The Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes
Qing Yang, Jiang Yin, Jiangsu

Qingyang is a large city of Jiangyin, Jiangsu Province. According to legend, a village old woman after a long lapse of illness had a vision of a noble and kind lady in white gown, with a blue ribbon on her waist, clasping her hands. She told the old woman that she could be healed if she would take the grass on a certain meadow and boil them for use as medicinal tonic. The old woman did as she was told and was cured. She was under the impression that it had to be the Guanyin (Avalokitesvara) who cured her and went to various temples to give her thanks. On a certain day, she found the statue of Our Lady of Lourdes in the home of a Catholic. She exclaimed that it was the Lady who had cured her. The news spread fast and wide, and there were people coming here to venerate the Holy Mother. Later on, the Diocese purchased the site and built a house for use as a church. Sometime after, a Gothic-style church was built to satisfy the need of the Catholics. The fame of “Our Lady of Qingyang” was known on both sides of the Yangtze River. The hymn of Our Lady of Qingyang has been sung everywhere and this Marian Church has been a well-known Marian Shrine in Jiangsu Province.

In 1939, the church was destroyed during an air-raid by Japanese bombers. In 1993, seventeen acres of land were purchased beside the original site for building a new church in April that year. On May 1, of the following year the new church was completed.

Reference: Father. Anh Thu Tran (John the Baptist),C.S.J.B., Marian Shrines in China, Published by St. Francis Xavier Church (Chinese Community),Vancouver, BC. Canada,2009.

Address: St Francis Xavier Parish, 428 Great Northern Way, Van.,BC,V5T 4S5,Canada, Tel 1-(604)254-2727, E-mail address: jbtat@yahoo.com

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