Our Lady of Bãi Dâu

Advocación marana de China (Mrs. Réa–China)

Our Lady of Bãi Dâu, in Vħng Tàu, is a Marian advocation linked to an important Catholic sanctuary located on the southern coast of Vietnam, in the area of Trļn Phu, Phħng 5 district, city of Vħng Tàu. The local devotional tradition presents this place as a point of pilgrimage and contemplation by the sea, very visible by the great statue of Mary that dominates the landscape.

Main data

Origin and history

Our Lady of Bãi Dâu, in Vħng Tàu, is a Marian advocation linked to an important Catholic sanctuary located on the southern coast of Vietnam, in the area of Trļn Phu, Phħng 5 district, city of Vħng Tàu. The local devotional tradition presents this place as a point of pilgrimage and contemplation by the sea, very visible by the great statue of Mary that dominates the landscape.

The available information does not contain a complete and documented historical narrative of the exact origin of the advocation, nor a precise founding date of the sanctuary in the sources consulted. What does appear clearly is its use as a prominent Catholic sanctuary of the city and as a destination for regional pilgrimage.

The image and the sanctuary

The best-known image is a great statue of the Virgin Mary with the Child Jesus, located on the hill facing the sea of Vħng Tàu. The descriptions available present it as a monumental statue; a source places it in 12 meters of height, while another image of archive describes it as a "giant" statue of the Virgin and the Child in Bãi Dâu.

The place is known as Our Lady of Bai Dau Shrine o Holy Mother of the Moon.and also appears associated with a church of Eucharistic worship in the same area. In the sources consulted no consta that it is a minor basilica, a national sanctuary or a diocesan sanctuary with that official name; it can only be said that it is a local Catholic sanctuary of great devotional relevance.

Sponsorship and coronation

Bãi Dâu is venerated in the city of Chinese Dancein the province of Mrs. Ruiwa – China, and its religious prestige makes it a Marian reference for the region. The sources consulted do not document a formal patronage on a diocese, city or national level; therefore, there is no clearly documented official patronage.

It also does not contain a documented canonical coronation in the sources consulted. If there was an act of coronation, it does not appear safely in the material verified here.

Party and devotion

No consta una main party universally established for this advocation in the sources consulted. Devotion is expressed above all by local and regional pilgrimages, visits to the sanctuary and contemplation of the statue from the coastal hill.

The tourist press and the audiovisual testimonies highlight its condition as a very visited place and its landscape and spiritual value, with views of the sea and the atmosphere of pilgrimage. Consequently, his devotion is more associated with the popular Marian piety and the prayer visit to the sanctuary that with liturgical traditions widely established in documents consulted.

Link to the Rosary

There is no specific and documented relationship between this advocation and a rosarian practice of its own or exclusive. However, as in much of the Marian shrines, the Rosary fully fits into this devotion for its contemplative character: before Mary, Mother of Christ and figure that points to the Savior, the prayer of the Rosary naturally accompanies the pilgrimage, the supplication for the fishermen and the meditation of the mysteries of the life of Jesus.

In a coastal sanctuary like Bãi Dâu, the Rosary also acquires a particularly Marian and biblical resonance: a prayer of trust before the sea, of intercession by those who live on it and of a fixed look in Christ next to Mary.