Our Lady of La Vang

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Our Lady of La Vang refers to a claimed Marian apparition at a time when Catholics were persecuted and killed in Vietnam. Many people sought refuge in the rain forest of La Vang, and many became very ill. They were praying when a lady appeared, wearing the traditional Vietnamese áo dài dress and holding a child in her arms, with two angels beside her. The people present interpreted the vision as the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus Christ. They said that Our Lady comforted them and told them to boil leaves from the trees for medicine to cure the ill.

In 1961, the Catholic bishops of Vietnam selected the Church of La Vang as the National Sacred Marian Centre. In 1962, Pope John XXIII declared the Church the Basilica of La Vang. Though there is no official Vatican recognition of this event as a Marian apparition, on June 19, 1988, Pope John Paul II publicly recognized the importance of Our Lady of La Vang and expressed desire to rebuild the La Vang Basilica in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the first vision.^[1]

[edit] References

1. ^ Our Lady of La Salette and Saint Joseph Church

[edit] See also

• Marian Days

[edit] External links

• History of La Vang and its significance to Vietnamese Catholics
• "The Catholics of Viet Nam Pay Homage to Our Lady of La Vang", L'Osservatore Romano, Holy See, 1998-08-12, p. 3. Retrieved on 2006-11-17. 
• The Truth in "Our Lady of La Vang" – after the Vatican and Pope John Paul II in L'Osservatore Romano No 32/33 - 12/19 August 1998.
• "As Pope visits Lourdes, La Vang Marian Sanctuary expected to receive 100,000 pilgrims", AsiaNews.it, AsiaNews C.F., 2004-08-12. Retrieved on 2006-11-17.