cards.

Prayer cards

What are prayer cards?

Prayer cards are small pocket-sized cards that usually depict a saint or symbolic Christian scene, such as Jesus on the cross. The back side of the card has a prayer to encourage the owner to recite. These cards are used in the Christian tradition as devotional pictures for the use of the faithful.

Different Christian denominations have different traditions upon prayer cards. The circulation of prayer cards is an important part of the visual folk culture of Roman Catholics. Protestants are less devoted to religious items but prayer cards in Protestant theme do exist. Orthodox Christians used to be more devoted on small-size wooden icons. But things have started to change in recent decades.

I am not a Catholic. But I know what a prayer card is. I got one from a nun many years ago. It was in a book fair. The nun was distributing prayer cards to visitors at a Catholic booth. Since then, I keep the card in my wallet, treating it as my protection charm.

If you have read through my blog, you will find my sharing on American and German card games that I have enjoyed playing with my kids. Further, I have written about traditional playing game decks. I personally purchased a deck of each traditional playing cards and they are now sitting quietly on the little bookshelf in my bedroom. Kids don’t like traditional card games.

Why Prayer cards?

After finishing my research on traditional card decks, I moved on to other cards that are not for gaming but for something else, such as popstar photo cards. But one day when I was browsing through religious items on Etsy, some prayer cards drew my attention to.

The cards are nicely printed, with a similar size as a playing card. They are collectible and each bears an image of my religion. I decided to walk around local Catholic churches and bookstores to see if I can add some prayer cards to my collection.

My date with prayer cards

On the very first week of 2023, I started my adventure on collecting prayer cards. There is a Catholic bookstore just right next to my office, the Bonfire, which serves as an easy starting point of my adventure. To my surprise, I only managed to find 2 prayer cards in the whole bookstore. One is “The Lord’s Prayer” from a local publisher Rock Petrus. The other one is “St. Pio” from CBC, United Kingdom.

The first two prayer cards in my collection

One is from a local printer and the other is from UK.
Both cards are paper and sold in plastic sleeves.

“Prayer cards are not popular in Hongkong. These are all we got. And both of them were on the shelf for many years.” The storekeeper was correct. Rock Petrus was liquidated for more than a decade. CBC is still functioning though.

The Catholic Center in Central
These are only holy pictures, not prayer cards

Only a handful of prayer cards are sold there

On the same day, I went to the Catholic Center in Central after work. It is the only other and also the largest Catholic bookstore on Hongkong Island. “St. Cecilia”, “St. Lucy”, “St. Patrick”, “St. Anthony”, “St. Peregrine”, “St. Rita of Cascia”, “St. Pio”, “Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows of Mary”, “Our Lady of Mt. Carmel” & “Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal”… I found 10 different cards with images of a biblical figures or Catholic saints. In addition, 4 more cards are in prayer theme, “Confirmation Prayer”, “Communion Prayer”, “The Motorist’s Prayer” & “Magnificat”. With only 14 in total, I couldn’t say that’s a lot.

Cromo N.B. cards are plastic and in credit card size

Cards from the Catholic Center are either printed by Cromo N.B. of Italy or by Regina Press of the US. At the time of purchase, I had no idea who those saints are. Now I know, after searching the Wikipedia. They are all respectable persons of the Catholic church. 

Regina Press cards from US are larger in size

Prayer cards are not precisely cut.
Cards from the same manufacturer can be slightly different in size.

The other 4 Cromo cards are in gerneral prayer theme

On the next weekend, I decided to visit local churches to see if I can get some free prayer cards. I first visited the St. Peter’s Church in Aberdeen. To my disappointment, no prayer cards were found.

Prayer card from the Anglican church

Then I headed north to the Central and visited the Anglican church’s St John's Cathedral. As Anglican church is not exactly Catholic, I am not sure if they gives out prayer cards. Nothing was found in its bookstore but the church itself does give out prayer card, the “Dedication Prayer”. It is in post card size.

The "Dedication Prayer" card is billingual

I finally managed to get some ‘proper’ prayer cards from the Catholic churches around, the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and the St. Joseph’s Church. I found that the cards given out by the churches are normally larger in size. Most of the cards are in postcard size and some are even bigger. They cannot be kept inside a wallet but can still be conveniently kept inside a Bible, if people still carry a physical Bible around. Some of them depicted the saint of their church, local saints or blessed people. And most of them are limited-edition. For example, the prayer card of “Bishop Alfredo F. Verzosa” from St. Joseph’s Church is a handmade xeroxed copy. Alfredo was a bishop of Northern Luzon, Philippines. The card is to call for prayers on his beatification.

Prayer cards of "St. Josef Freinademetz" and "Blessed Gabriele Allegra",
distributed in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

Behind are their relics.

St. Josef Freinademetz was a priest in Hong Kong
Blessed Gabriele Allegra translated the Bible into Chinese

Both cards are postcard size, in Chinese language

Another Catholic church in Central, the St. Joseph's Church

Flyers and prayer cards at the reception

The handmade “Bishop Alfredo F. Verzosa” prayer card

On the week after, I visited many churches on Hongkong Island, small and big. I visited the Our Lady of Lourdes Church near my son’s school in the morning and went to the beautiful Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church near my office during lunch. I also visited the St. Anthony's Church in Happy Valley, the Christ the King Chapel in Causeway Bay, Our Lady of The Rosary Church in Kennedy Town, Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Chapel inside the Hongkong University, St. Jude’s Church in North Point & St. Anne's Church near the beautiful Stanley beach. From most of these locations, I managed to add a few prayer cards to my collection. 

Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Pokfulam

St. Anne's Church in Stanley

As I have nearly exhausted all the Catholic resources on Hongkong Island, I decided to continue my journey to the other side of the harbour. There are many Catholic churches in Hongkong and I am not planning to visit them all. But Catholic bookstores are only a few and the remaining are all located in Kowloon. I decided to visit them all and the churches nearby.

I first visited the Catholic Center in Tsim Sha Tsui and grabbed some more Cromo cards. The Rosary Parish Rosary Church nearby also gives out free prayer cards. The other Catholic Centre in Mongkok also sells prayer cards but the St. Teresa’s Church next door has nothing.

St Paul Media Centre is a very small shop ran by The Daughters of St Paul, located inside the shopping mall Pioneer Centre. They also sell prayer cards. The Talentum Bookshop nearby sells nothing, though. And the real hidden gem is the Salesian Catechetical Centre.

St Paul Media Centre also gives away this unique two-folded prayer card

Venerable Sr. Thecla Merlo is the founder of Daughters of St Paul

Not exactly on a convenient location, Salesian Catechetical Centre sells a huge collection of prayer cards, together with a lot of religious items. You can find prayer cards from different printers worldwide, but the majority are from the 3 Italian printers – EGIM srl, Fratelli Bonella and Cromo N.B.. Some cards are in Italian language. I am not sure how local Catholics can make use of the prayers printed on them.

(from left to right) Cards printed by EGIM s.r.l.,  Fratelli Bonella and Cromo N.B.

EGIM cards are paper and the cheapest
But some of them are in Italian

Some of the remarkable prayer cards are those 3D cards from China. The printer is called Szvictor, probably located in Shenzhen. Cards are in Chinese language and bear 3D graphics. Szvictor is not exactly a Christian publisher. It prints many 3D cards and religious figures only belong to one of their product lines. They also print 3D image of Buddha in A4 poster size.

3D prayer card, looks like Jesus is watching you!

Cards are printed in Chinese

Other remarkable prayer cards are the 2 from R Italy. The medals on the cards are not just gold paints but real. The medal is laminated together with the card and I don’t think it is supposed to be taken out.

The medals are real

Just like normal prayer cards, a prayer is printed on the backside

The most interesting one must be the prayer card of “Our Lady of Lourdes”. It is not an ordinary prayer card. A small bottle of holy water from Lourdes is attached to it. It is the only card in my entire card collection that contains liquid.

“Our Lady of Lourdes” prayer card, with a bottle of holy water from Lourdes

The backside is a prayer in Chinese

The Mary Help of Christians Church nearby also distribute prayer cards for free. Some of the cards look very old and limp. Seems Catholics would like dispose their unwanted prayer cards back to the church for others to pick up.

How much is a prayer card?

A normal prayer card ranges from HKD $0.6 (EGIM srl) to $8.0 (Cromo N.B.), which is around 10 cents to 1 USD. The “St. John XXIII” prayer card with medal by R Italy costs $10.0, which is around USD $1.25. The “Our Lady of Lourdes” prayer card with holy water costs a bit more than USD $2, HKD $17 to be exact.

Many comment prayer cards as cheap and affordable. This statement is actually arguable. Yes, the cheapest card I get is only HKD 60 cents, which is nothing. And the most expensive card, the one with a bottle of holy water, only costs a bit more than 2 bucks. Their prices are really affordable. But we are only talking about 1 card here. If talking about per-card price, then a pack of UNO is now selling at USD 10.75 on Amazon and you’ll get 108 cards with a tin box. Are prayer cards really cheap? It really depends on your point of view. 

How to start a prayer card collection?

Prayer cards are popular collectible items especially in Catholic countries. They are inexpensive, small in size and do not take up much space of storage. Cards are beautifully printed and have many different patterns on them. Collectors base their collection on various criteria like a favorite saint, country of issue, issuer, etc. Most of the cards depict images of famous religious paintings. One can learn the history of the paintings while collecting them.

Most of the religious images are in public domain

Same image, same prayer, printed by different printers

Most of the religious images and prayers are in public domain and can be freely printed or replicated. These cards are produced in large quantity. Some cards are rarer, such as the handmade “Bishop Alfredo F. Verzosa” card I got. Funeral cards are also limited edition. Collecting them is rather a hit-and-miss. The funeral card of “Fr. Tommy Murphy” I got from the Immaculate Heart of Mary Chapel is an example.

The funeral card of “Fr. Tommy Murphy”
Opposite side is "Our Lady of Sheshan", 
a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary venerated by Chinese Roman Catholics.

You can start your own collection from your local Catholic bookstore. Most likely, you will find a wide range of prayer cards there. Or, you can visit your local parish. There is no guarantee but normally, you will be able to get some prayer cards free. And that is one of the reason I like visiting Catholic churches. You can just go there at any time, grab some cards (if any) and leave. No one will bother you. Do the same in Mormon temple and you will end up being surrounded by groups of latter day saints, eager to make friend with you.

How to store prayer cards?

I saw on internet, someone is selling binders with plastic sleeves for prayer cards collection. I think this would only work if you are from the states. In my country, prayer cards are in different sizes and it is impossible to find a binder that can fit them all.

I get this pouch from Redbubble to store my cards. Redbubble is a global online marketplace for print-on-demand products based on user-submitted artwork. Artists create designs and submit them digitally to Redbubble. Upon receiving orders, Redbubble will print the artwork on a variety of products, including t-shirts, phone cases, stickers, etc. and send the product directly to the customer.

Pouch to store my prayer card collection

The pouch I got is designed and sold by hispanicworld. It is in Catholic theme and depicts the image of “Our Lady of Guadalupe”. Size is 12.5” x 8.5” which can hold up to a hundred prayer cards in different sizes.

 

In the next post, I will talk about some other special prayer cards and my opinion upon them. Stay tuned!

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