Localizing the Virgin Mary in Vietnam

This in Vietnam, creates many jobs and promotes the overall development of the locality and the country ..." (Pv September 27, 2020).

At the sacred land of Our Lady of Ta Pao - Binh Thuan, since its appearance and development to become one of the prominent pilgrimage centers of Our Lady in the South as well as in Vietnam today, which was originally a remote mountainous area with a sparse population mainly of the K'Ho people, since the inauguration of the Holy Mother of Ta Pao in 1959 and gradually attracted followers to come here on pilgrimage to become a large pilgrimage center of Our Lady as it is today, it has created conditions for this land to develop, a series of traffic works, power lines, and other supporting works have changed a formerly poor district, many traditional occupations in the locality have been revived, especially some traditional occupations of ethnic minorities have been developed again to create specialty products to serve tourists and pilgrims, creating thousands of jobs for the people here, who were used to farming, now know how to do business and provide services.

Thus, in terms of economy, the localization of the Virgin Mary has brought practical significance, contributing to changing the economic life of the people and localities, creating momentum for the overall development of the country. Accordingly, the Virgin Mary sanctuaries not only contribute to preserving and developing traditional culture but also contribute to exploiting local economic potentials, especially spiritual tourism activities, promoting traditional industries and local products.

Chapter 4 Summary

Catholicism is a monotheistic religion with very strict doctrines, but when it was introduced to Vietnam, it was assimilated by the power of Vietnamese culture, accepted by the Vietnamese people and localized to become a religion close to Vietnamese culture.

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On the foundation of Vietnamese culture such as the spirit of worshiping saints, flexibility and religious tolerance, Vietnamese believers have had ways to accept and localize Catholicism, in which the most prominent is the localization of the Virgin Mary such as localizing the name, image, localizing beliefs, temple architecture, localizing the practice of rituals and ceremonies to worship the Virgin Mary... This flexibility has become

An exogenous Mother Goddess but with the strong characteristics of Vietnamese women, the characteristics of a Vietnamese Mother Goddess - the Virgin Mary.

The increase in the roles and meanings of the Virgin Mary symbol as presented above has shown that the localization of the Virgin Mary in Vietnam has taken place extensively and has had many influences on Vietnamese culture. The Virgin Mary in Catholic doctrine is just an ordinary woman, without the power to bestow graces, but Vietnamese believers have localized her with the strength and power of a queen, a princess, a holy mother of a powerful saint like the saints in Vietnamese folklore. Therefore, the Virgin Mary has become an important part in the lives of Vietnamese believers, a solid support to help Catholics overcome many storms in life, and a patron throughout their lives. She is also an example and a symbol that all believers respect and want to follow, especially female believers, who always want to learn from the Virgin Mary to become a perfect woman, an exemplary mother, and at the same time rely on her protection to have peace in life. Mother is the reason and motivation for people to come closer together, the thread that helps unite the community and is the strength of the Catholic community, Parish, Diocese... And further, the Vietnamese communities of believers, when coming to Our Lady, will ignore all boundaries and barriers to share a common destination, which is to find a common value of truth, goodness and beauty, which is the Virgin Mary, a mother who represents pure beauty, of charity and of sacred motherhood.

CONCLUDE

1. The works written about Catholicism are very voluminous and the works written about the Virgin Mary are also very rich and diverse, but in general, these works are written from a missionary perspective, in the spirit of praise of believers, a few studies are from a cultural perspective through the perspective of cultural integration, cultural exchange and acculturation. When studying the localization of the Virgin Mary in Vietnam, some works have generalized the manifestations of the localization of the Virgin Mary, but still at a general level and all consider this phenomenon to have a connection with the Mother worship belief in Vietnam. Currently, there is no systematic research work on the localization of Vietnamese Catholicism or the localization of the Virgin Mary in Vietnam. Through this research work, we will focus on studying the localization of the Virgin Mary through the manifestations of worship practices, the system of shrines, the symbol of the Virgin Mary in the lives of believers...

2. Applying the theory of cultural exchange and integration and inheriting the research experience of previous works, we focus on studying the localization of the Virgin Mary on the basis of integration and cultural exchange with traditional Vietnamese culture. Cultural integration comes from both official and unofficial perspectives, especially Vietnamese believers have proactively accepted and integrated the Virgin Mary into Vietnamese culture. It can be seen that, from the proactive acceptance and flexible integration on the basis of traditional Vietnamese culture, based on the foundation of the consciousness of worshipping saints and the tradition of respecting the Mother Goddess..., Vietnamese believers have accepted an exogenous character into a value with endogenous cultural colors. Also from the theoretical basis of cultural exchange and integration, we focus on studying the methods and contexts of localizing the image of the Virgin Mary in Vietnam in specific locations, considering this as a typical study of the localization of Catholicism in Vietnam in relation to the localization of Vietnamese religion in general.

3. The five main research sites that we chose to survey can be considered as five typical research sites that can represent the region and ethnicity: The North with Vi Nhue Parish focusing on Vi Nhue village, a village containing many cultural characteristics of the Northern region, especially the place where many types of religious beliefs are concentrated such as Vi Nhue church, Vi Nhue communal house, Quang Cung palace... is the land considered the sacred land of Mother Lieu Hanh. Quy Chinh Parish focuses on the village

Quy Chinh, a craft village and wet rice farming village in Nam Dan, is considered a sacred land where many outstanding people were born for the country and is a typical area representing Nghe An culture, with traditional customs of Nghe An land, along with La Vang Parish - Quang Tri, a land imbued with Hue royal culture, representing the culture of the Central region. The choice of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish as a research site in Ho Chi Minh City is because this is the most typical Marian pilgrimage center in Ho Chi Minh City and one of the prominent Marian pilgrimage sites in Vietnam. In addition, Trung Binh Khmer Parish - Soc Trang is a place that still preserves the traditional cultural values of the Khmer people, especially the flexibility in practicing Catholic rituals that both bear the mark of traditional Khmer culture and the mark of national culture in general...

4. Catholicism was introduced to Vietnam in 1533 in a context of many historical changes in the country, with the prohibition of the feudal state combined with the strictness in the doctrine and canon law of Catholicism creating many difficulties for the missionary work in Vietnam. However, due to many favorable conditions such as geographical location, the tolerance and flexibility of the Vietnamese people, combined with the enthusiasm of the missionaries, Catholicism was gradually accepted and integrated into Vietnamese society. Through the process of introduction and integration of Vietnamese Catholicism, Catholicism has now become one of the major religions and has a multi-faceted influence on the country, the number of followers, dignitaries, places of worship... is increasing, along with the development of the country, Vietnamese Catholicism always accompanies the nation, contributing to the cause of building, protecting and developing the country.

5. Looking back at the process of Catholicism's introduction into Vietnam, we see that it was a process full of ups and downs throughout history, from the early days of being banned, persecuted, and expelled, to the favorable periods for Vietnamese Catholicism to develop. The process of introducing Catholicism into Vietnam, especially its introduction into Vietnamese culture, can be seen in two aspects: the proactive integration of Vietnamese Catholicism into Vietnamese culture and the influence of Vietnamese culture, creating flexibility in the process of introduction into Vietnam. In which, the strength of traditional national culture has been clearly demonstrated in transforming exogenous cultural values, specifically Catholicism, into a religion imbued with Vietnamese culture.

Vietnamese culture, especially the localization of the Virgin Mary, creates a cultural value that is both national and contemporary.

6. The Virgin Mary was introduced into Vietnam along with the introduction of Catholicism, on the basis of a cultural tradition that respects the Mother, the Virgin Mary with many good values described in the Bible and associated with many activities in the Catholic liturgy, was gradually accepted and loved by Vietnamese believers in a special way, and the appearance of the Virgin Mary churches and associations is proof of the integration of the Virgin Mary in Vietnam. The Virgin Mary has become an important value in the lives of Vietnamese believers, the Virgin Mary is fervently worshiped by Vietnamese believers, in addition to the rituals and ceremonies of worship according to canon law, Vietnamese believers also have activities and rituals and ceremonies of worship according to the national cultural tradition and have become a spiritual support for all believers.

7. The results of the actual survey show that Vietnamese believers have localized the Virgin Mary in many different ways, especially by adding sacred values to the Virgin Mary through stories of apparitions, stories of power, by building and popularizing the Virgin Mary's shrines, the Virgin Mary pilgrimage centers, the Holy Mother centers... in Vietnam. Accordingly, the Vietnamese have localized a somewhat strange image from Western culture to become familiar, becoming the Mother of Vietnamese believers, the strength of Vietnamese culture has shown its role in the process of cultural exchange and assimilation. Accordingly, with the integration of the Virgin Mary, the good traditional cultural values of the nation are not only not lost or lost, but they are also nurtured and enriched with new values, enriching the cultural identity of Vietnam. Virgin Mary is the Mother of all Catholics in the world, but especially the Mother of Vietnamese believers, commonly known by the affectionate name of Mother Vietnam, with the image of the traditional long dress and turban or images close to ethnic groups bearing regional and ethnic cultural symbols, along with the filial piety imbued with Vietnamese cultural nuances, these are vivid manifestations of the localization of Virgin Mary in Vietnamese culture.

8. On the basis of the consciousness of worshipping Saints, with the tradition of worshipping Saints, especially the worship of the Holy Mother, typically the Holy Mother Lieu Hanh with the powers of saving the suffering and the disaster, it can be considered a similarity and a premise for the localization of the Virgin Mary in Vietnam. Accordingly, Vietnamese believers have "Sanctified" the Virgin Mary, together with

with traditional cultural elements that contribute to the localization of the image of the Virgin Mary in Vietnam. The integration and exchange of Catholicism in general and the image of the Virgin Mary in particular through the methods of: Language, writing, folk art, temple architecture, worship rituals... are vivid manifestations of the integration of the Virgin Mary in Vietnam. Notably, the integration of the Virgin Mary with the Vietnamese custom of filial piety to ancestors through the combination of worshiping the Virgin Mary or the Virgin Mary's family with the ancestral altar along with the forms of altar arrangement and related worship ritual practices... Thereby showing the uniqueness and flexibility of Vietnamese believers in worshiping the Virgin Mary as well as preserving the national cultural traditions.

9. Nowadays, the people's need for religious beliefs is increasingly expanding, every Vietnamese person has the right to believe in a religion or belief. Therefore, it is necessary to exploit the values and positive factors in beliefs and religions, especially the humanistic values in Mother Goddess worship, to build a cultural environment, including promoting the role of the Virgin Mary in the lives of Catholics in particular and of the Vietnamese people in general. The localization of the Virgin Mary has a positive impact on social psychology, helping to unite the community, providing spiritual support for believers, supporting and satisfying the spirit of believers in times of crisis in life, etc. The localization of the Virgin Mary has contributed to the formation of pilgrimage centers, Virgin Mary shrines, etc., leading to many religious and cultural activities, affecting socio-economic activities, contributing to promoting the overall development of society and the country. Besides, through the localization methods of the Virgin Mary, especially the rituals of worship, it has contributed to preserving and promoting the traditional cultural values of the nation.

It can be seen that, in the context of globalization, the Virgin Mary has become a cultural symbol, a bridge between Eastern and Western cultures, a universal value, both national and contemporary, connecting different elements to become closer and more humane, creating widespread charity, contributing humane and humanistic values to humanity.

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