Marian Devotion in the History of the Catholic Church

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Marian devotion in the history of the Catholic Church has played an important role to enliven faith practice among believers. The devotional practices have been maintained from generation to the next because of Marian apparitions, miracles, and signs. The faithful eyewitnesses testify about Mary by their experiences and visions, so Marian powerful messages could be scattered, and such messages have become central theological cores of the devotion in each faith community. This is also true for Marian devotion in Vietnam. Our Lady of La Vang becomes an impressive phenomenon of faith practice of Vietnamese Catholic communities and individuals around the world. Springing from an oral tradition, Vietnamese Catholics gradually and authentically pay homage to Our Lady of La Vang, and they are making effort to maintain a Vietnamese tradition of Marian devotion, a classic and different ‘version’ with a common development of the world devotion. Such strong devotion has probably been influenced by cultural, political, and theological elements as hidden motivations that need to be explored when mapping Our Lady of La Vang on the world Marian devotion.
The Collage of the World Marian Apparitions and Devotion
A Brief History of World Marian Apparitions
Marian apparition is a worldwide phenomenon. According to his work, Miracles of Mary (published 1995) Michael S. Durham reports that there were “more than twenty-one thousand” Marian apparitions in the past ten centuries. In these numerous cases, in responding to human needs, Marian messages are also diverse which could be classified in some categories, such as Lady of Peace and Prayer, Healing Mary, Silent Mary, Mary of Saints, Our Lady of Sorrow, ‘Build Me Here a Church,’ Lady of the Help...

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