Where’s that: In Donglü in China’s Hebei province, 140km from Beijing.
Our Lady’s connection: Apparition to villagers in 1900.
In 1900, during the turmoil of China’s Boxer Rebellion, the Catholic villagers of Donglü in Hebei province were under threat of massacre. With faith and desperation, they turned to Mary for protection.
According to eyewitness testimony, the Blessed Mother appeared in white above the village, accompanied by a fiery horseman — understood to be St Michael the Archangel — scaring the attackers and saving the community. In 1908, parish priest Fr Flament commissioned a painting of Mary and the Christ Child dressed in Chinese imperial robes, a gesture that integrated the faith of the people into their own culture.
A shrine was built, and Donglü soon became a place of pilgrimage. In 1928, Pope Pius XI approved the devotion under the title of Our Lady of China. The great church was destroyed in 1941 by Japanese bombing during the Second World War. The original image of Our Lady of China was destroyed in 1966 during the Cultural Revolution. A similar painting was reconstructed in 1989.
In the 1990s, the local Catholic community built a new church and an outdoor Marian shrine, crowned by a large statue of Our Lady of China, in traditional Chinese imperial robes. The authorities often impose restrictions, especially during Marian feast days, to limit or disperse the gatherings of pilgrims. Still, over the years countless faithful have made their way to the shrine, as well as to sister shrines in other parts of China and Taiwan.
Even in times of communist repression, the devotion has been marked by extraordinary signs. In 1995, tens of thousands gathered for Mass at Donglü and witnessed a striking solar phenomenon, with the sun spinning and casting vivid colours — an event that recalls the Miracle of the Sun in Fatima.
Despite persecution and restrictions, the faithful have held on, with Our Lady of Donglü a powerful focus of Chinese Catholic identity and hope, celebrated especially on the second Sunday of May.
Published in the February 2026 issue of The Southern Cross Magazine
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