The Catholic Defender: Our Lady of Donglü (Our Lady of China)
- Jan 16
- 2 min read
During the Boxer Rebellion, a great number of soldiers attacked the village of Donglu.
Hebei Province.
The village consisted of a small community of Christians founded by the Vincentian Order of priests.
The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared in white, Saint Michael the Archangel who chased away the soldiers who fired at the Virgin Mary.
Villagers prayed, and Mary appeared in the sky, followed by a fiery horseman (believed to be St. Michael), who drove the soldiers away.
The local priest, Father Rene Flament of Donglu became a place of pilgrimage in 1924.
A painting was commissioned showing Mary and Jesus in Chinese imperial robes, reflecting local culture,
The image was blessed and promulgated by Pope Pius XI in 1928.
"Our Lady of China": She is seen as a mother and protector, embodying Chinese cultural ideals of motherhood and nurturing.
In 1924, the bishops of China officially consecrated the nation to the Virgin Mary.
At the close of the 1924 Shanghai Synod of Bishops in China, the first national conference of bishops in the country, Cardinals along with all the bishops of China, consecrated the Chinese people to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
In 1941, Pope Pius XII designated the feast day as an official feast of the Catholic liturgical calendar.
Alternatively in 1976, now venerated in the “National Shrine of Our Lady of China”, which was constructed in 1913.
In 2020, the former Bishop of Chiayi, requested a coronation for the Marian image, which was granted and merited a decree of Pontifical coronation from Pope Francis on 19 February 2021. The decree was released to the Taiwanese media on 2 March 2021. The image is then crowned on 14 August 2022.
She represents hope, endurance, and a unifying figure for both official and "underground" Catholic communities in China, notes.
Donglü became a significant pilgrimage site, though the original statue was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, replaced by reconstructed images.
Venerated at the Sheshan Basilica near Shanghai, she is honored as "Help of Christians". Pope Benedict XVI established May 24th—her feast day—as a global World Day of Prayer for the Church in China.
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