Just past Bình Triệu Bridge, turning down a small side road on the 13th day of any month reveals a scene unlike ordinary weekdays, with motorbikes filling the surrounding alleys, streams of people holding rosaries walking in the same direction, and stalls selling candles and small statues lining the approach. Inside the compound, in the middle of a wide open plaza, stands the statue of Our Lady of Fatima atop a high pedestal, with a sea of burning candles before it.
This is Our Lady of Fatima Shrine, Bình Triệu (Trung tâm hành hương Đức Mẹ Fatima Bình Triệu) of the Archdiocese of Saigon. What sets this place apart from every neighborhood parish church is the rhythm of the 13th. That date recalls the thirteenth day of the months from May to October 1917 in Fatima, Portugal, and on that day each month faithful from across Saigon pour into the grounds.
IOne place with two roles, pilgrimage center and parish
Fatima Bình Triệu has a trait shared by few churches, having begun as a pilgrimage center first and become a parish only later. The land was purchased and developed in 1966 to welcome pilgrims venerating Our Lady. Eleven years later, in August 1977, Fatima Bình Triệu Parish was erected with an initial community of about 150 families according to Công giáo và Dân tộc (Catholicism and the Nation) newspaper. Since then, both roles have coexisted on the same grounds.
The parish role serves the people who live in the surrounding neighborhood, providing Sunday Masses, catechism classes, baptisms, and weddings. The pilgrimage center role serves people who do not live here, coming from other districts of the city and neighboring provinces to pray and return home the same day. On ordinary weekdays, visitors see the parish side. On the 13th of each month, the pilgrimage center takes over completely.
In Catholicism, the title Our Lady of Fatima refers to the Marian apparitions reported by three shepherd children at Fatima, Portugal, in 1917. According to the children, the first apparition occurred on May 13 and the last on October 13, with the intervening apparitions also falling on the 13th of each month. The local diocesan bishop in Portugal declared the apparitions worthy of belief in 1930. The central message emphasizes the call to prayer, daily recitation of the Rosary, and penance.
A shrine named after Fatima elsewhere in the world, such as Bình Triệu, is not itself an apparition site. Rather, it is a sanctuary that venerates Mary under the title of Our Lady of Fatima, keeping the monthly rhythm of the 13th and the call to pray the Rosary from the original message.
A common misconception about this site concerns the story of the statue in 1962. Local faithful often recount that when the international Fatima Apostolate brought the pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Fatima through Vietnam that year, the vehicle carrying the statue broke down near Bình Triệu Bridge and could not continue, which people interpreted as a sign that Our Lady wished to remain at this spot. Many stories of favors received also circulate around the shrine. Those are stories told by the faithful. Công giáo và Dân tộc newspaper simply records the arrival of the pilgrim statue in Vietnam in May 1962, noting that selecting and purchasing the land and building the shrine was the work of Father Paul Võ Văn Bộ. The Church has issued no official judgment on those popular accounts, and the library records them strictly as such.
IIFrom the Marian monument to the new church
The founder who built up this sanctuary was Father Paul Võ Văn Bộ, who organized the statue procession and purchased the riverside tract beside Bình Triệu Bridge. According to Công giáo và Dân tộc, the tract measured 12.5 mẫu, which the library's reference table records as roughly 12.5 hectares. The two figures match because in southern Vietnamese usage a mẫu ordinarily denotes one hectare. All milestones below reflect construction dates and canonical decisions of the Church.
- 1962Pilgrim statue tourIn May, the Fatima Apostolate brought the pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Fatima through Vietnam. The story of the vehicle stopping beside Bình Triệu Bridge is an account passed down among the faithful.
- 1966-1968Blessing of the monument, groundbreaking, and Foyer de CharitéOn August 15, 1966, Archbishop Paul Nguyễn Văn Bình blessed the Marian monument. On December 8 of the same year, construction began on the church and retreat house. On December 26, 1968, Father Paul Võ Văn Bộ founded the Bình Triệu Charity Community (Foyer de Charité) associated with the retreat house.
- 1969Way of the CrossIn June, the fourteen outdoor Stations of the Cross were blessed on the grounds.
- 1970Inauguration of the Fatima chapelOn October 13, the Our Lady of Fatima chapel was completed and inaugurated on the anniversary of the final apparition at Fatima.
- 1973Christ the King ChurchOn January 6, the church of Christ the King was completed within the compound.
- 1977Establishment of the parishIn August 1977, Fatima Bình Triệu Parish was canonically erected with about 150 families, with Father Simon Nguyễn Văn Lập appointed founding pastor and the parish patronal feast changed from Our Lady of Fatima to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
- 2010Groundbreaking of the new churchOn November 13, Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Phạm Minh Mẫn presided over the Mass and laying of the cornerstone for the new church.
- 2017Dedication of the new churchOn March 25, Archbishop Paul Bùi Văn Đọc solemnly dedicated the new church, coinciding with the centenary year of the Fatima apparitions.
According to Công giáo và Dân tộc and Archdiocese of Saigon reports, the parish grew rapidly after its founding, from about 150 families in 1977 to roughly 2,800 families by 1990. The new church had its cornerstone laid in 2010 and was begun under Father Aloysius Lê Văn Liêu (the third pastor of the parish, who took office in January 2000), and was subsequently completed under his successor Father Joachim Trần Văn Hương for its dedication in March 2017. During the 2017 dedication rite, relics of three Vietnamese Martyr Saints, namely Saint Philip Phan Văn Minh (priest), Saint Agnes Lê Thị Thành, and Saint Matthew Lê Văn Gẫm, were sealed inside the altar in keeping with the liturgical norm for dedicating a fixed altar.
IIIThe monument, the Fatima chapel, and the new church
The Fatima Bình Triệu compound is a wide, level courtyard rather than a single building. Its true center of gravity lies outdoors at the statue of Our Lady atop the high pedestal in the middle of the plaza, where pilgrims light candles and pray the Rosary. The roofed structures are arranged around that outdoor focal point, each serving a distinct function.
A statue about 3 meters tall set atop a pedestal and blessed on August 15, 1966. This is the heart of the entire compound, where most pilgrims linger the longest.
Inaugurated on October 13, 1970, built to accommodate the steadily growing crowds of pilgrims.
Fourteen outdoor stations blessed in June 1969, forming a familiar prayer circuit for pilgrimage groups arriving on the 13th.
Measuring 50 meters long and 35 meters wide with a capacity of about 1,500 people, dedicated on March 25, 2017. Its altar holds relics of three Vietnamese Martyr Saints, namely Saints Philip Phan Văn Minh, Agnes Lê Thị Thành, and Matthew Lê Văn Gẫm.
Begun alongside the first church in late 1966 and linked to the Bình Triệu Charity Community (Foyer de Charité) founded in 1968, hosting multi-day silent retreats, a function rarely found at an ordinary parish church.
The wide open courtyard around the monument used for outdoor Masses on the 13th when the church interior cannot hold the crowd.
Looking across the whole compound, visitors can see that its spatial organization resembles a major pilgrimage sanctuary rather than a typical parish, featuring an outdoor monument at the center, a Way of the Cross, a retreat house, and an expansive plaza for large crowds. Although the new church is the largest structure on the grounds, it has not displaced the outdoor monument. On the 13th of the month, pilgrims still go first to the statue of Our Lady before stepping inside the church.
IVThe lie of the land and orientation
A clear prefatory note is needed here. Catholicism does not teach feng shui. Traditional churches were oriented along a liturgical axis governing the placement of the altar and sanctuary, while the layout at Bình Triệu followed the riverside plot that Father Võ Văn Bộ was able to purchase. What follows is a reading by the library through the lens of traditional Vietnamese geomancy, not something found in Church documents, offered solely as a cultural reference for readers familiar with traditional Vietnamese spatial reading.
First, land at the bridgehead. The compound sits right beside Bình Triệu Bridge, where the main northern highway crosses the Saigon River into the city. Traditional spatial reading views a bridgehead as the point of qi entry for a district, through which all traffic and activity must pass. A pilgrimage sanctuary placed at a bridgehead naturally greets everyone traveling into the city from the north.
Second, proximity to the river. The Saigon River flows just a short distance from the compound. In traditional geomancy, water retains qi, and land along a major river bend in southern Vietnam is regarded as a place of gathering. Because the ground here is flat and wide without hills to lean against, the river serves as the natural anchor in a lowland setting.
Third, a wide bright hall. The heart of the compound is an expansive, level courtyard with the Marian monument at its center. Classical geomancy calls the flat open space before a place of veneration the bright hall (minh đường) and regards a wide, well-lit bright hall as an auspicious feature. Here the bright hall does not merely channel qi toward a building, but serves as the very stage where the main devotions of the 13th take place.
Fourth, the number thirteen. Traditional Vietnamese geomancy has no special category for the number thirteen. Yet viewed from the outside, a sanctuary where crowds gather on a fixed day every month establishes its own recurring pulse, much like the full-moon and new-moon days at Buddhist temples and communal houses. The library notes this parallel as a point of comparison and leaves it there.
VThe rhythm of the thirteenth
Fatima Bình Triệu follows three layers of liturgical rhythm. The first is the 13th of every month, the regular monthly pilgrimage day. The second consists of the two great 13ths of the year, May 13 and October 13, commemorating the first and final apparitions at Fatima reported by the three shepherd children. The third is the parish calendar, centered on the patronal feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The table below lists dates only, without Mass times.
| Date | Occasion | What takes place |
|---|---|---|
| 13th of every month | Monthly pilgrimage day | Faithful from across the city come to pray the Rosary, light candles before the statue, walk the Way of the Cross, and attend Mass. This monthly rhythm sets the sanctuary apart from neighboring parish churches. |
| May 13 | Anniversary of the first apparition at Fatima | One of the two most crowded days of the year, with Công giáo và Dân tộc newspaper recording crowds of 15,000 to 20,000 people in peak years. |
| October 13 | Anniversary of the final apparition at Fatima | The second largest pilgrimage day of the year, and the anniversary of the 1970 inauguration of the Fatima chapel. |
| August 15 | Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary | Patronal feast of the parish since 1977, and the anniversary of the 1966 blessing of the Marian monument. |
| March 25 | Solemnity of the Annunciation and dedication anniversary | Anniversary of the 2017 dedication of the new church. |
| All of May and October | Month of Flowers and Month of the Rosary | The two Marian months of the liturgical year, when parish groups visit to offer flowers and pray the Rosary. |
Pilgrims arriving on the 13th follow a familiar sequence of devotions. They go first to the outdoor monument to light candles, pray a decade or chaplet of the Rosary, walk the Way of the Cross if time permits, and attend Mass. Many write down prayer intentions on slips of paper. On the most crowded days, Mass is celebrated outdoors in the plaza with worshippers spilling into the surrounding walkways. That rhythm repeats twelve times a year, and its steady repetition is what defines this sanctuary.
VILocation And How To Get There
- Address
- Số 58 đường số 5, phường Hiệp Bình (phường Hiệp Bình Chánh cũ, thành phố Thủ Đức cũ), Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh
- Getting there
- The sanctuary is located at 58 Street 5, Quarter 2, Hiệp Bình Ward, Ho Chi Minh City (prior to 2025, Hiệp Bình Chánh Ward, Thủ Đức City), right beside Bình Triệu Bridge on the northern bank of the Saigon River.
- Coordinates
- 10.829, 106.7104
As this is a place of prayer rather than a tourist attraction, the customs of a sacred site apply, including dressing modestly, removing hats when entering the church and chapel, and maintaining silence before the Marian monument. Place lit candles only in the designated candle stands. On the 13th of each month, the grounds are very crowded, so please move with the flow of pilgrims, avoid blocking the approach to the monument, and do not walk against the direction of prayer along the Way of the Cross.
Nearby places in the library
VIIContribute To This Page
Contribute photos, information or video for Our Lady of Fatima Shrine, Binh Trieu
Góp ảnh, thông tin hoặc video cho Trung tâm hành hương Đức Mẹ Fatima Bình TriệuEveryone is welcome to enrich this page: a photo you took, a detail the page misses, a short video. Every contribution is read and answered.
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?Quick Questions
Where is Fatima Bình Triệu Church located
It is located at 58 Street 5, Quarter 2, Hiệp Bình Ward, Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Hiệp Bình Chánh Ward, Thủ Đức City), right beside Bình Triệu Bridge. It serves both as the Our Lady of Fatima pilgrimage center of the Archdiocese of Saigon and as the parish church of Fatima Bình Triệu Parish, established in 1977.
Why do pilgrims visit Fatima Bình Triệu on the 13th of the month
Because according to the three shepherd children at Fatima, Portugal, the Virgin Mary appeared to them on the 13th day of the months from May to October 1917, beginning on May 13 and ending on October 13. The shrine at Bình Triệu keeps that rhythm by observing the 13th of every month as its pilgrimage day.
Is the story of the vehicle carrying the Fatima statue breaking down at Bình Triệu official
That is a popular account passed down among local faithful, who recount that in 1962, while the pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Fatima was touring Vietnam, the vehicle carrying it broke down near Bình Triệu Bridge. Công giáo và Dân tộc newspaper records only the arrival of the pilgrim statue in Vietnam in May 1962, and the Church has issued no official judgment on the story.
When was Fatima Bình Triệu built
The Marian monument was blessed on August 15, 1966, the Fatima chapel was inaugurated on October 13, 1970, and Christ the King Church was completed on January 6, 1973. The new church had its cornerstone laid on November 13, 2010 and was solemnly dedicated on March 25, 2017.
What are the largest pilgrimage days at Fatima Bình Triệu
The two largest days are May 13 and October 13, commemorating the first and final apparitions at Fatima. Công giáo và Dân tộc newspaper records that in some years those two days draw 15,000 to 20,000 pilgrims. In addition, the 13th of every month is observed as a regular pilgrimage day.