By Paolo Affatato
From Aug 13-15, the National Shrine of Our Lady of La Vang in the Archdiocese of Huế, Vietnam held grand celebrations under the theme of going to Mary, “to Mother’s home,” to find comfort and learn to become true disciples and missionaries.
“This shrine is at the heart of the faith of the Vietnamese people, who are particularly devoted to Our Lady of La Vang for historical and cultural reasons. La Vang is like the shrine of Lourdes in Vietnam,” observes Father Landry Varenne, a Vietnamese priest of the Paris Foreign Missions, referring to the grand pilgrimages that mark the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Pilgrims came from northern, southern and central Vietnam, as well as from Vietnamese communities abroad. This year, their number exceeded 200,000, according to estimates by the local Church.
An example for the Vietnamese people
Father Francis highlights the faith of the people: “Everyone believes what Mary told our ancestors in 1789, namely that she would never abandon us. We believe that our Mother hears our prayers for the country, for the Church in Vietnam and for peace.”
Their devotion, he explains, is expressed through practices such as Mass, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the Stations of the Cross and the celebration of the Hour of Mercy. “The faithful feel that they are in the heart of the Mother, beneath her mantle; Mary is their refuge,” he stresses. There is also a missionary dimension, which this year’s congress strongly emphasised. “People learn, following Mary’s example, to bring the Lord and his love to others,” he notes.
The origins of the devotion
The origins of devotion to La Vang date back to 1798, during one of the harshest periods of persecution against Christians in the history of Vietnam. Emperor Cảnh Thịnh ordered churches to be destroyed and Catholics to be persecuted, as they were considered followers of a “foreign religion.” Many were forced to flee and found refuge in the dense jungle of La Vang, where they endured hunger, illness and cold, while fearing that they would be discovered and killed.
Each evening, the refugees gathered beneath a large banyan tree, lit a fire and prayed the Rosary. During one of these nighttime prayers, a Lady enveloped in light appeared, dressed in a traditional Vietnamese garment, holding the Child in her arms and accompanied by two angels.
Her message was above all one of consolation: “My children, be strong and have faith. I have heard your prayers.”
It is significant that Mary appeared precisely with the features and clothing of a Vietnamese woman. Her image, widely disseminated by the local Church, particularly since the late 20th century, expresses a profound connection between faith and identity. After centuries during which Catholics were accused of belonging to a “foreign religion,” La Vang “bears witness that it is possible to be fully Catholic and, at the same time, fully Vietnamese,” the bishops affirm today.
A faith that is a living memory
Above all, it is the image of a Mother who shares in the suffering of her children: Mary appears to the persecuted, the sick and the defenceless refugees. This is why Our Lady of La Vang has become “the Mother of Refuge,” a presence that soothes the wounds of a people marked by wars, invasions and persecution.
Even today, pilgrims seek to keep this memory alive: they sleep in tents beneath the shade of banyan trees, pray the Rosary and, during the celebrations, recount through theatrical performances the flight of 1798 and the apparition of the Virgin. Devotion thus becomes a living memory, capable of connecting the history of the faith with the concrete lives of local communities. – Vatican News
