By Kielce Gussie
To celebrate the conclusion of the Marian month of May, over 10,000 people from the various parishes and communities in the diocese of Da Nang spanning more than 10,000 square kilometers made a pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Tra Kieu.
An event of faith
According to the Vatican’s Fides news agency, the Marian Shrine commemorates an apparition of the Virgin Mary 140 years ago. Local tradition holds that Mary appeared to console, encourage, and help her children in times of difficulty.
Pilgrims took part in the journey on the Solemnity of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary, which Archbishop Joseph Dang Duc, Coadjutor of the Archdiocese of Hue, described as “an event of love, faith, commitment, and service, an opportunity to profess one’s faith in the face of the challenges of the present time”.
Double meaning
In addition to marking the end of May, the pilgrimage also served as a means of preparing for the Solemnity of Pentecost on Jun 8, and it commemorated the Virgin Mary as the “Woman of Pentecost.”
In Vietnam, Catholics make up about 7% of the population (some 7 million people) and boasts a strong devotion to the Virgin Mary. Throughout the month of May, celebrations, prayer vigils, open-air Masses and community rosaries were held at different Marian shrines.
In honor of Mary’s month, pilgrims visit places where the Virgin appeared to save Catholics during the harsh persecutions throughout the country’s history. For example, people travel to Our Lady of La Vang in the Diocese of Hue, Our Lady of Nui Cui in the Diocese of Xuan Loc, or Our Lady of Tra Kieu in the Diocese of Da Nang asking for Mary’s intercession and protection.
Cradle of Catholicism
Archbishop Dang Duc described the pilgrimage to the Marian shrine of Tra Kieu as “not only an individual act, but a communal act to renew our vocation and mission, since we are all the people of God and we are all walking together in faith, in love, toward evangelization.”
The Diocese of Da Nang has long been considered the cradle of Catholicism in southern Vietnam as it has roots to three Jesuit missionaries who arrived in Hoi An in 1615 to evangelize.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, the diocese of Da Nang was one of the main centers of the diocese of Cochinchina in southern Vietnam as a place from where missionaries departed. Vietnam now has their first martyr, Blessed Andrew of Phu Yen, a catechist beatified by Pope St John Paul II. – Vatican News
