In 1975, Francis Xavier Cardinal Nguyên Van Thuán was arrested by the Communist government of Viet Nam and imprisoned for thirteen years, nine of them in solitary confinement. He was finally exiled from Viet Nam in 1991. This is an excerpt from one of his books, Five Loaves and Two Fish (from pgs 35-37). Tomorrow will feature another excerpt from the same book...
"When I was arrested, I had to leave immediately, with empty hands. The next day I was allowed to request in writing the things I needed most: clothes, toothpaste.... I wrote... Please, could you send me a bit of medicine for my bad stomach? The faithful understood what I meant and they sent a little bottle of wine for Mass, which they labeled 'stomach medicine,' as well as some hosts sealed in a flashlight to protect them from the humidity....
I will never be able to express my immense joy; every day, with three drops of wine and one drop of water in the palm of my hand, I celebrated Mass. ...
It depended on the situation... On the boat that brought us north, I celebrated at night with the prisoners who received communion around me. At times I had to celebrate while every one was bathing after calisthenics. In the re-education camp, the prisoners were divided into groups of fifty; we slept on common beds and everyone had the right to fifty centimeters of space. We arranged it so there were five Catholics near me. At 9:30 PM the lights were turned off and everyone had to sleep. I curled up on the bed to celebrate Mass, from memory, and I distributed communion by reaching under the mosquito netting covering us. We made small containers from cigarette packages in which to reserve the Blessed Sacrament. Jesus in the Eucharist was always with me in my shirt pocket."
Francis Xavier Cardinal Nguyên Van Thuán,
Five Loaves and Two Fish
I RECENTLY FOUND THIS BOOK IN A HALF-PRICED USED BOOKSTORE FOR $2.00 AND I MUST SAY IT WAS WORTH SO MUCH MORE. I AM SO GLAD THAT I CAME ACROSS THIS "GEM." I FIRST LEARNED ABOUT THE CARDINAL FROM A PROGRAM I SAW ON EWTN.
ReplyDeleteWHAT FAITH HE HAD. IF I ONLY HAD JUST A DROP OF HIS FAITH, I FEEL AS THO I AM AT THE PRE-SCHOOL LEVEL OF MY SPIRITUAL JOURNEY! THANK YOU JANETTE FOR THIS BEAUTIFUL AND MOVING STORY, I LOOK FORWARD TO ITS CONTINUATION. HAVE A NICE DAY! JOHN K.
What a beautiful witness of incredible faith and love of God. Amazing. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteJohn: Yes, stay tuned for tomorrow's tidbit from Cardinal Van Thuan - we all have much to learn regarding increasing our Faith. HOWEVER: I would say YOUR FAITH, John, is most definitely more than a 'drop'!!!
ReplyDeleteBarbara: It warms my heart knowing you stop by this Blog - considering the incredibly full life you lead - my, oh my! If anyone stops here to read comments - and would consider taking this sound advice --- PLEASE VISIT BARBARA'S blog (one of them) regarding ROSARIES - they are hand-made, made-to-order and exquisite - and about 1/2 the price they should be! Thank you for this holy work of beauty and prayer, Barbara!http://prayerfulbeads.blogspot.com/