Vietnam, letter and photos from Uncle Bob
Nuns and coffee crop next door to the convent
Dear Friends,
Greetings again from Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
I hope that you and yours are all doing ok as we all race towards Christmas.
I thought it was that time to send some news about MSC Vietnam, busy as usual.
Parish council – Danh and deacon Quy Jr
Recently we had our first tsunami of the season: in MSC Viet talk it means that a crowd of MSC students have swept into my apartment, and several hours later have left, leaving cupboards and refrigerator bare: not quite true, of course, but close! It is a nice custom; Friday pm, short English class, mass, dinner, socialise.
Entry to Novitiate, English, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Hindi
We welcomed our 3 new deacons on 30th Oct…and what a gathering it was! Two days later I left for Manila to meet up with MSC Viet there and their formators in the scholasticate and novitiate, including Gene, the previous novice master, who is thankfully coming on staff here in Vietnam next year. After a few days there it was back to Vietnam, and refreshingly, no bribes were needed at the borders! But my next visa will require a trip to the dreaded Cambodia border!
Novitiate hermitage
On the Sunday that St Brigid’s Coogee celebrated its centenary, (really sorry I missed it) a bus load of us travelled 4-5 hours north to attend the funeral services for the father of Minh. There were many similarities with the Oz ceremonies but with local customs including: scheduled visits/prayers/ hymns by different groups to the house for viewing.
Mass Mass for Minh’s father in front of the family home
The MSC visited/prayed at 3.30 pm, then held a mass in the front yard at 8pm. The requiem mass, in a packed huge church, next morning was at 5am, prefaced by bells and drums from c.4.15am, then procession to the cemetery followed by multi course breakfast for many people. Meals at functions here are soooo generous, and when you have had enough, hot pot!
Prayer for Minh’s father
Later that morning, Danh and I headed further north to the fantastic hills covered in coffee trees, fruit, near Dalat, where we stayed with one of the new deacons and the PP (Thoi’s brother) and assistants…which meant I got to meet a good number of locals, including aboriginal/indigenous mountain folk at house blessing, masses, meals etc. Extraordinary experience… constant generosity and hospitality from all. Beautiful countryside and beautiful people.
Thoi’s brother and mother
Nov 24 is Vietnam Martyrs day…and it surprises most people that Christians first came here in the 1500s and up until c. 1890 there were at least 130,000 Vietnamese Catholics martyred for their faith. Today the country has many temples and many churches. A country of amazing variety.
The mountains and local food
Will leave you alone. Thanks for reading this! All the best to you and yours.
Danh Fishing
Spare us a prayer when you can. Take care and God bless. Uncle Bob (Irwin)
Uncle Bob is the one with the hat
