Marian devotion
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In the mountains of Yangpyeong, the church of Yongmun honors the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Rosary. The advocation is linked to a very concrete local memory: Catholic families who, fleeing the persecutions, took refuge in remote places and survived making mud vessels.
Advocation: Our Lady of the Holy Rosary.
Korean name: "Blessed Virgin Mary of the Rosary."
Name of the temple: Iglesia católica de Yongmun.
Place: 421 Yongmun-ro, Yongmun-myeon, Yangpyong-gun, Gyenggi-do.
Foundation: March 5, 1908.
Party holder: October 7th.
Dedication of the present temple: 11 October 1992.
Recognition: a historic pilgrimage place of the diocese of Suwon since 2020 and a Jubilee temple in 2025.
Jurisdiction: Catholic diocese of Suwon.
Coordinates checked: 37.4884718, 127.5975683.
Communities born among the mountains
After the persecution of Byeongin in 1866, Catholic families sought refuge in difficult-to-reach mountain areas. In the vicinity of Yongmun they formed villages of believers and found sustenance working as potters.
When some religious freedom was recovered, the communities were able to reorganize their chapels. In 1904, five missionary stations were registered in the Yangpyeong region, with hundreds of faithful.
The foundation of 1908
On March 5, 1908, Bishop Gustave Mutel entrusted Father Joseph Jaughey with the stable attention of Yangon and its surroundings. The priest settled at the Toechimi missionary station, the formal beginning of the parish of Yongmun.
The diocese maintains this date in its official directory and confirms the Virgin of the Rosary, held on October 7.
De Toechimi a Maryong-ri
The first community used a house bought by the faithful. Because of the limitations of the place, the parish moved in 1915 to Maryong-ri, also called Manae. There was built a Chinese-inspired church and a priestly house.
Yongmun came to serve dozens of chapels distributed in a very large region, including areas today belonging to other provinces. The parish was for decades an essential point for rural evangelization in eastern Gyeonggi.
War, destruction and perseverance
In 1943 the creation of the Yangpyeong parish turned Yongmun into a dependent station. During the Korean war his temple was partially destroyed by a bombing, and the faithful adapted the priestly residence to be able to celebrate.
The community went from parish to chapel several times for lack of a priest. It recovered parish stability in 1967. This broken story did not mean disappearance: the faithful kept prayer and rebuilt their common life.
A temple dedicated on October 7
In 1955 he began a church at the site of Yongmun and was completed on October 7, 1956, precisely at the feast of the Virgin of the Rosary. Decades then again needed to build a more suitable building.
The community collected funds through rice contributions, sale of agricultural products and collection of paper, bottles and other materials. The present temple was completed in 1990 and, after setting the environment, was dedicated on 11 October 1992.
The Rosary rooted in parish life
In 1970 the first prasesidium of the Legion of Mary, called Queen of the Rosary. Marian ownership was not reduced to registration: it held prayer associations and the accompaniment of rural communities.
Today a path to the Rosary begins near the image of Christ of Peace. It leads to a Marian grotto and a small prayer stay that recalls a potter oven.
The stay in the shape of an oven
The peculiar form of the stay is not decorative. It evokes the ovens where the ancestors cooked their vessels and the way of life that allowed them to survive without abandoning the faith. Vases provided by families and names of former chapels prolong that memory in the compound.
The fragile mud thus becomes a symbol of a community sustained by grace. The prayer of the Rosary gathers joys, pains, hope and perseverance, as well as the history of those who prayed there before us.
Yongmun and memory of the retreat
The Korean Catholic tradition links Mount Yongmun with an early eight-day retreat of Gwon Il- sin and Jo Dong- seom after the crisis of 1785. Charles Dallet described his silence, prayer and meditation before returning to community service.
Historic place of pilgrimage
In November 2020 the diocese of Suwon declared Yongmun a historic place of pilgrimage. The enclosure has an exhibition on the parish history, a Via Cruces, the path of the Rosary and spaces for silence.
In the Holy Year of 2025 it was also among the Jubilee temples. These designations recognize a history of faith; they do not make the place the stage of a Marian apparition, for no source supports such an event.
The Rosary contemplates Christ
St. John Paul II taught that the Rosary, although distinguished by its Marian character, is a prayer centered on Christ. With Mary, the face of Jesus is seen through the mysteries of his life.
In Yongmun, this teaching takes on a spatial expression. The pilgrim walks, remembers the ancestors, looks at the mysteries and ends up with an image of the Mother who always leads to her Son.
A prayer for peace and perseverance
Local history contains persecution, displacement, war destruction and reconstruction. To pray the Rosary here allows us to entrust the peace of the Korean peninsula without turning devotion into a political slogan.
Each mystery teaches to remain with Christ: in the hidden life, in the proclamation of the Kingdom, at the foot of the cross and in the hope of resurrection.
Verified location
The diocese identifies the official direction in 421 Yongmun-ro. GCatholic provides the territorial code 8Q99FHQX+92, the centre of which is 37.4884375, 127.5975625.
The exact mapping of the building offers 37.4884718, 127.5975683, coordinate used on this map. The coincidence, with a difference of a few meters, confirms the enclosure.
To visit and pray
Yongmun is an active parish and a diocesan place of pilgrimage. The official hours should be consulted before coming and respecting the liturgy and silence. The path of the Rosary and the stay of prayer are better understood by first reading the history of Catholic potters.
His party is on October 7. The place should not be presented as a stage of undocumented apparitions or miracles.
Prayer to Our Lady of the Holy Rosary of Yongmun
Mary, Virgin of the Holy Rosary, accompanies the community of Yongmun. He receives the memory of those who fled to the mountains, swallowing the mud and keeping faith between persecutions and wars. Teach us to contemplate Jesus Christ in every mystery, to keep silence before God and to reconstruct with patience how much violence destroys. Make our fragility an open vessel to grace. Amen.
Sources consulted
- Diocese of Suwon: official directory, patronage, party, date and address.
- Official site of the parish of Yongmun.
- Encyclopedia Católica de Korea: parochial history, sites, reconstructions and dedication.
- Catholic Times of Korea: history of rural chapels and parish continuity.
- Catholic Times of Korea: place of pilgrimage, potters and way of the Rosary.
- Catholic Times of Korea: current visit, prayer stay and retreat linked to Mount Yongmun.
- GCatholic: Marian title, Jubilee temple and territorial code.
- St. John Paul II: Christological and contemplative sense of the Rosary.
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