Auxiliary Bishop Peter Dai Bui celebrated Mass and preached to the largest crowd of his life on Friday (Aug. 7), addressing an estimated 80,000 Vietnamese Catholics during his first-ever visit to Marian Days, an annual pilgrimage and festival in Carthage, Mo. During his homily, Bishop Bui spoke about the Vietnamese martyrs, and the role present days saints play in the passing on of the faith.

The 47th annual Marian Days was a four-day gathering celebrated predominantly by Vietnamese American Roman Catholics in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. During the fall of Saigon, a city in Vietnam, the Congregation of the Mother Co-Redemptrix, a religious group of Vietnamese Catholic priests and brothers, escaped Vietnam and settled in Carthage. In gratitude and thanksgiving, they began Marian Days.

The event, which has been held since 1978, takes place on a 28-acre campus belonging to the Congregation of the Mother Co-Redemptrix. Though participants are predominantly Vietnamese, many other international residents and ethnic groups also participate in the annual event.  

Livestream of the Marian Days Mass: