From the Pastor’s Desk:
This week beginning on August 3rd, many of the Vietnamese throughout the United State have come to Carthage Missouri to celebrate Marian Days at the Congregation of The Mother of The Redeemer. As our Diocese became the welcoming Diocese for the Vietnamese people as they fled Vietnam following the Communist takeover of the country, St Agnes became the welcoming parish here in Springfield and our Vietnamese community has become a vibrant part of St. Agnes Cathedral.
Roman Catholicism was brought to Vietnam by Father Diego Aduart, a Dominican from Spain who established a mission in Dinh Cat. The mission did not grow until an Italian Jesuit who was fluent in Vietnamese came a few years later. Many people began to convert to Catholicism including an aunt to the reigning king. By the year 1593, thirty seven parishes had been established around Dinh Cat.
About 30 years later Fr. Alexander de Rhodes a French Jesuit arrived and initiated the Vietnamese alphabets that are still in use today. For more than 40 years Catholicism was tolerated due to the opened trade relations with Spain, France and Portugal. As the Nguyen dynasty reunited the north and south regions into what is now Vietnam, the Nguyen Dynasty decreed Catholicism as a foreign religious sect leading a working class revolt against the dynasty. In 1798 what followed was direct attacks upon the thirty seven parishes seeking to exterminate all Catholics. More than 100,000 Vietnamese Catholics died as martyrs.
Many Christians fled to the jungle near Quang Tri, a village in central Vietnam. Many died from the bitter cold weather, wild beasts, jungle sickness and starvation. At night they many times gathered in small groups to pray the rosary. Unexpectedly one night they were visited by an apparition of Our Bless Mother in a long cape, holding a child in her arms, with two angels at her sides. She 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 have their prayers heard and answered.
Despite its isolated location in the high mountains, her name spread and groups of people continued to find a way through the jungle to pray to the Lady of La Vang. When the persecution ended in 1886, the small chapel that had been built was replaced with 3 chapels. In 1901 a church was built, followed by a larger church in 1924. In 1961 the church of La Vang was recognized as a national Marian Centre. At the same time Pope John XXIII elevated the church to the Basilica of La Vang. It was destroyed in 1972 during the Vietnam War. After the War, the Lavang complex was enlarged to include a retreat center, a hospitality center, an outdoor amphitheater and a beautiful statue of Mary commemorating her apparitions.
We celebrate with the Vietnamese people who have traveled across our country, as they come together to remember and give thanks to the Blessed Mother under the name of Our Lady La Vang.