“All those who come to pray to me in this place will see their wishes granted”, says Our Lady of La Vang.

In 1798, in Vietnam, Christians fled to the jungle to escape anti-Christian government persecution. It was then that a series of apparitions of the Virgin Mary took place: she comforted and sustained the Christians in hiding. Since then, pilgrimages to the place of apparitions have never ceased! This is the origin of the shrine at La Vang, halfway between the north and south of Vietnam.

There is no reliable written record of these apparitions, but rather an oral tradition according to which, in 1798, in a forested area in the center of the country, 60 km from Hué, the Virgin Mary, surrounded by two angels, appeared to a group of hunted Christians:

 “She was dressed in a magnificent oriental-style cloak, holding the Child Jesus in her arms,” recounted a witness. “She simply stood on the grass, like a mother among her children. She asked everyone to be joyful at having to suffer for their faith. “I have already answered your prayers. From now on, all those who come to pray to me in this place will see their wishes granted”, she said. According to some, the Virgin Mary appeared on several occasions. Healings and conversions are alleged.

And indeed, a pilgrimage and a tradition of prayer has been continuous for over two centuries. In 1886, a small chapel was built on the site of the apparition. In 1901, a new church was built and blessed in the presence of 12,000 pilgrims. On this occasion, Our Lady of La Vang was declared patroness of the Catholics of Vietnam. A national pilgrimage is held here every three years. 

The church, elevated to the rank of minor basilica, was destroyed in 1972-1975, during the war with the Vietminh.

On June 19, 1988, Pope John Paul II canonized 117 Vietnamese martyrs. During the ceremony, he evoked the memory of the Marian shrine at La Vang and expressed the hope that it would be rebuilt "in a climate of freedom, peace and gratitude to her whom all generations call blessed. So that this shrine may foster national unity and the civil and moral progress of the country."

And the shrine has indeed been rebuilt! On August 15, 1998, some 70,000 faithful (100,000 according to the Swiss newspaper L'Impartial) prayed together at La Vang for the 200th anniversary of the apparition.

Encyclopédie Marial