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NOTES AND QUERIES
University Hall. The hall has accommodation for 80 students, all men. The present warden is Dr. Enoch Young, lecturer in physics at the University, through whose courtesy the Branch is able to visit this historic building today.
We shall then walk across to the Maison de Béthanie. This building, since renovated and added to, was originally constructed in the early 1870s by the French Mission.
Father Caminondo who is in charge of the Maison de Béthanie has very kindly supplied the following account:
At a time when travelling was not easy and medical care not available in many mission countries, the Superiors of the Paris Foreign Mission Society decided to put up a house in the Far East for the sick and old missionaries.
Hong Kong was chosen for this purpose on account of its climate and medical facilities available. It must be added that at that time few places in the Far East offered the political stability and religious tolerance of the Colony.
The name of Béthanie was chosen after "Bethany village" of the Holy Scripture, and the inscription above the main entrance "Lord he whom thou lovest lies sick" is part of the message sent to Jesus by Martha and Mary when their brother Lazarus became sick.
Many Missionaries availed themselves of the facilities offered by the sanatorium. In 1884, for instance, 43 missionaries stayed for some time.
Apart from the delightful setting, the main interest of the Maison is its chapel. This is said to be built to the same design as the former French Cathedral in Tokyo, destroyed during the war. By kind permission of Father Caminondo, we are permitted to enter the chapel and walk round it, up one side to the sacristy behind the altar, and down the other.
The chapel is remarkable for its fine furniture and fittings which apparently date from its construction. Note the sets of altar tables, of different shape and decoration, on each side of the aisle, and the large wall cupboards in the sacristy which is, as its name implies, the repository for vestments, vessels etc. used in the chapel. There are two memorial tablets to martyred priests behind the entrance doors to the chapel.