She asked all of us to appear cheerful

Oral tradition recounts that in 1798, in a forest in central Vietnam, the Virgin Mary, surrounded by two angels, appeared to a group of persecuted Christians.

"She was wearing a beautiful oriental coat, and was holding the Baby Jesus in her arms,” told one witness. “She just stood on the grass, like a mother among her children ... She asked all of us to appear cheerful for being chosen to suffer for our faith.” She said, “I have already granted your prayers. From now on everyone who comes to beseech me in this place will have their prayers answered.” That is how the Shrine of La Vang came into being. Healings and conversions are alleged to have occurred there.

In 1901, a church was built and blessed in the presence of 12,000 pilgrims. On this occasion, Our Lady of La Vang was declared protector of Catholics in Vietnam. The church was enlarged in 1928. In 1962, Saint Pope John XXIII elevated the church to the rank of Minor Basilica.

August 15, 1998, about 70,000 faithful prayed together at Our Lady of La Vang for the 200th anniversary of the apparition. A pilgrimage and an uninterrupted prayer tradition continue there to this day.

Patrick Sbalchiero

Adapted from René Laurentin et Patrick Sbalchiero, Dictionnaire encyclopédique des apparitions de la Vierge, (Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Virgin Mary’s Apparitions), Fayard, Paris 2007