Saturday, July 14, 2012

Catholic Saint of Vietnam

Our Lady of La Vang is about the supposed apparition of Mary to the Vietnamese. The empereor Thinh had issued an edict against Catholicism and persecution ensued. Many Catholic Vietnamese fled into the jungles.
One night while praying the rosary at the foot of a tree, a lady appeared in the branches holding an infant along with 2 angels at her side. The lady told them to boil leaves and use it for medicine to cure the illness that had broken out among them. The apparition appeared several more times.
A chapel was built at the site in 1820. In 1961 La Vang became the national Marian Center of Vietnam. The following of this Lady of Vang has spread to the Phillippines.
The first Catholic missionaries had arrived in Vietnam as long ago as 1533 and within a century had more than 100,000 adherents. First annual celebration occured at the shrine in 1901 with over 130,000 in attendance.

It was WRONG for the catholics to be persecuted and killed by the Vietnamese emperor. Also, the apparition-assuming something did appear-was NOT from God... for the dead are dead until the resurrection...and that includes Mary....

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
1 Corinthians 15:52