CARTHAGE, Mo. - MARIAN DAYS (KOAM) - Lt. Eric Miller of the Carthage Police Department gives us a ride around the grounds of Marian Days 2024. He shares the highlights and locations to note.
Restaurants are all operating now, approved by the health department. Best times are evenings when everything is open, the event wraps up Sunday morning
Restaurants serve the traditional Vietnamese food but also the Carthage Knights of Columbus have a large restaurant where they serve hamburgers and hot dogs etc. as a fundraiser for the church
Be prepared for some walking and plan appropriately due to the heat
The crowds are never officially counted but estimates are 100,000 this year
Dine on Boba Tea and Pho or Chicken Strips and Fried Oreos. There is something for everyone.
Marian Days road closures:
Grand from Highland to Fairview
Highland from Grand to Fulton
Fairview from Grand to Wynwood
Glenstone Dr.
“These road closures will be in place through Marian Days and will end at 12:00 pm on Sunday, August 4th, 2024. During the time of the closures only those who are camping on the Marian grounds and residents who have been provided a resident pass will be allowed to enter the roadblock areas. We appreciate your cooperation.”
— CPD
WHAT IS MARIAN DAYS?
What is Marian Days? It's simply a Catholic Celebration of the Mother Mary. However it is done in mostly Vietnamese. It is centered around the Catholic Seminary, 28-acres campus of the Congregation of the Mother of the Redeemer (CRM), in Carthage as the gathering place. It was where so many priests started here in America after fleeing their home country.
The 4-day event is open to the public. Many locals visit shops and restaurants during the week that are set up on the east side of the campus. The Carthage Knights of Columbus set up a restaurant each year as a tradition and fundraiser.
“On April 30, 1975, 185 clergy left Vietnam as boat people just before the Fall of Saigon. They arrived in the United States and were placed in refugee camps.”
They came to Carthage because of Cardinal Bernard Law, who is notoriously known today for the cover up of the sexual abuse scandal in the Archdiocese of Boston. Before Boston, however, he was bishop of the Diocese of Springfield–Cape Girardeau.
Cardinal Law invited them to rent a vacant seminary, Our Lady of the Ozarks College. Between June 30 and September 3, 1975, nine priests, 154 brothers arrived in Carthage.
The Marian Days began in 1978 as a gathering or ‘Family Reunion’ to keep Vietnamese Catholic Traditions alive. Mass is shared in Vietnamese.
Although this event is organized by Vietnamese Americans with a Vietnamese theme in mind all are welcome to experience the celebration honoring the Virgin Mary.
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