THE 47TH MARIAN DAYS
MARY: MOTHER OF MERCY
Vietnamese Catholics from throughout the United States and around the world are joyfully and eagerly making their way here to participate together in the 47th Marian Days Pilgrimage in 2026.
What draws so many pilgrims to gather here despite the limited space, the heat, and the lack of everyday conveniences? The most fitting answer is this: God’s merciful love has brought us together! Indeed, God’s merciful love is once again gathering us here. It is the source of our motivation and hope as pilgrims, for “Apart from the mercy of God, there is no other source of hope for humanity” (St. John Paul II).
God’s merciful love is not limited by any circumstance of space or time. Yet the history of the Church clearly shows us that God chooses particular places and instruments through which He may more readily reveal His mercy.
For nearly half a century, we have experienced this place as one chosen by God and the Blessed Virgin Mary to pour out abundant love and blessings upon the Vietnamese people living abroad. This is also why, year after year, we willingly endure the long distance, hardship, and fatigue of the journey to return here, hoping to encounter and experience God’s merciful love in a renewed way.
The theme of this year’s Marian Days is “Mother of Mercy.” This theme does not distance us from or cause us to forget God’s merciful love. On the contrary, the Mother of Mercy is the one who leads us, guides us, and clearly points the way for us to encounter and experience the mercy of God, just as the Blessed Virgin Mary herself proclaimed in the Magnificat:
“His mercy is from generation to generation upon those who fear Him.”
Once again, the central image of this year’s Marian Days emblem and theme is the Blessed Virgin Mary holding the Child Jesus. The flowing lines form a circle resembling the moon—a Moon of Compassion.
We cannot understand the Blessed Virgin Mary truthfully and fully if we separate her from Jesus, her Son. Rather, we come to a richer and more authentic understanding of Mary when Jesus is at the center of our meditation and contemplation.
When we call Mary the Mother of Mercy, we firmly and deeply profess that Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity and the Son of the Virgin Mary, is the embodiment of God’s mercy and the Face—Vultus—of the Father. To come to the Blessed Virgin Mary is to come to the Mother of Mercy.
May all of you, dear grandparents, brothers, and sisters, experience, encounter, and above all receive God’s mercy during these days of pilgrimage through the guidance and loving care of Mary, our Blessed Mother.
Through Mary, with Mary, and by Mary, may we come to Jesus, her beloved Son, during these days of pilgrimage—Per Mariam ad Iesum: through Mary to Jesus.
Fraternally yours in Christ and Mary, our Blessed Mother,
Rev. Philip M. Do Thanh Cao, CRM
2026 Marian Days Organizing Committee