Carmelite nuns attend the celebration of the 25th anniversary of their return to their monastery in Hue on March. 19. (Photo: UCA News)
Posted on 03/24/2021 6:19:17 PM PDT by marshmallow
Nuns kick of jubilee year to mark 25th anniversary on feast day of St. Joseph
Carmelite nuns attend the celebration of the 25th anniversary of their return to their monastery in Hue on March. 19. (Photo: UCA News)
Carmelite nuns in central Vietnam have begun a jubilee year to mark their return to a monastery confiscated by the country’s communist government.
Archbishop Joseph Nguyen Chi Linh of Hue celebrated a special Mass on March 19 — the feast of St Joseph — to begin the year-long jubilee to mark the 25th anniversary of their return to their old monastery in the former Vietnamese capital of Hue.
The celebration was attended by 50 priests and 300 Catholics.
St Joseph secretly and quietly supports and walks with Carmelites, especially in hard times, Archbishop Linh told the gathering.
When Vietnam was reunified under communist rule in 1975, Carmelites were among many people who endured intense psychological and physical suffering.
The prelate said Carmelites in Nha Trang hung pieces of paper with their prayers written on them around the neck of a statue of St Joseph and prayed to him when they lacked food.
Early in 1975, Carmelites in Hue moved to Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) to escape the hard times the aftermath of the war brought, which saw soldiers taking over their monastery.
The government later gave it to the Daughters of Mary of the Immaculate Conception before it was returned to the Carmelites in1996.
During the celebration, Archbishop Linh, who is also president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Vietnam, blessed a newly-built bell tower, a two-meter high statue of St Joseph and many wooden crosses.
Sister Mary Ange de Jesus Hostie Nguyen Thi Nhan, 83, former superior of the monastery, said they always pray to St. Joseph........
(Excerpt) Read more at ucanews.com ...
We are now more like Vietname circa late 1970s, than Vietnam is now.
UCA news needs a proofreader.
Only Officials refer to it as Ho Chi Minh City. To locals it’s still Saigon.
CC
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.