Mary’s hope, faith, and promise
“Celebrating our promise on the feast of Mary’s Assumption gave our ‘yes’ a deeper meaning. Mary’s life was one of total openness to God’s plan, from her fiat at the Annunciation to her glory in heaven.” These sentiments expressed by three of our candidates recently receiving temporary incorporation in the Vietnam Mission are especially heart-warming. Peter Duong, John Hoang, and Anthony Tran are inspiring in their witness of fidelity in imitation of the Blessed Mother. I admire them in their devotion to the Virgin Mary in the strengthening of their vocations to our congregation.
Since moving to the Sorrowful Mother Shrine several months ago, I have grown in my education in Mariology. Consequently, I also have a greater appreciation of the many faces of Mary in the various ethnic personas she has taken over the years. The shrine has introduced me to Polish, Filipino, and Mexican variations of Mary. All three are quite magnificent to behold. I am privileged to be able to pray before such images among the grottos at Sorrowful Mother Shrine.
A smaller image of Mary that I greatly appreciate is one given to me by my seminarian students from Vietnam. They gifted me with a small statue of Our Lady of LaVang as a going away treasure. It is in a prominent place in the prayer corner of my apartment. I have been gazing at it in prayer and meditation as I anticipate a visit to Vietnam in December. While there, I will get to see again larger statues of Her. I look forward to that.
In my continuing study of Mariology, I have found Br. Antonio Sison’s, “The Art of Indigenous Inculturation: Grace on the Edge of Genius,” very helpful. Chapter two of his book explores obtaining a fuller grasp of the immense, prophetic-liberating power of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Br. Ton shows us how that image acquired such powering influence. He demonstrates the way by which this Marian image had crossed the boundaries of its intended outcome, ultimately bringing the maternal face of God where the colonial wound truly is — at the heart of the indigenous Aztec religious and cultural experience.
Studying Br. Ton’s perspective on Our Lady of Guadalupe allowed me to explore a similar power of image in Our Lady of LaVang. The Virgin Mary appeared to persecuted Catholics in the LaVang jungle in 1798. She is depicted in traditional Vietnamese attire, offering comfort and teaching them to use plants for medicine. The apparition became a powerful symbol of hope, faith, and promise for Vietnamese Catholics. Reflecting on my many years in health care ministry, I love praying through her intercession for the health and well-being of our members and students of the Vietnam Mission.
Br. Daryl Charron, C.PP.S.
Provincial Councilor