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Marian shrine attracts thousands

Healing power is also drawing people from other faiths to seaside statue
Marian shrine attracts thousands
Marian devotees praying at the foot of the Marian statue
Published: February 15, 2012 08:42 AM GMT
Updated: February 15, 2012 08:56 AM GMT

Large numbers of pilgrims are flocking to a Marian shrine in southern Vietnam which has become renowned as another Lourdes where prayer can achieve physical and spiritual healing. “Around 100,000 pilgrims have visited the shrine over the past three weeks,” says Father Dominic Nguyen Van Hoang, rector of the Marian Shrine of Ta Pao Mount in Binh Thuan province’s Tanh Linh district. Father Hoang said yesterday that even followers of other faiths have come to pray in front of the big white Marian statue, which stands on a hillside overlooking the sea. Many of them who have been cured of serious diseases or ailments, return to the Church or convert to Catholicism, he added. “In the past people came to the shrine out of curiosity, superstition or hoping to see an apparition of Mary, but now they come because of their belief in Mother Mary,” he noted. Earlier this week, Bishops Peter Tran Dinh Tu of Phu Cuong and Joseph Vu Duy Thong of Phan Thiet concelebrated Masses and anointed patients with oil. Marie Vu Thi Vui, a pilgrim from Vung Tau province, had a serious motorcycle accident four years ago that left her in a coma for several months. She was seeking to be cured of pains which she says still wrack her body since the accident “I was determined to visit the shrine and pray to Mother Mary to cure my ailments,” Vui said. She believed Mary would cure her disease after hearing a paralyzed non-Catholic man had been carried up to the statue the previous day and was able to regain feeling in his legs, she explained. The statue, which was originally erected in 1959, was restored again in 1991 following years of neglect as a result of the Vietnam war. The statue became famous in 1999 when three students said they saw an apparition of the Blessed Mother there. Usually, around 15,000 Marian devotees visit the shrine each month. Related reports: Marian Shrine Attracts 60,000 Pilgrims On Opening DayWork Begins On Hilltop Marian Shrine After Government Gives Permission  

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