Our Lady of China, also known as Madonna of Donglu, is one of the names given to the Blessed Virgin Mary to commemorate her apparitions in Donglu village at Qingyuan County of Hebei Province in North China.
During the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, the Boxers targeted attacks on foreigners and Chinese Christians living in China. Our Lady appeared in Donglu village, a community where most residents were Catholics. The Virgin Mary appeared in white above the place. A gang of bandits shot her, but she didn’t go away. At the frantic moment, miraculously, a horseman appeared in the sky, frightening the bandits away immediately. The Mother of Christ appeared in China, justly defending and protecting the helpless people. Under the leadership of a missionary from the Congregation de La Mission, the Donglu people constructed a magnificent church to thank Our Lady for her protection. Then veneration to Our Lady and the pilgrimage tradition started there. Shortly after, a French priest, Fr P. Flament, the pastor of Donglu, commissioned a painting of Mary with the Christ child dressed in golden imperial robes. This painting became the image of Our Lady, Queen of China. The feast of Our Lady of China falls on the day before the second Sunday of May every year. As Chinese people migrated to all parts of the world, the veneration to Our Lady of China spread worldwide, not just within the Chinese Catholic communities of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.
The Chinese Catholic Community of Brisbane in Australia has provided a spiritual pilgrimage place for Chinese from all over the world to constantly reflect on Jesus Christ’s incarnation and the grace of salvation. In July 2018, our chaplain, Fr. Albert Chan MSC, started calling on the members of our community to establish a shrine in honour of Our Lady of China on this pilgrimage site, the Marian Valley Shrine of Our Lady Help of Christians. Several zealous Community members referred to the image of the Virgin Mary in Qing Dynasty clothing. They also referred to the image of the Virgin Mary in white when she appeared in Donglu. After many prayers and discussions, it was finally decided to adopt the ancient Chinese costume for Our Lady to express the purity, gentleness and humility of the Virgin Mary. White clothes represent purity. Traditional blue expresses loyalty and faith. The red clothes on the baby Jesus express his love, compassion and sacrifice for the world. The statue was made and placed here with the overall design approved by the Community members. We hope this will help Chinese Catholics deepen their gratitude and love for Our Lady of China.
Under the guidance of Fr. Albert Chan, another group of zealous community members planned and constructed the Shrine of Our Lady of China at Marian Valley. This Shrine was designed with the corners tilted upward according to the traditional Chinese pavilion. Finally, the Shrine was completed by March 2022. On Saturday, 14 May 2022, it was blessed by Fr. Albert Chan, MSC.
We are very grateful to our Blessed Mother Mary and St. Joseph, the carpenter, who have helped us to overcome our difficulties and have helped us to raise money for the project. We also express our deepest gratitude to many catholic members for their generous donations.