Our Lady of La Salette and Saint Joseph Catholic Church
Parish Priest: Canon Michael Cooley
14 Melior Street, London SE1 3QP
020 7407 1948
e-mail: lasalette.melior@gmail.com
During much of the 18th century, the nation
of Vietnam was embattled in various struggles for power and domination.
The northern regions of the kingdom fell under the authority of the lords of
the Trinh family, while in the southern realm the Nguyen lords took power. As
the eighteenth century drew toward its close, both of their rules were shaken
and threatened by peasant uprisings and emerging rebel forces.
The strongest among the many
uprisings was led by the three brothers from Tay
Son. In short order, they overthrew the Nguyen lords and defeated the Trinh
lords to restore national unity for the first time since the decline of the
Le dynasty. A Tay
Son brother was enthroned to be King Quang Trung. In 1792 he passed away and
left the throne to his son who became King Canh Thinh.
Meanwhile, Nguyen Anh continued his
insurgency in trying to reclaim his throne. Earlier in his run from the Tay
Son rebels in 1777, he found refuge on Phu
Quoc
Island,
where Monsignor Pierre Pigneau de Behaine of the Society of Foreign Missions
directed a seminary for youths from neighbouring countries. The bishop
persuaded him to seek help from King Louis XVI of France.
King Canh Thinh knew that Nguyen Anh
received support from the French missionary and worried that the Vietnamese
Catholics would also endorse his reign. He began to restrict the practice of
Catholicism in the country. On August 17, 1798,
King Canh Thinh issued an anti-Catholic edict and an order to destroy all
Catholic churches and seminaries. A most grievous persecution of Vietnamese
Catholics and missionaries began and lasted until 1886. Even after Nguyen Anh
succeeded in reclaiming his throne as King Gia Long (1802-1820), his
successors, King Minh Mang (1820-1840), King Thieu Tri (1841-1847) and King
Tu Duc (1847-1884), the last Nguyen Emperor, continued the vehement campaign
against Catholics, ordering punishments that ranged from branding their faces
to death by various cruel methods for Vietnamese Catholics and missionary
priests.
It was amidst this great suffering
that the Lady of La Vang came to the people of Vietnam.
The name La Vang was believed to be originated in the name of the deep forest
in the central region of Vietnam
(now known as Quang
Tri
City)
where there was an abundance of a kind of trees named La Vang. It was also
said that its name came from the Vietnamese meaning of the word "Crying
Out" to denote the cries for help of people being persecuted.
The first apparition of the Lady of
La Vang was noted in 1798, when the persecution of Vietnamese Catholics
began. Many Catholics from the nearby town of Quang
Tri sought refuge in the deep forest
of La Vang.
A great number of these people suffered from the bitter cold weather, lurking
wild beasts, jungle sickness and starvation. At night, they often gathered in
small groups to say the rosary and to pray. Unexpectedly, one night they were
visited by an apparition of a beautiful Lady in a long cape, holding a child
in her arms, with two angels at her sides. The people recognized the Lady as
Our Blessed Mother.
Our Blessed Mother comforted them and
told them to boil the leaves from the surrounding trees to use as medicine.
She also told them that from that day on, all those who came to this place to
pray would get their prayers heard and answered. This took place on the grass
area near the big ancient banyan tree where the refugees were praying. All
those who were present witnessed this miracle. After this first apparition,
the Blessed Mother continued to appear to the people in this same place many
times throughout the period of nearly one hundred years of religious
persecution. Among many groups of Vietnamese Catholics that were burnt alive
because of their faith was a group of 30 people who were seized after they
came out of their hiding place in the forest
of La Vang.
At their request, they were taken back to the little chapel of La Vang and
were immolated there on its ground.
From the time the Lady of La Vang first
appeared, the people who took refuge there erected a small and desolate
chapel in her honour. During the following years, her name was spread among
the people in the region to other places. Despite its isolated location in
the high mountains, groups of people continued to find ways to penetrate the
deep and dangerous jungle to pray to the Lady of La Vang. Gradually, the
pilgrims that came with axes, spears, canes, and drums to scare away wild
animals were replaced by those holding flying flags, flowers and rosaries.
The pilgrimages went on every year despite the continuous persecution
campaigns.
In 1886, after the persecution had
officially ended, Bishop Gaspar ordered a church to be built in honour of the
Lady of La Vang. Because of its precarious location and limited funding, it
took 15 years for the completion of the church
of La Vang.
It was inaugurated by Bishop Gaspar in a solemn ceremony that participated by
over 12,000 people and lasted from August 6th to 8th, 1901. The bishop
proclaimed the Lady of La Vang as the Protectorate of the Catholics. In 1928,
a larger church was built to accommodate the increasing number of pilgrims.
This church was destroyed in the summer of 1972 during the Vietnam war.
The history of the Lady of La Vang
continues to gain greater significance as more claims from people whose
prayers were answered were validated. In April of 1961, the Council of
Vietnamese Bishops selected the holy church
of La Vang
as the National Sacred Marian Centre. In August of 1962, Pope John XXIII elevated
the church
of La Vang
to The Basilica of La Vang. On June 19, 1988, Pope John Paul II in the
canonizing ceremony of the 117 Vietnamese martyrs, publicly and repeatedly
recognized the importance and significance of the Lady of La Vang and
expressed a desire for the rebuilding of the La Vang Basilica to commemorate
the 200th anniversary of the first apparition of the Lady of La Vang in
August of 1998.
Text provided courtesy of Kim-Oanh
Nguyen-Lam
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To Archbishop Etienne Nguyen Nhu The of Hue, Viet Nam
1. On the occasion of the
closure of the Marian Year and the 25th three-yearly pilgrimage to the Shrine
of Our Lady of La Vang, I join through prayer the Vietnamese faithful and
pilgrims who have entrusted themselves to the motherly intercession of the
Virgin Mary, asking this most holy Mother to guide the Catholic Church in
Viet Nam on her journey to the Lord, and to help her in the witness she must
bear on the threshold of the third millennium.
"For 2,000 years, the Church has
been the cradle in which Mary places Jesus and entrusts him to the adoration
and contemplation of all peoples" (Bull of Induction of the Great
Jubilee of the Year 2000, Incarnationis mysterium, n. 11), who never tire of
calling upon the Mother of all mercy. People always find shelter and courage
under her protection. In fact, Mary "shines forth on earth ... a sign of
certain hope and comfort to the pilgrim People of God" (Lumen gentium,
n. 68) in the midst of the difficulties of this world. She is the mother of
the pilgrim
Church
to which she continues to give birth, constantly inviting people to accept
God’s promise as she did and, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to be Gospel
missionaries.
2. By enrolling in her
school, especially on the threshold of the Great Jubilee, when they will be
called to an ever deeper conversion, the faithful will assert their faith, be
more attentive to the Word of God and will be available for their brothers
and sisters. For all Christ’s disciples, Mary is the model par excellence of
Christian life. She prepares our hearts to receive Christ, instructing us,
just as she did the servants at the wedding at Cana,
to do whatever he tells us (cf. Jn 2:5). She invites us to reach out to those
who need our help, as she herself did with her cousin Elizabeth (cf. Lk 1:39-45).
Thus from our beloved Mother we receive a "taste" of the encounter
with God and the mission among our brethren, which are the two aspects of
Christian love.
When we turn to Mary our hope is
revived. Indeed, she is a part of our humanity, and in her we contemplate the
glory God promises to those who respond to his call. I therefore invite the
faithful to put their trust in our common Mother, often invoked under the
title Star of the Sea, so that, amid the storms of sin and the sometimes
painful events of history, they will remain firmly anchored to Christ and
bear witness to his love. "Following her, you will never lose your way;
imploring her, you will never know despair; thinking of her, you will avoid
all errors. With her support, you will not fall; with her protection, you
will have nothing to fear; under her guidance, you will never be tired;
thanks to her favour, you will reach the goal" (St Bernard, Second
Homily on the Gospel passage: "The Angel Gabriel was sent").
3. In going to the Shrine
of Our Lady of La Vang, so dear to the hearts of the Vietnamese faithful,
pilgrims entrust to her their joys and their sorrows, their hopes and their
sufferings. In this way they turn to God and make themselves intercessors for
their families and for their entire people asking the Lord to instil
sentiments of peace, brotherhood and solidarity in the hearts of all men and
women, so that all the Vietnamese will be every day more closely united, in
order to build a world in which it is pleasant to live, based on the
essential spiritual and moral values and where each person can be recognized
in his dignity as a child of God, and turn freely and with filial love to his
Father in heaven who is "rich in mercy" (Eph 2:4).
4. I am particularly close
to you in my thoughts at this time when the Church in your country is
honouring the Mother of the Saviour; I entrust you to the intercession of Our
Lady of La Vang and cordially impart to you and all your pastors an
affectionate Apostolic Blessing, which I extend to the pilgrims who will
visit the shrine in the spirit of the Jubilee and to all the Catholic
faithful in Viet Nam.
From the Vatican,
16
July 1999
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MARY, OUR MOTHER, HAIL, FULL OF GRACE
From all
eternity, together with the Incarnation of the divine Word, the Blessed
Virgin was predestined to be the Mother of God. By the will of divine Providence, she was the loving
mother of the divine Redeemer here on earth, and above all others in a unique
way she was the willing partner and the humble handmaid of the Lord. She
conceived, brought forth and nourished Christ. She presented Him to the
Father in the temple, and shared the suffering of His Son as He died on the
cross. In an utterly singular way she co-operated by her obedience, faith,
hope and burning charity in the Saviour’s work of restoring supernatural life
to souls. For this reason she is a mother to us in the order of grace.
This
motherhood of Mary in the order of grace began with the consent which she
gave in faith at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering
beneath the cross; it will last without interruption until the eternal
fulfilment of all the elect. Once assumed into heaven, she did not set aside
this saving role, but with her numerous prayers of intercession continues to
win for us the gifts of eternal salvation.
By
her maternal charity, Mary cares for the brethren of her Son who still wander
through this world in the midst of dangers and difficulties until they are
led to the happiness of their heavenly home.
The Second Vatican Council
The Constitution on the Church
O Mary,
Star of the Sea, light of every ocean, guide seafarers across all dark and
stormy seas that they may reach the haven of peace and light prepared in Him
who calmed the sea.
As
we set forth upon the oceans of the world and cross the deserts of our time,
show us, O Mary, the fruit of your womb, for without your Son we are lost.
Pray
that we will never fail on life's journey, that in heart and mind, in word
and deed, in days of turmoil and in days of calm, we will always look to
Christ and say, "Who is this that even wind and sea obey him?"
Bright Star of the Sea, guide us!
Pope John Paul II
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The Virgin Mary as ‘Mother of Refugees’ is being honoured in new
Knights of Columbus
prayer program
By Tim S. Hickey (Knights of Columbus:
COLUMBIA,
May 2005)
In the Lenten meditations he prepared for
Pope John Paul II and Vatican officials in 2000, the late Vietnamese Cardinal Francis
Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan described the Blessed Virgin Mary as the “Mother of
unity who embraces all of her children dispersed throughout the world.”
The Mother of Jesus, he said,
“reveals the Marian profile of the Church, a family Church, a fraternal
Church that is welcoming and solidly united. With Mary, we feel as brothers
and sisters among ourselves.”
On Feb. 11, the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes,
the Marian profile of the Church and of the Knights of Columbus
was especially evident at Holy Martyrs of Vietnam
Parish in Arlington,
Va.
More than 700 parishioners and members of Holy Martyrs of Vietnam
Council 9655 helped launch a new program honouring Mary under her title Our
Lady of Bai Dau.
The centrepiece of the program is a
2-foot-tall statue of Our Lady of Bai Dau. It was welcomed to the parish by
Bishop Paul S. Loverde of Arlington,
a member of Cathedral Council 6790 in Arlington.
Through the remainder of 2005 and into 2006, the statue will make a pilgrimage
to several U.S.
and Canadian jurisdictions where a Marian prayer service will be led by local
Knights and Vietnamese Catholics. A Mass and Marian program in the spring of
2006 in Washington,
D.C.,
will officially conclude the pilgrimage program.
MOTHER OF REFUGEES
Our Lady of Bai Dau has special
meaning to many Vietnamese Catholics. In the coastal city of Vung
Tau, near Sai
Gon
City,
there is a shrine dedicated to her. The shrine features a 65-foot-tall statue
of Mary holding aloft the Infant Jesus, as if she is presenting him to the
world. After the fall of Saigon to the Communists in 1975, as tens of
thousands of Vietnamese fled their homeland by boat from Vung Tau, the statue
of Our Lady of Bai Dau was the last image many of them had of their homeland.
She is honoured as “Mother of Refugees.”
The statue being used in the
pilgrimage was given to District of Columbia Knights by the bishops of Vietnam
following a November 2003 visit to Washington,
where they were special guests at the fall meeting of the U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops. State Deputy Charles H. Gallina, a retired U.S.
Marine colonel who served four tours in Vietnam,
met with the bishops and arranged for transportation and hospitality during
their stay. At the end of their visit, Bishop Paul Nguyen Van Hoa, president
of the Vietnamese bishops’ conference, presented the Knights with the statue
as a show of gratitude.
The D.C. Knights presented the statue
to Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson earlier this year for the Knights of Columbus
Museum
in New Haven.
At the conclusion of the pilgrimage, the statue will again be displayed in
the museum.
YEAR OF THE EUCHARIST REFLECTION
Prior to the Feb. 11 Mass, the statue
of Our Lady of Bai Dau was placed on a flowered platform and carried aloft by
Knights around the parish grounds. A 14-member Fourth Degree honour guard led
the procession behind a Knight beating a small Asian hand drum. The Dominican
priests who staff Holy Martyrs of Vietnam
Parish led the faithful in prayers and songs to Mary. Also taking part was
Supreme Treasurer Deacon Kenneth N. Ryan.
Dominican Father John Baptist Vuong
Duc Nguyen, pastor, helped write the prayer book and develop the program.
Auxiliary Bishop Dominic Mai Luong of the Diocese of Orange
in California
has also contributed to the program’s development. Bishop Luong is the first
bishop of Vietnamese descent in the U.S.
Church.
In a message printed in Vietnamese in
the booklet, Bishop Luong thanked the Knights for spearheading this program.
“The Holy Martyrs of Vietnam
Church
in Arlington
is doing us a favour by inviting Our Lady of Bai Dau to the various
Vietnamese Catholic communities around the country,” he wrote. “May Jesus,
through the intercession of Our Lady, grant many blessings to all who
participate in this pilgrimage to honour our Lord and Our Lady of Bai Dau.”
In his homily, Bishop Loverde said
Our Lady of Bai Dau shows Mary as the “Mother of God, presenting Jesus to the
world.” Her role “is to give us the greatest gift that God the Father could
give us: his own Son to be our saviour.”
During the Year of the Eucharist now
under way, Bishop Loverde said, we should listen closely to the words Mary
spoke at the wedding feast of Cana when she instructed the wine stewards to
follow Jesus’ lead and “Do whatever he tells you” (cf. John 2:1-12).
“We rejoice that we can listen to our
mother’s advice and we pledge that we will truly listen and do what he tells
us. He tells us to be united to him in the Eucharist. He tells us to believe
in the Good News of the Gospel of salvation. He tells us to go forth in the
real world and be his presence for a Church renewed,” Bishop Loverde said.
As the Our Lady of Bai Dau pilgrimage
begins, he said, it is an opportunity for the faithful to walk with Mary on
their way to heaven. “One day, at our journey’s end, we will see not a statue
of Mary holding out Jesus to us. We will see Mary herself pointing out to us
Jesus, our saviour.”
A MARIAN MISSION
Le N. Nguyen, financial secretary of
Council 9655, is helping coordinate the Our Lady of Bai Dau pilgrimage. He
said that the inaugural Mass and prayer service was a “moving moment” for the
Knights and families of the Holy Martyrs of Vietnam
community.
“Our mission has just begun,” said
Nguyen. “We want to glorify our beloved mother, Our Lady of Bai Dau.”
Nguyen said he believed the
pilgrimage program “is a great way to introduce the Knights of Columbus
to other Vietnamese Catholics in the United
States,
Canada
and in Vietnam.”
News about the pilgrimage is being featured on at least two Vietnamese
Catholic Web sites.
State Deputy Gallina agreed. “From my
experience the Vietnamese are a very spiritual people. The Knights of Columbus
can offer these men an opportunity to express further their Catholic faith,
and Our Lady of Bai Dau can help us.
“For me personally, as a Vietnam
veteran, I have a very special love and respect for the Vietnamese people. It
is important for me to do anything I can do through the Knights to help
foster and spread the Catholic faith and the Order through the rosary and prayer.”
MESSENGER OF HOPE AND FREEDOM
Thu Bui, one of the founding members
of Holy Martyrs of Vietnam Council, said he and his wife had recently visited
Vietnam
and paid their respects to Mary at the Our Lady of Bai Dau Shrine in Vung
Tau. “It is an honour to welcome her over here,” he said.
“As many of us were leaving our
homeland, fleeing the Communists in our leaky boats, she was on the hill
looking out for us,” said Bui.
“All immigrants, all boat people,
anyone escaping repression can find hope and freedom in Our Lady of Bai Dau.
She is the hope for the whole world.”
Tim S. Hickey is editor of Columbia
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The 117 Martyrs of Vietnam (+1745-1862)
- Andrea Dung-Lac
- Tommaso Thien and Emanuele Phung
- Girolamo Hermosilla
- Valentino Berrio Ochoa, O.P. and 6 Bishops
- Teofano Venard and 105 companions (+1745-1862)
19 JUNE 1988, Saint Peter's Square by Pope John Paul II
Hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church
The College of Cardinals meets in a conclave
to elect the new pope. The cardinals,
appointed by the previous popes, serve as the pope's principal counsellors.
Pope: Elected by College of Cardinals.
Cardinal: Chosen by pope, usually from among the
bishops.
Archbishop: Highest-ranking bishop, heads
archdiocese or province.
Bishop: Heads diocese (territory that
includes a large number of parishes).
Monsignor: An honorary title.
Pastor: Head of a community parish: administers
sacraments, preaches, blesses, and guides the faithful.
Deacon: Parish cleric.
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Cardinal
Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man, Archbishop of Sai Gon City (Viet Nam), was born in 1934
in Hoa Thanh, Ca Mau, Vietnam. He was ordained a
priest on 25 May 1965.
Following
ordination, Cardinal Pham Minh Man was a teacher at the Minor Seminary of
Beato Quy in Cai Rang (Can Tho). In 1975, due to the radical change of
political system in South Vietnam, the Church underwent persecution
and the seminaries were closed or confiscated by the State. During this
period, Cardinal Pham Minh Man was made responsible for the formation of
priests. In 1988, when six major seminaries in Vietnam were again opened, he was appointed
as rector of the Seminary of Santo Quy in Cai Rang, and had to face numerous
difficulties, including a lack of professors.
On
22 March 1993 he was nominated Coadjutor Bishop of
the Diocese of My Tho with the right of succession, and was ordained on 11
August. On 1 March 1998 he was nominated Archbishop of Ho Chi Minh City.
Created
and proclaimed Cardinal by John Paul II in the consistory of 21
October 2003, of the Title of St. Justin.
Cardinal
Paul Joseph Pham Dinh Tung, Archbishop emeritus of Ha Noi (Viet Nam), was born on 15
June 1919
in Binh-Hoa, in the Diocese of Phat Diem. Ordained to the priesthood on 6
June 1949,
he was named Bishop of Bac Ninh on 5 April 1963 and received his Episcopal
ordination on 15 August that year.
He
was called to assume the role of Apostolic Administrator of Ha Noi on 18
June 1990,
after the death of Cardinal Joseph Trinh Van Can on 18 May. On 23
March 1994, he was appointed Archbishop of Ha Noi.
He
formed councils of lay people in the parishes, their number varying according
to the importance of the parishes, to be responsible for the continuation of
religious life in the local communities and provide a three-year marriage
course for the young people.
Another
initiative promoted by the former Bishop Pham Dinh Tung was the foundation of
a secular institute for boys and girls for the purpose of training them as
catechists. The initiative has had excellent results and these young
catechists, travelling all over the country guaranteeing catechetical courses
everywhere, especially to children.
The
results of this work of evangelization were demonstrated in a Jubilee Year
proclaimed to mark the centenary of Bac Ninh Cathedral's foundation. The
celebrations began on 8 December 1992 and ended exactly a year later. It
was recorded that more than 30 thousand faithful visited the mother church of
the Diocese.
In
1990, John Paul II promoted the Bishop to Ha Noi, first as Apostolic
Administrator and subsequently on 23 March 1994 as Archbishop.
Created
and proclaimed Cardinal by Pope John Paul II in the Consistory of 26
November 1994, of the Title of St. Mary Queen of Peace in Ostia.
 
Weeping Virgin Mary is
hailed as miracle
Red stains
are seen running from the left eye of a statue of the Virgin Mary at the
Vietnamese Catholic Martyrs Church in Sacramento, California.
According
to Anthony Nguyen, a deacon at the church, the stains first appeared more
than a week ago, but they were wiped away. The stains reappeared a week
later. Visitors have been flocking to the church to see what many are calling
a miracle.
Initially,
priests at the church thought that the red stain down the face of the statue
was just a prank, but once they washed the 'tears' away more returned the
following weekend. - The Universe newspaper, Sunday
December 11, 2005.
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It doesn't matter where you go
in life? What you Do for a living? Or how Much money you have?
It's who
you Have Beside you
... It counts! Joseph Vu
Maria & Joseph Vu
They were married at Bac Thanh Catholic Church, Nha Trang city
on Sat 20th September 2008.
Please pray that God would always be with them with His support, guidance and
blessing.
Nothing is more precious than a ...
true friend. Anon
Love, laughter and friends ... are
always welcome here!
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Archbishop Francis
Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan received his Cardinal hat from the Holy Father, Pope John
Paul II in Rome on 21st February 2001.
By the late Vietnamese Cardinal Francis
Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan
1928 - 2002
1.
I
will live the present moment to the fullest.
2.
I
will discern between God and God's works.
3.
I
will hold firmly to one secret: prayer.
4.
I
will see in the Holy Eucharist my only power.
5.
I
will have only one wisdom: the science of the Cross.
6.
I
will remain faithful to my mission in the Church and for the Church as a
witness of Jesus Christ.
7.
I
will seek the peace the world cannot give.
8.
I
will carry out a revolution by renewal in the Holy Spirit.
9.
I
will speak one language and wear one uniform: Charity.
10. I will have one very special love:
The Blessed Virgin Mary.
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