JapSin I, 222
Qiandao zonghui 虔禱宗會.
By Angelo Zottoli 晁德蒞 (1826–1902), Chinese bamboo paper.
Published in Shanghai by the Cimutang 慈母堂 in 1863 (Tongzhi 同治 2). Fourteen folios; only the first ten folios are numbered.

The frontispiece has an engraving of the Sacred Heart of Jesus with an inscription below: 耶穌聖心至謙至愛. Folio 1r prints the title in the middle. On the right, the date and the author’s name are given. The imprimatur is placed on the lower left: 代牧梅瑪都林准 (Approved by Mathurin Lemaître [1816–1863], Vicar Apostolic [of Kiangnan]).
There are eight columns on each half folio with fifteen characters in each column, and sixteen in the first column of each paragraph.

The Apostleship of Prayer is a pious association otherwise known as the League of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It was founded at Vals in France in 1844 by Francis Xavier Gautrelet, S.J. Its objective was to promote the practice of prayer for the mutual intentions of the members, in union with the intercession of Christ in heaven. There are three practices which constitute three degrees of membership. The first consists of a daily offering of one’s prayers, good works, and sufferings; the second is the daily recitation of a decade of the rosary for the special intentions of the Pope which are recommended to the members every month; and the third, the reception of Holy Communion with the motive of reparation, monthly or weekly, on days assigned.
In the first eight folios of the book the author gives an introduction on the nature of the Apostleship of Prayer and exhorts the faithful to put the rules to practice in order to save one’s own soul and that of one’s neighbor.
The book ends with a prayer for the deceased, a prayer of self-consecration and one for those who wish to be enrolled in the association. The last folio consists of special intentions to be prayed for each day of the week and the number of good works to be offered by each member for these intentions.

Cf. Streit, BM 13:412 (no. 4).
Source: Albert Chan, S.J., Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, pp. 277-278.