| Our Lady of China Nostra Domina de Sinis 中 華 大 聖 母 / 東 閭 聖 母 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | Republic of China |
| Date | 1976 |
| Type | Wooden image, bejewelled golden crown and scepter with Globus cruciger |
| Approval | Pope Pius XI Pope Francis |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Shrine | National Shrine of Our Lady of China, Meishan, Taiwan |
| Patronage | Chinese peoples |
| Attributes | Madonna and Child wearing Chinese imperial regalia |
| Feast day | The Second Sunday of May |
Our Lady of China, the Great Mother (Latin: Nostra Domina de Sinis, Magna Mater) (traditional Chinese: 中華大聖母; simplified Chinese: 中华大圣母; pinyin: Jhōnghuá Da Shèngmǔ), also known as Our Lady of Donglü (traditional Chinese: 東閭聖母; simplified Chinese: 东闾圣母; pinyin: Dōnglǘ Shèngmǔ), is a Roman Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Child Jesus associated with a purported Marian apparition in Baoding, China in 1900.
Pope Pius XI declared the Marian title a national shrine in Donglu in 1937. Pope Francis granted a Pontifical decree of canonical coronation on 19 February 2021 towards a Marian image venerated at the National Shrine of Our Lady of China in Chiayi County, Taiwan, Republic of China. The Archbishop of Taiwan, Thomas Yeh Sheng-nan executed the rite of coronation on 14 August 2022.[a]
During the Boxer Rebellion, a great number of soldiers attacked the village of Donglü, Baoding, Hebei. The village consisted of a small community of Christians founded by the Vincentian Order of priests. Pious legends claim that the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared in white, and a fiery horseman (believed to be Saint Michael the Archangel) who chased away the soldiers.
The local Catholic priest, Father Rene Flament of the Congregation of the Mission hired a local French painter in Shanghai to make a Marian statue similar to the Chinese dowager Empress Ci Xi. This image was based in the Marian image of “Our Lady of Laeken” venerated in the Church of Our Lady of Laeken in Brussels, Belgium. Accordingly, the original Donglu statue was later destroyed in 1966 during the Cultural Revolution.
Pope Pius XI issued a decree Quod Te Delegimus on 20 January 1924 which designated the Apostolic Chancellor of China, Cardinal Celso Costantini to convoke the first Synod of Bishops in Shanghai, China. This first national conference with the bishops of China consecrated the Chinese people to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The same Pope favored the devotion to this venerated title in 1928.[1] He later approved the formal request of the latter Apostolic Delegate to China, Bishop Mario Zanin an official Marian title with a designated national shrine in Donglu in 1937.
Pope Pius XII designated the feast day as an official feast of the Catholic liturgical calendar in 1941.[2]
In 1989, a painted canvas of the same Madonna with Child Jesus dressed in golden imperial robes was recreated, now enshrined at the altar of the “Our Lady of Donglu” parish.
In 22 January 1982, an American shrine dedicated to the namesake Marian title was erected in Rockville, Maryland, United States under the auspices of the former Archbishop of Washington, Cardinal James Aloysius Hickey. The Catholic shrine serves as a pastoral mission to the Chinese peoples.
In 19 March 1964, the Cathedral of Our Lady of China in Tainan city was dedicated to the namesake title by the former Grand Master of Order of the Holy Sepulcher, Cardinal Giuseppe Caprio.
In 1973, the Chinese Regional Bishops' Conference of Taiwan, upon approval from the Holy See, placed the feast day on the vigil (day preceding) of Mothers Day (the second Sunday of May).[2]
Alternatively in 1976, another Marian statue was reconstructed in Taiwan, now venerated in the “National Shrine of Our Lady of China”, a parish which was originally constructed in 1913.
In 2020, the Archbishop of Taipei, Thomas Chung An-Zu requested a formal coronation for the Marian image, which was granted and merited a decree of pontifical coronation from Pope Francis on 19 February 2021. The official decree was released to the Taiwanese media on 2 March 2021. The image was crowned on 14 August 2022.
Another namesake Marian Catholic parish is located in the #367 Jong—Zheng road of Xindian District in New Taipei, with a significant influx of both Taiwanese aboriginal and Vietnamese Marian devotees.
Since 2014, a namesake image was enshrined at the national Cathedral of Shanghai. The Marian image was created by the renowned Spaniard sculptor Antonio Jesús Yuste y Navarro (recipient of the 8th La Hornacina Award of Spain).
To date, the namesake Donglu shrine in Baoding (1937), the Sheshan Basilica in Shanghai (1981), the Our Lady of China Parish of Chiayi (1973) and the Wanchin Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (1985) in Taiwan are the only four designated national shrines by the Holy Office in China.
An Order of missionary Catholic nuns with the namesake title was founded by the former Archbishop of Peking, Cardinal Thomas Tien Ken-sin in Shandong, China in 23 December 1938. The Holy Office issued a decree which approved their congregation in 23 December 1940.
After the Second World War, the nuns moved to the Republic of China in 1952. They later obtained a parcel of land and constructed their own motherhouse convent in Chiayi, Taiwan in the Marian year of 1954. The Order presently operates in the mainland of China, the island of Taiwan, and Australia.
During the 1960s, a standing image of this Madonna and Child gained political controversy due to the Marian iconography allegedly having syncretist associations to the Buddhist goddess of mercy Kuan Yin and not being officially sanctioned by the Holy Office for religious propagation. The former Archbishop of Peking, Cardinal Thomas Tien Ken-sin, sanctioned this variant image for a religious Catholic prayer card for the persecuted in China without direct consultation with the Vatican, and was widely promoted in America and Canada.[3][b] In 2002, an image of this controversial mosaic was installed at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington D.C., United States. [5]