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.
Here is Nam Vu working his keyboard. Now entering 8th grade, he is quite the conversationalist. It's hard to believe that I have kn...