Marian devotion
In front of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception of Saigon, today Ho Chi Minh City, a statue known as Our Lady of Peace is venerated. The image is part of the Catholic history of the city. In 2005 a tear-like mark attracted many faithful and gave rise to an extraordinary account; the ecclesial authority did not confirm that the statue had cried.
Where is he?
The statue is located in front of the cathedral of Saigon, in the current square Cánng xã Paris. OpenStreetMap identifies the cathedral building with the 801950766 way, around 10.7798, 106.6990. The point is used as a verified location of the cathedral set, not as an affirmation that every detail of the statue is measured separately.
This fact sheet refers to the image of Our Lady of Peace and the 2005 episode. It is not a token of an approved apparition or a generic repetition of Saigon's Marian devotion.
Documented image history
The official history of the cathedral explains that in 1958 the priest Joseph Phņm Văn Thiên, then responsible for the parish of Saigon, commissioned a statue of Our Lady of Peace. The piece was made in white marble of Carrara by sculptor G. Ciocchetti in Pietrasanta, Italy. He left the port of Genoa on 8 January 1959 and arrived in Saigon on 15 February 1959.
The statue was placed on the pedestal in front of the cathedral. The priest wrote there a prayer asking the Virgin that Vietnam receive peace. The blessing of the image took place the 17 February 1959at the end of the National Mariano Congress, according to the history published by the cathedral itself. These data describe the installation and blessing of an image; they are not a judgment of supernatural phenomena.
The supposed 2005 cry
On October 29, 2005, some people observed a mark on the face of the statue and interpreted it as a tear. The news spread quickly and thousands of people gathered in front of the cathedral. The traffic of the nearby streets had to be interrupted for several days by the concentration of visitors.
The existence of concentration and brand belongs to the recent history of the place. The interpretation of the brand as a cry is an affirmation of some present and of popular devotion. There is no independent evidence to establish its nature, nor a public medical or technical investigation to call it a miracle.
Discernimiento eclesial
The documentation related to the cathedral shows that Cardinal Jean- Baptiste Phům Minh Mħn wrote on 4 November 2005 that the available data did not allow for objective claim that the image had cried. Non-supernatural explanations, such as atmospheric conditions, were also considered. As a result, the alleged crying is an unconfirmed phenomenon.
The status of this file is no pronunciado about the so-called miracle: there is a prudent pastoral response to the story, but not a supernatural approval. The Catholic veneration of the image and the existence of the cathedral are documented and do not depend on accepting the extraordinary phenomenon.
Tradition, Legend and Devotion
Local tradition interprets the image as a sign of the hope of Vietnamese Catholics and as an intercessor for peace. The version that gives a child lottery salesman the first discovery of the brand comes from unofficial sources and is presented here as a story, not as a secure historical data. Nor do the subsequent statements on papal approvals that do not appear in documents of the Holy See become facts.
Devotion can be expressed with respect to the image, with participation in the Eucharist and with the Rosary. Mary is venerated and asked to intercede; worship belongs only to God. The prayer for the peace of Vietnam, written in the pedestal, sums up the spiritual sense with which the image was placed before the cathedral.
Sources
The history of the cathedral and the statue comes from the official presentation of the Basilica Cathedral of Saigon. The location corresponds to OpenStreetMap, way 801950766. Information on the 2005 phenomenon is kept with caution: concentration and pastoral response are documented, but there is no claim that there was a miracle.
The Cathedral and the Peace of Vietnam
The image cannot be separated from the place where it was placed. The Cathedral of Saigon was built between 1877 and 1880 and received the title of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in the official history of the temple. In 1960 he became a cathedral of the archdiocese and in 1962 he was raised to a minor basilica by John XXIII. The statue of Our Lady of Peace was added to that space of prayer in 1959, with an explicit request for the peace of Vietnam.
During the 2005 concentration, the popular influx showed the strength of Marian devotion in the city, but the number of people does not prove the supernatural nature of the brand. The prudent pastoral response protects both truth and piety: you can honor Mary and ask her intercession for peace without stating that a miracle occurred when the ecclesial authority said that the data did not allow it to be confirmed.
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