Our Lady of Lavang - La'Vang, Vietnam 1798
In 1533 the first Catholic missionaries arrived in Vietnam. Just one hundred years later there were over a hundred thousandCatholics and seminaries were established and in 1668 the first 2 native priests were ordained.
All through history Catholics have been persecuted including in Vietnam. Specially in 1698 there were severe persecutions. In the 18th and 19th century there were more persecutions. But the Vietnamese Catholics stood firm no matter how dangerous it was. In the 18th century there were already a hundred thousand martyrs. Today bishops and priests are still harrassed because of the communist regime.
By the end of the 17th century the Catholics in Vietnam was so bad that many people fled into the jungle near Lavang near Quang Tri a village in central Vietnam. There a lot of people became sick and they were hungry. One day as the people there were praying the rosary together, they saw a beautful lady holding a little child, with angels all around her. She was simply dressed but with a long cape and she had a crown on. The people recognized her as Our Blessed Lady, Queen of Heaven. Our Blessed Lady comforted and consoled them and taught them how to make medicine from leafs of trees. And anybody who would go there to pray she would protect. She appeared several times to the people of Lavang.
They built a simple church for Our Blessed Lady and several people were cured there.
In 1805 the Vietnamese emperor wanted to get rid of all the Catholics. 30 Catholics were killed by the soldiers right at the little church and the church was burned, but, not by the soldiers who were afraid cause they heard about the miraculous cured people. The altar and the chandeliers were not destroyed in the fire although they were made of wood.
In 1885 a new church was build made of bricks on the same spot as the old one was. It was completed in 1900 and one year later the first celebration of the Shrine of Our Lady took place.There were over 130,000 people there at the shrine. During the years this number only grew more and more and in 1925 they had to enlarge the church, which was completed in 1928. This church was destroyed in the summer of 1972 duringthe Vietnam War.
On June 19th 1988, Pope John Paul II canonized 117 Vietnamese martyrs and recognized the importance of theLady of Lavang and desired a rebuilding of the Basilica forthe 200th anniversary of the first apparition of the Lady of Lavang in August of 1998.
In 1533 the first Catholic missionaries arrived in Vietnam. Just one hundred years later there were over a hundred thousandCatholics and seminaries were established and in 1668 the first 2 native priests were ordained.
All through history Catholics have been persecuted including in Vietnam. Specially in 1698 there were severe persecutions. In the 18th and 19th century there were more persecutions. But the Vietnamese Catholics stood firm no matter how dangerous it was. In the 18th century there were already a hundred thousand martyrs. Today bishops and priests are still harrassed because of the communist regime.
By the end of the 17th century the Catholics in Vietnam was so bad that many people fled into the jungle near Lavang near Quang Tri a village in central Vietnam. There a lot of people became sick and they were hungry. One day as the people there were praying the rosary together, they saw a beautful lady holding a little child, with angels all around her. She was simply dressed but with a long cape and she had a crown on. The people recognized her as Our Blessed Lady, Queen of Heaven. Our Blessed Lady comforted and consoled them and taught them how to make medicine from leafs of trees. And anybody who would go there to pray she would protect. She appeared several times to the people of Lavang.
They built a simple church for Our Blessed Lady and several people were cured there.
In 1805 the Vietnamese emperor wanted to get rid of all the Catholics. 30 Catholics were killed by the soldiers right at the little church and the church was burned, but, not by the soldiers who were afraid cause they heard about the miraculous cured people. The altar and the chandeliers were not destroyed in the fire although they were made of wood.
In 1885 a new church was build made of bricks on the same spot as the old one was. It was completed in 1900 and one year later the first celebration of the Shrine of Our Lady took place.There were over 130,000 people there at the shrine. During the years this number only grew more and more and in 1925 they had to enlarge the church, which was completed in 1928. This church was destroyed in the summer of 1972 duringthe Vietnam War.
On June 19th 1988, Pope John Paul II canonized 117 Vietnamese martyrs and recognized the importance of theLady of Lavang and desired a rebuilding of the Basilica forthe 200th anniversary of the first apparition of the Lady of Lavang in August of 1998.
Emmy:)
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of this particular apparition, thankyou for your very informative post.
What brave people and to have suffered so much....gosh makes one think!
Ty Emmy for a great post, peace and love to you!
Peace of Christ to you ALL