Celebration at Thanh Hoa - Part 2

Here we are walking across the street to the cathedral. There were lots of sisters attending from all over northern Vietnam.

Upon entering the cathedral grounds, you see in front of you a huge space for open-air masses. If you click on the image, you can see the altar way up at the top of the stairs.

This is a side view of the cathedra. It does not look that big on the outside, but looks are deceiving.

While waiting for the procession, people stood around, relaxing. These are some of the sisters who have been in vows for a long time. They wear black.

To the right of the cathedral is a statue of Mary. The tradition is not only for people to pray to Mary so that she will pray to God for us, but also to touch her feet then touch yourself. This is the first time I have seen this. Here, the woman on the right is touching Mary's feet and then touching the child's face.

There is a also a new statue of Divine Mercy. The slot at the bottom is for donations. There is copy of this same statue, but smaller, in the cathedral itself.

Underneath the stairs for the outside mass is a brand new chapel where the Eucharist can be adored any time of the day or night. It is quiet in there, even with the doors open. An added plus is that the kneelers are padded, something I have not seen in Vietnam.

Celebration at Thanh Hoa - Part 3

Then the procession began. Here is a video of the band. Every procession for each holy day has the local band play. After the band were the

Then came the sisters and the women elders of the parish. The beautiful traditional dresses they wear are called ao dai. Although you may think they are too much to wear in the hot and humid climate of Vietnam, they are, according to the women, cool and comfortable.

Next came final professed sisters, the ones who have dedicated their life to the Church and to helping others.

Then came the sisters who were going to profess their final vows, to become permanent sisters for life.

They were followed by the priests of the diocese. All the priests concelebrated the mass with the bishop.

At the end came Bishop Joseph from Phat Diem. Normally, the bishop of Thanh Hoa would have presided, but he was away in Rome.





Below is my one and only picture from my seat inside the cathedral. I'm afraid that sitting on the side gave me a poor view of the proceedings, but the music was wonderful and everyone enjoyed it.

Celebration at Thanh Hoa - Part 4

After the mass, we all went to the sister's convent for a huge party. All of the sisters professing final vows had their families there, and the food was extraordinary.

As you can see, the table was set with attention to detail. If you look closely you can see the huge mound of shrimp piled on a bed of ice. The napkins were exquisitely hand-embroidered as was the tablecloth. I would have to say that this meal in the States would cost us each at least $25. How I love being spoiled.

The three sisters who were celebrating 50 years as sisters visited our table. They word these huge leis that smelled wonderful even from far away. They toasted every at every table. Good thing they only had Coca-Cola to drink.

This is the fun bunch at Linh's table. Linh drove us, as usual. I had to go over quite a few times to quiet them down. You know those  sisters.

As we were leaving, one of the sisters decided to clown around with here 1930s hat, so I made her and her best friends pose for a picture. The whole day was like that...pretty crazy and full of wonder.

The Storm

I was taking my evening stroll and listening to a lecture on Plato (yeah, geeky teacher here) when I looked up. These clouds you see here were barely visible over the horizon only three minutes before I took the picture.

It was like Ghost Busters. Then the thunder came and distant lightning. Pretty scary stuff. And suddenly the temperature dropped from about 98 to 80 and the wind picked up, whipping those tall palm trees back and forth menacingly.

It was actually much darker than the pictures look. I went into my room to get the umbrella that Fr. Bo bought for me then went to the kitchen. Finally, about 20 minutes later, it all exploded in a torrential downpour that lasted about 15 minutes. It died in a whimper and then sprinkled lightly for about a half hour.

...And Building Up

There has been much demolition of old buildings and the building of three new big ones. On the right is the pilgrim center when people can stay when they visit the cathedral. The center is the new parish center, and on the left is going to be the rectory and parish office.

Here is a better view of the parish center (left) and pilgrim center. Notice the walkways on the outside to shield the rooms from the sun and collect the breezes Phat Diem is known for.

A closer view of the parish center. Those bamboo poles are where trees are going to be planted. And why the bamboo poles? They were used for building the traditional way, as scaffolding. Cheap and reliable (just don't tell OSHA).

Finally, a view from the parish center of the expanse of concrete that will be used for parking cars and tour buses. This parking lot will provide easy access to the cathedral grounds while keeping traffic manageable. Bishop Joseph assures me that the move in date will be before September. Oh, and they already have a spot where a soup kitchen for the poor will be built. With Catholics, it's always about the poor and vulnerable.

Tearing Down...

What startled me the most when I passed the cathedral in Phat Diem was all the new construction - or deconstruction! Where there were walls and fences, there was now open lawn.

You can see there is a feeling of openness and welcome to the grounds. This is the soccer field, now with the rocks gone and grass growing. No more parking for tour buses here.

The meditation garden with its stone path is now open to be seen. While the ground cover and grass is still  young, by the end of the summer it should all be a deep green.

The view of Mary's Garden from the Traditional House (the diocesan museum) affords an open view to the rear of the cathedral.

Looking from Mary's Garden to the Traditional House.

This is the main residence and offices. Before, there were no bonsai on large pedestals. The new, white concrete held two large ficus bushes, topiaries pruned like dragons facing each other. They are gone from there but have moved...

...to the entrance of the Traditional House. I don't know how in the world it was done. Each is made up of four ficus bushes. Also, the fence around the building has been taken down.

On the Way Again

So here I am with Danny at SFO  after he had driven me up 280 to the airport. It was a warm and dry day in California, the kind that we all enjoy. The check in was a surprise, because I asked for an aisle seat, and after a while the man did something great. I'll share it with you in a moment. Thanks again for the ride, Danny. See you soon.

This is the waiting area for my plane. I boarded China Airlines flight 003 from San Francisco to Taipei, Taiwan. The line ended up being very long (it was a 747), but it did not take long for all of us to get aboard.

When I got to my seat and sat down, this is what I saw. Yes, you can see that I had the best seat in the plane. It is the emergency row, right next to the big emergency door. So, really, I had almost 15 feet of legroom. I would say that's enough even for my long legs. (And it was next to the food so I got served first!)

This is what it looks like to the left of my seat. Lots of room, and there were no stowage compartments above me, so I could stand up right from my seat. I felt pampered.

After sleeping, eating two meals, changing planes in Taipei (sorry, I was too sleepy to take pics there), getting onboard Vietnam Airlines flight 579 and eating another meal, I arrived at No Bai International Airport in Ha Noi. Our plane didn't have a skyway, so we took a bus from the plane to the terminal. Here is a picture of another Vietnam Airlines plane that looked just like the one I took.

When I got to Ha Noi, I was greeted by five good friends: Linh, Huynh, Vinh, Binh, and Nam Vu. This is Vinh. He is an artist who is quite talented. This is a vase he made for my birthday last October. I had only seen a picture of it, and now that I see it in person, I can see how beautiful it is. Thank you so much, Vinh. I will treasure it.

And here we all are, having coffee and juice at the airport. From the left: Nam Vu, Vinh, Linh, Huynh, and Binh. Thank you all for welcoming me back for my eighth summer in Vietnam. I am happy to be here again.