Our Lady of Lavang - La'Vang, Vietnam (1798)
During
much of the 18th century, the nation of Vietnam was embattled in various
struggles for power and domination. The northern regions of the kingdom fell
under the authority of the lords of the Trinh family, while in the southern
realm the Nguyen lords took power. As the eighteenth century drew toward its
close, both of their rules were shaken and threatened by peasant uprisings and
emerging rebel forces.
The
strongest among the many uprisings was led by the three brothers from Tay Son.
In short order, they overthrew the Nguyen lords and defeated the Trinh lords to
restore national unity for the first time since the decline of the Le dynasty. A
Tay Son brother was enthroned to be King Quang Trung. In 1792 he passed away and
left the throne to his son who became King Canh Thinh.
Meanwhile,
Nguyen Anh continued his insurgency in trying to reclaim his throne. Earlier in
his run from the Tay Son rebels in 1777, he found refuge on Phu Quoc Island,
where Monsignor Pierre Pigneau de Behaine of the Society of Foreign Missions
directed a seminary for youths from neighboring countries. The bishop persuaded
him to seek help from King Louis XVI of France.
King
Canh Thinh knew that Nguyen Anh received support from the French missionary and
worried that the Vietnamese Catholics would also endorse his reign. He began to
restrict the practice of Catholicism in the country. On August 17, 1798, King
Canh Thinh issued an anti-Catholic edict and an order to destroy all Catholic
churches and seminaries. A most grievous persecution of Vietnamese Catholics and
missionaries began and lasted until 1886. Even after Nguyen Anh succeeded in
reclaiming his throne as King Gia Long (1802-1820), his successors, King Minh
Mang (1820-1840), King Thieu Tri (1841-1847) and King Tu Duc (1847-1884), the
last Nguyen emperor, continued the vehement campaign against Catholics, ordering
punishments that ranged from branding their faces to death by various cruel
methods for Vietnamese Catholics and missionary priests.
It
was amidst this great suffering that the Lady of Lavang came to the people of
Vietnam. The name Lavang was believed to be originated in the name of the deep
forest in the central region of Vietnam (now known as Quang Tri City) where
there was an abundance of a kind of trees named La' Vang. It was also said that
its name came from the Vietnamese meaning of the word "Crying Out" to
denote the cries for help of people being persecuted.
The
first apparition of the Lady of Lavang was noted in 1798, when the persecution
of Vietnamese Catholics began. Many Catholics from the nearby town of Quang Tri
sought refuge in the deep forest of Lavang. A great number of these people
suffered from the bitter cold weather, lurking wild beasts, jungle sickness and
starvation. At night, they often gathered in small groups to say the rosary and
to pray. Unexpectedly, one night they were visited by an apparition of a
beautiful Lady in a long cape, holding a child in her arms, with two angels at
her sides. The people recognized the Lady as Our Blessed Mother.
Our
Blessed Mother comforted them and told them to boil the leaves from the
surrounding trees to use as medicine. She also told them that from that day on,
all those who came to this place to pray, would get their prayers heard and
answered. This took place on the grass area near the big ancient banyan tree
where the refugees were praying. All those who were present witnessed this
miracle. After this first apparition, the Blessed Mother continued to appear to
the people in this same place many times throughout the period of nearly one
hundred years of religious persecution. Among many groups of Vietnamese
Catholics that were burnt alive because of their faith was a group of 30 people
who were seized after they came out of their hiding place in the forest of
Lavang. At their request, they were taken back to the little chapel of Lavang
and were immolated there on its ground.
From
the time the Lady of Lavang first appeared, the people who took refuge there
erected a small and desolate chapel in her honor. During the following years,
her name was spread among the people in the region to other places. Despite its
isolated location in the high mountains, groups of people continued to find ways
to penetrate the deep and dangerous jungle to pray to the Lady of Lavang.
Gradually, the pilgrims that came with axes, spears, canes, and drums to scare
away wild animals were replaced by those holding flying flags, flowers and
rosaries. The pilgrimages went on every year despite the continuous persecution
campaigns.
In
1886, after the persecution had officially ended, Bishop Gaspar ordered a church
to be built in honor of the Lady of Lavang. Because of its precarious location
and limited funding, it took 15 years for the completion of the church of Lavang.
It was inaugurated by Bishop Gaspar in a solemn ceremony that participated by
over 12,000 people and lasted from August 6th to 8th, 1901. The bishop
proclaimed the Lady of Lavang as the Protectorate of the Catholics. In 1928, a
larger church was built to accommodate the increasing number of pilgrims. This
church was destroyed in the summer of 1972 during the Vietnam war.
The
history of the Lady of Lavang continues to gain greater significance as more
claims from people whose prayers were answered were validated. In April of 1961,
the Council of Vietnamese Bishops selected the holy church of Lavang as the
National Sacred Marian Center . In August of 1962, Pope John XXIII elevated the
church of Lavang to The Basilica of Lavang. On June 19, 1988, Pope John Paul II
in the canonizing ceremony of the 117 Vietnamese martyrs, publicly and
repeatedly recognized the importance and significance of the Lady of Lavang and
expressed a desire for the rebuilding of the Lavang Basilica to commemorate the
200th anniversary of the first apparition of the Lady of Lavang in August of
1998.
Trung Tâm Mục Vụ London www.lavang.co.uk