God Bestows His Saving Grace upon a Very Unworthy man: Deacon An Thanh Vu
Oh My Heavenly Father,
My loved ones always remind me to write down the story of my life. Now I am over 70 years old, so in obedience I write this booklet.
I am only a sinful man. I write this autobiography not because I want to be famous. I only want to show my appreciation to our Lord for all the graces that He bestows on me.
As you already know, from the day I was baptized on March 21, 1981 I wanted to stop all my activities in the secular world and serve You only. After I was ordained on November 23, 2002, I only wanted to do ministry in the parish and fulfill my duties in the family, to stop going to musical shows. But to follow your call to serve the poor, I have come back to the world, to be the witness of your love. For only in the world might I have the opportunity to ask people to support the Rice for the Elderly Poor Program.
Looking back over 70 years of my life, I know how much You love me. I want to write here the big events of my life for everybody to know that You not only want to save humanity but also redeem each and every one of us. You have saved me from the bottom of the suffering abyss of the Communist prison, transformed me from a half- dead person in 1981 to a healthy person in 2013, and You love and support everyone of us as well.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere appreciation to all who have supported me throughout my life; from childhood until now; my parents, my family, my friends, and my benefactors. Without your support, I could not have survived the bloody war, the imprisonment and gradually to be in the service of the Church in the great free world. I cannot mention all your names here because there are so many. I keep in my heart all the good things you have done for me; from the prayers, the kind words, the consolations, the encouragement, a cup of water when I thirst, and a bowl of rice when I was hungry. I am sure that God will reward you abundantly; because through your collaboration He has bestowed on me his saving grace. I pray to God that He will always embrace you in His loving arms. I also pray for all who in some way have harmed me, even those who wanted me to die. Through all these hardships I know the power of God’s Providence. If someday God lets me into heaven I will always pray for you; I will even beg for his permission to come back to help all who are in need. With my simple English I humbly write all the details of my story that I can remember; perhaps not in accordance with time. I will add on afterward.
My Younger Years
I was born in 1943 at Quan Phuong Trung Village, Hai Hau District, Nam Dinh Province in Vietnam. Because of the war, my original birth certificate was been destroyed. My father chose the date April 20, 1943 to be my birthday for civil documents. Now I use the date when I was baptized to celebrate my birthday.
I have heard that four days after giving birth to me, my mother had to carry me to a safe place because of the war. In my memory now, I only remember some places where my father served as a soldier. He was a sergeant of the National Army of the Republic of Vietnam. I went to an elementary school in Hanh Thien Village, Bui Chu Province, and then to another school in Nam Dinh Province. In 1953 when we were in Nam Dinh, my mother died after giving birth to Dung my younger sister, who died also after a few months. When Vietnam was divided into two parts (North and South) in 1954, my father was in Dalat, South Vietnam, attending Officer Academy. I was in the North and had to return to the countryside to live with my grandmother.
My family went back to our native village on a small wooden boat in the middle of the night. It was very cold. I carried in one hand my bag of clothes, and in the other I carried my mandolin which was a gift from my father. Suddenly I fell into the cold water. Another fretful memory, in a youth gathering in the neighborhood, there was a little girl about 7 or 8 years old who stood right next to a banana tree, under the shade of the banana leaf. I tried to cut this leaf with my big knife, and the knife cut through the leaf and fell on the head of that girl. I didn’t think that the knife was so sharp but seeing the blood on her forehead I was terrified. Fortunately my friend was OK. The next day my stepmother brought my older sister, Vu Thi Kim Lien, my younger sister Vu Thi Nhu Lan and me to Hai Phong City then to the South to my father. That was the start of the bloody war between North and South. We thought that we would never be able to go back to our native village in North Vietnam. But in 2005, from the US, I had the opportunity to go back to the country and say my apologies to Mrs. Lan the former little friend whose head I had accidentally cut!
When we went to Saigon, South Vietnam, my father took care of us lovingly. To avoid the conflict between us and our stepmother, our father let us live by ourselves in a different house. That was why my teenage years were somewhat careless. At first I tried to be diligent. At that time, influenced by the French education system, we had to pass an interview in every examination from elementary school to high school. I was not so smart, but I passed all of these examinations from the fifth grade to the middle school diploma (9th grade) in 1958. To reward me, father gave me a French-style VeloSolex motor-cycle. Besides that I had 100 piatres as allowance. I used 50 of that to go to a live music show at Anh Vu Restaurant. The show featured many famous singers at that time such as Thanh Thuy, Tuy Phuong and Minh Hieu. From that time, I started to compose songs. I had a classmate named Nguyen Dieu who boasted to me that he composed a very well-known song that had been published on CD’s and sheet. I remember that song lyrics: “We depart, going different ways to the front battle field…”
I told myself that if Nguyen Dieu could do it, then I can, too. I started composing songs and writing poems. In 1960, while attending the eleventh grade at Nguyen Trai High School in Saigon, I submitted one of my songs to Chung Quan, my music teacher and well-known song-writer. He wrote the song “My Village”, which is very famous among the Vietnamese community upto this day and perhaps forever! Mr. Chung Quan denigrated my work. He seemed to ridicule my dream. Not discouraged, I continued with my composing. My friend entrusted me with organizing the art activities in the class like wall bulletins, musical performances in school, etc. Some of my classmates have become very famous, like the poet Du Tu Le.
My First Love: Le Phi Uyen
Because of these musical activities, I met Le Phi Uyen, and she became my great angel. (She gave me the prayer Hail Mary, which changed my life 17 years later. Le Phi Uyen also loved music; she was the violin student of musician Tuan Khanh (another famous musician). I can say that I deeply adored Uyen. She was quite an ideal girl: tall, slim, with long hair. She always wore white or black ao dai (long robe). Her long hair covers half of her face, while she drives a VeloSolex in an elegant manner. I still cannot understand why she agreed to be my girlfriend (it was a very innocent young love). I was only a childish 17 year old boy, attending Grade 11 in high school, while she was already in the second year of pharmacy at university!
Once we talked about living together in the future but completely in continence. Perhaps she likes to follow the example of Our Lady. I told my close friend Mr. Pham Huy Trung, about this. He laughed at me, saying, “Are you are kidding me?”.
At that time, graduating from high school was very difficult. I knew someone who had failed five times! On average, only one in ten students passes the examination. In 1960, of course, I failed the exam as I did not study diligently. Because I failed, I could not attend public school anymore and I had to enroll in a private high school. My father did not allow us to live by ourselves anymore, so we had to live with my step-mother and our step-brothers and sisters.
I was ashamed because I failed the exam and, must stay in eleventh grade while Uyen advanced a step higher and became a third year student of the university, I was five classes under her! Under pressure from her family, especially her older brother, we had to go our separate ways.
My Love for Nguyen Thi Quynh
I enrolled in eleventh grade at Hung Dao High School with the firm resolution that I would pass the examination at the end of the school year. As I wished, I passed the examination and advanced to twelfth grade. I continued with my musical dream of writing songs while studying at Hung Dao High School.
When I was in twelfth grade, I started dating Nguyen Thi Quynh, who was in eleventh grade. Quynh’s family has a big bookstore named Phúc Thành on Le Loi Blvd.
After the November 1, 1963 coup d’etat which overthrew the first president of the Republic of South Vietnam, I visited Quynh on my bicycle. There were some men on motorcycles outside of her residence. They were the bodyguards of General Nguyen Cao Ky who would later become the Prime Minister of South Vietnam. He was there to visit Quynh’s cousin, Ms Tuyet Mai, a flight attendant with Air Vietnam. General Ky was courting Ms. Tuyet Mai, who would later become the First Lady of South Vietnam, while I was dating Quynh. I met with Ms. Tuyet Mai frequently while she was staying with Quynh’s family. She was the one who taught how to dance. I have no idea how people came up with the rumor that I had a relationship with Ms Tuyet Mai.
Quynh and I stopped dating when a close friend of mine, Mr. Pham Huy Trung told Quynh, “An has an acquaintance with another girl”. That was the time I had met Le Thi Dung. My relationship with Quynh, when we were in high school, was a very innocent one. So that, years later, when we met, we still have good friendly relation.
My Love for Le Thi Dung: The First Song Of Love
When the coup d’etat overthrowing President Ngo Dinh Diem happened in 1963, I had just graduated from high school. The college students were so excited with the new regime that I got into the activities of the Saigon University Students Association. I knew some very famous students like Le Hưu Bôi and Lê Đình Điểu. I met Le Thi Dung when we went to a radio station to broadcast the Student Radio Program. I was attracted to her; it was like a “coup de foudre.” She became my ardent love for years. She was Vice Secretary General of the Vietnamese Girl Scout Association. (Gradually she advanced to become the president of this association under the regime of the President Nguyen Van Thiệu.) Dung was not so beautiful, but what attracted me was that she was very smart. She was an excellent second-year law student. She graduated first in her class with a bachelor’s degree the following year. At the same time, she took good care of her family’s business. Her family had a sewing factory. I was only a twenty year old freshman. I could not imagine why Dung fell in love with me. It seemed like I was floating when she took my hand in the university courtyard one spring evening. She invited me to her home and one unavoidable thing happened. Her family did not accept me! Of course, it is understandable, since I was so young and had no future. At first Dung resisted her family’s orders and continued dating me. Dung knew that I had the talent for composing songs, and she asked me to write our very own love song. On my way home from the seaside city of Vung Tau one late afternoon , seeing the last sun rays above the trees, I had a melody in my soul. I wrote the lyrics down: “ The song I promised for you is now still unfinished….” I sang it to my friend, Nguyen Dinh Toan, the next day at Saigon Radio Station. He belittled my work and told me to let him write the lyrics. The next day after Toan gave back to me the completed song, we titled it, “The First Song of Love.” Toan had a girlfriend named Phuong in Danang City. He sang this song as a present to his girlfriend, as I did for Dung.
The Musical Radio Show: Nhac Chu De
Nguyen Dinh Toan sang this song for the first time on the radio and people enjoyed it very much. We became famous overnight! Nguyen Dinh Toan told me to ask for a musical program on the radio. My request was granted and we named the program “Nhac Chu De” (The Main Topic Music). I was named head of the group. The program started mid year of 1965, and we got many listeners. The program became very successful thanks to the narrations and voice of Nguyen Dinh Toan. We could say that Nguyen Dinh Toan was the soul of the musical program. On each program, we introduced an author, a singer and talked about the weather and a lot more topics. After the program was running very smoothly for more than a year, Toan suddenly resigned and I had to continue alone. A few months later, in July 1967, I was drafted in the 25th Session of Reserved Officer Training in Thu Duc, and the musical program Nhac Chu De stopped.
I thought that Dung would fulfill her promise to be with me until the end. But it was quite the opposite in reality. Dung gradually began to avoid me and did not show up in our dates. It was like I was falling from the sky! One day, I received a wedding invitation from Dung.
Her husband-to-be was not what I thought he would be, he was only older than me. I knew that I was still very young with no future, and Dung could not wait for me. I was so disappointed that I cried out in the last untitled song: “Is it right the way you go?”
Years after, I realized that Dung was quite right, when she chose her path, because she evaded the sufferings millions of Vietnamese had endured after the South Vietnam Republic collapsed on April 30, 1975. Dung’s husband was appointed as the Information Attaché to the Vietnamese Embassy in Tokyo, Japan, a few months before the fall of Saigon. Her family then resettled in Paris, France, where they live to this day. If Dung had fulfilled her promise to be with me to the end, she would have suffered like millions of wives who had tried earning while taking care of their husbands during the years of imprisonment.
In 1991, I added the second lyrics for the Last Untitled Song: Your path was right my love, If we had been married how could you avoid the sufferings?
The reason I wrote these lyrics for the Last Untitled Song was that I would like to make up for things that I should not have said when Dung left me in 1965. In the Last Untitled Song I wrote:
Was it right the path you followed?
Beside your husband, during rainy nights, have you cried, have you remembered when we were passionately together?
For more than one year of being together, we valued the Eastern morality on purity. My relationship with Dung was the same as any friendship I had with other girls before and after Dung. We were always chaste, but in the song, people might think otherwise.
The song was so popular for many years until now, that I think Dung’s husband would not be happy with it. During the years I was in a darkened prison cell, I was so filled with regret for what I had written in the Untitled Songs. I blamed myself. How could I have written these words? When I reached the Philippines in 1991, where I could express my thoughts freely, I wrote the second lyrics for the Untitled Songs.
“Your path was right my love,
If we had been married, how could you avoid the sufferings?”
When these lyrics were published, many people loved it but some did not, I wish my fans would understand me. I only want to show my regret to my beloved-friend.
After Dung left me for her own happiness, I fell into emptiness. I lost trust in people:
“In whom can I trust?” (the Last Untitled Song)
The one whom I trusted most had left me for another man, giving me no reason.
In the years that followed, my love for Dung became my most remembered heart break especially during my time in prison. In 1998 I had the opportunity to go to Paris along with the poet Dung Tu Le and composer Tu Cong Phung. We took part in a musical performance in an auditorium in the middle of Paris for the Vietnamese community. Dung came to talk to me in private during the refreshment break: “I wish you success in your theology class”. That time I was in the Diaconate Program of the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon to become a Permanent Deacon.
My Love for Phuong Lien
In early 1967, one year after Dung’s abandonment, I confronted an uncertain future; being drafted to the army. While waiting to go to infantry academy, I met Phuong Lien. It was the first day of the Lunar New Year. We were playing cards together with some friends of Nguyen Dinh Toan, and Lien and another young lady came to visit Mrs. Toan. This encounter warmed my heart.
Phuong Lien had just graduated from Trung Vuong High School and was attending Saigon University of Laws. She was from a rich family and her father and mother adored her. She would drive her family car which was very special in that society just to go out with me. When I was in military training in Thu Duc Infantry Reserve Academy, she drove around the training fields with the hope that she would see me. I thought that this love would last long.
But after only a few months away in the military, I heard that she got a job in Rach Gia, a city located far south of Saigon. I was so worried for her because the security situation was so complicated especially after the Tet Mau Than event. The communists attacked populated areas and killed thousands of people. I could not imagine why a girl from a wealthy family like Phuong Lien must work so far away from home. I wrote a letter to Lien’s parents asking them to force Lien back home. Unfortunately, this letter fell into Lien’s hands, and she used this to end the relationship with me. Lien’s farewell letter came to me while I was in the Military Police Academy in Vung Tau where I was training in the 7th Course of Military Police Officer. Once more, I was abandoned by my lover, whom I had trusted. People asked me why my songs were so sad, and I usually responded that it was because I was not successful in love.
When I met Lien again, more than four decades after, she was already divorced because her marriage was a heavy cross for her. She cried and her tears were like rainfall, explaining that she thought she was in love with the father of her daughter. She regretted that she had left me. She told me that the reason why she went to work in Rach Gia was that she wanted to follow her idealism; fighting the communists. She was a secret agent for the CIA!
Looking back to the past, I realize that I am actually thankful for my fruitless love life and my unhappy family life; I was able to write songs for people to enjoy. I was so disappointed with the people I trusted that I put all my faith in God.
Military Service
In 1964, I frequently went to the Saigon Radio Station to volunteer for the Student Broadcasting Program. Since I had a good relationship with the Director General, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Linh, he accepted me to be the news reporter for the organization. After a while, I was transferred to be a writer, working in the same office of Nguyen Dinh Toan. I was drafted into the 25th Course of Thu Duc Reserved Officer Training in April 1967.
At the end of the course that November, I did not know the outcome of my future. Many of my classmates already knew the places where they would comfortably serve in safety. It was not in the front battle fields like being office officers, supply providers, and gun managers. The others were eager to be Special Forces Officers and Marine Officers. I wanted to follow the latter group.
One morning, I knew that the Marines would hold a session to choose the candidates for Marine Officers in one of the auditoriums in the Academy. I went there to get in line to report to the committee. I was the sixteenth in line and only fifteen cadets would be chosen. I believed that one of the first fifteen would fail and I would have an opportunity to be accepted. The Chosen Committee had four members and one medical doctor officer was among them. The session stopped after interviewing the fifteenth cadet. When the medical doctor captain went out to smoke cigarettes, I approached him, asking him to continue working on my case. I believed that I would be chosen since I am tall and I was the one who was chosen to represent the whole cadet body, leader of the Flag Team of the Academy. The medical doctor captain ignored my request, saying that the session had finished.
With a saddened heart, I returned to my camp to await my fate.
A few days later, I was called to go to the session for choosing cadets for the Military Police Department. This department accepted the candidates who were tall and in Law school. I met two of these criteria.
Fifty cadets were called to this session. We stayed in our seats and were told that whoever was tapped on the shoulder would pass the first stage.
I remembered that the chief officer of that session was the Military Police Major Thiet. He walked in the aisle from the back of the auditorium, showing that he would choose someone not because he knows that person. There were rumors that some cadets would bribe the authorities so as to be assigned to safer places.
I was one of those who were tapped on the shoulder! Twenty-five cadets passed the first stage and went to present to the committee our names and our personal military ID number. I was chosen as one of the final twenty. Because I was the tallest, I was placed in front of these Military Police Candidates!
Graduating from the 7th Course of Vung Tau Military Training, I was assigned to the 5th Military Police Battalion by casting a lot in the Military Police Department in South Vietnam Military Headquarters in Saigon.
Among thirty officers, there were two lieutenants and twenty-eight aspirants. There were fifteen lots to be assigned to Phu Quoc Political Prisoners’ Camp and fifteen lots to the different Military Police Battalions. Hearing the number of the Battalion, one would know what part of the country it was in. The Military Police Battalion 1 will be in the Military Part number 1 of the country, the Military Police Battalion number 2 will be in the Military Part number 2, etc.
The officer who was first in class could choose a place for himself, and the next would come forward to cast lots according to their ranks in the final examination. I was in sixth place. Four of my classmates before me took their lots to the Phu Quoc Political Prisoners Camps. I used my left hand to take the lot. I took a small piece of paper with the name on it: the 5th Military Police Battalion. I did not know where it was because there were only four Military Parts that I knew of! Asking the Personnel Officer, I learned that it was the Reserve Battalion whose camp was in Saigon in Tran Quoc Toan Street next to the Children’s Hospital. It was very near my home!
After about six months serving in the Military Police, I was transferred back to Saigon Radio Station where I used to be a writer, before I was drafted. The day I went back to civilian life, taking off the military uniform, I felt that I was a bird flying freely in the sky. I felt like I had lost most of my personal character during the time I was in the military from the ambiance of strict discipline to following the orders of superiors, especially in the Military Police Department. They had always paid attention to my clothing, my shoes and my manners, deciding whether I was fit for the position of a Military Police Officer! The only beautiful souvenir I had was that I finished the Untitled Song number 2 in the 5th Military Police Battalion .
The Untitled Songs
After 1965, I became famous thanks to the collaboration with Mr. Nguyen Dinh Toan in writing “The First Song of Love” as well as performing on Nhac Chu De.
I did not know where the rumor among our acquaintances strated, that the little fame I had was not because of my talent, but only because of Mr. Nguyen Dinh Toan. I guess that this rumor was from Mr. Nguyen Dinh Toan himself base on two things.
First, Toan suddenly left the show letting me do it alone after one year of running the show. I counted it as a blessing that I survived without Toan. Second, when I was drafted, the Music Show stopped. While I was away, Toan re-ran the show but did not let me back on when I returned from Military Service. My two lovers had left me and now the person that I respected as an older brother has outcasted me. They were the only people I had trusted the most and now they had failed me. What a suffering! To show my real capabilities, I went back to the musical activities with the desire to be instantly famous. In a dorm for officers in the 5th Battalion Military Police one night, I wrote the lyrics for the melody I composed a few years earlier in 1962, when I was still in twelfth grade in Hung Dao High School. The song was named “Untitled Number 2”. With the thought that even though Lien left me, she still loves me, I wrote:
“A lady wished too much but getting a little only brings with her an ardent love to live with her husband. “
It was somewhat true since Lien professed to me four decades later that she still loves me.
My law professor taught me that if you want to be successful, you must have something unique. So, I did not name any of my songs as composers usually do but named them with the group name: “The Untitleds”. Ironically, the first of The Untitled was “Number 2” not “Number 1.”
I was very fortunate that “The Untitled Number 2” became popular very quickly as I had wished. Almost 50 years later, the song is still well-known among Vietnamese people. The Untitled Songs have been present in the Vietnamese musicals ever since.
My First Wife: Nguyen Thi Thoa
I felt desperation when three of my most trusted persons left me. I met Nguyen Thi Thoa during the time I served at the 5th Military Police Battalion. At first, Thoa brought me consolation, and I made the quick decision to marry her. I thought that since my two lovers who abandoned me were educated and both from rich families, that Thoa, who was in a poor, not so beautiful and not well-educated, would bring me happiness. Unfortunately, small things happened regularly that made me suffer much. My life was like living in hell! There was a saying among my relatives that I would be better off in prison than living with Thoa.
The Beginning of My Spiritual Life
My unhappy married life led me to a liberated spiritual life. I had read many books, from fiction to mystical after-life. There was a time I lived in a Buddhist Church because I wanted to be away from the hell of my life. From my personal experiences and through watching the lives of my acquaintances, I understood that happiness in the family is really a gift from God. One did not know whether he would be happy or not until he lived with his spouse for a while. If living together had become like hell, if the couple could not stop fighting each other, should they be separated?
Graces and Protection from God
There were many fortunate occasions in my life that were gifts from God, such as when I was accepted into the Military Police Department and assigned to serve in Saigon, and when I returned to civilian life to live as an artist during war-time. God has protected me in some dangerous situations:
Back in civilian life at Saigon Radio Station, I enrolled in Law courses in the Faculty of Law. I passed three consecutive year-end examinations in 1969, 1970 and 1972 and then graduated with a Bachelor of Laws in 1972. During all these years, I was featured in two movies: Suffering Land with Trinh Cong Son in Hue (1969) and Lonely Beside the Road with Kieu Chinh, Kim Cuong and Thanh Duoc (1970) I published two albums: Vuthanhan’s Love Songs and The Untitled Songs. I was quite successful in the arts. Perhaps it is because I surpassed the many challenges posed by some jealous people who hated me. One of them was my superior, who shall remain unnamed.
In 1972 I graduated from Law School. In 1973, Mr. Hoang Duc Nha, Special Secretary for the President Nguyen Van Thieu, was named Minister of Propaganda (from Minister of Information). Mr. Hoang wanted to transform the department, so he invited some new faces to assist him. Among them was Mr. Le Dinh Dieu, who was assigned to be the person in charge of the Interior Information Affairs Office. He was also overseeing all the Information Offices of the whole nation. I was a close friend of Mr. Le Dinh Dieu since 1963, the time we were together in the Saigon Student Association.
Mr. Le introduced me to Mr. Hoang. After passing an interview with Mr. Hoang, I was waiting for an assignment to a new position as a high ranking government official. One day, Mr. Superior ordered me with military uniform to do a mission report on a remote hot spot called Tong Le Chan, where there were thousands of rocket bombings daily. This location was a very dangerous area during the Vietnam War. I bid farewell to my wife, who was in her ninth month of pregnancy, and with a first lieutenant rank on my military uniform I reported to do the mission. I knew that my superior would like me to die in the war since he did not want me be promoted and to be in position like him.
All the people at the radio station were surprised to see me in military uniform. I told them that I followed the Superior’s order to go to Tong Le Chan. The Chief of the Reporting Department told me, “To do the reports is the work of a reporter, not yours. Just go back to your division, and I will discuss this matter with the superior.” I was in the Program Department as a writer. Nothing happened afterwards. I thought that if the superior insisted that I follow his orders, then people would know of his bad intentions.
Government Official in the Information Department
A few days after the Tong Le Chan incident, when my son Vu Thanh Thai An was brought home from the fertility hospital on May 10, 1973, I took over the position of the Head of the Information Office of Gia Dinh Province (next to Saigon Capital).
I had a little leadership experience from the time I was in charge of the Public Education Branch in the Radio Station. But I was a little bit overwhelmed by the new responsibility during the first few days in the office. There were twelve precinct offices. The main office was on Le Van Duyet Blvd next to the Le Van Duyet Girl’s High School . There were almost 500 men under my authority. I chose one of the men who had been in service for a long time in the office to assist me. His name was Dao Menh Pho. It seemed that he stayed the whole day in the office. I had never seen a man more diligent than him. He rarely went back to his family in Thu Duc Precinct, which is about 15 kilometers from Saigon. He was more than an army officer. Truly grateful for his help and the assistance of other staff members, I managed the office’s business smoothly.
During the time I was in the Gia Dinh office, I had a chance to go abroad to the city of Hilversum in the Netherlands to attend a broadcasting course from January to April 1974. Back to Vietnam from the Netherlands, I continued serving in Gia Dinh Information Province Office until October 1974, then I was transferred to the Propaganda Department in Saigon. I was assigned to the position of Director of Cultural Affairs in charge of all cultural activities in the whole South Vietnam. This was a newly established office so I was working in the same room as two men who were out of service. The people always joke about them as the ones who just Sit-Play-and-Drink! One of them was the former Director General of Internal Information Affairs of the previous Secretary, and the other was Mr. Le Dinh Dieu, who was out from his office as Deputy Director General of Internal Information Affairs of the current Secretary. He was not trusted anymore so now he just Sit-Play-and Drink. He seldom shows. Only the former Director General came for eight office hours daily. He diligently studied books. A few months later after Mr. Hoang Duc Nha was out of the office, the former Secretary, Mr. Ho Van Cham, came back to his status as a member of President Nguyen Van Thieu’s cabinet as new Information Secretary. Then Mr. Director General regained his position. I am telling all these stories so that you would understand how I felt at that time. This led to the composition of one of my well-known songs, “Doi Da Vang” (The Precious Life).
I was head of the big office with many staffs and personnel, and now just sitting here with the two Sit-Play-Drink men, made me feel like I was being cast out like them. One afternoon in late November, 1974, when I was trying to establish the staff for the new Cultural Affairs Office, Mr. Hoang Duc Nha, the Secretary, called me to his office and raised me to the position of Director of Press with the responsibility of overseeing all the activities of the press, and publication of books, films and music of the whole nation. This was a very important position, especially at the time when just a few months later the South Vietnam Republic collapsed on April 30, 1975.
The former director was put in a difficult circumstance, Mr. Secretary wanted to have a new management to deal with the very complicated political and military situation of the nation. It seemed that there was a new movement in the Cabinet of President Nguyen Van Thieu. It was rumored that Mr. Hoang Duc Nha would be the next Prime Minister, but at the same time I heard that Mr. Hoang Duc Nha had a conflict with the Army generals, who controlled much of the political power. When I was assigned to be the Director of Cultural Affairs, the Chief of Staff of Mr. Hoang Duc Nha asked me repeatedly whether I was really in charge of this office. I did not have a clue what was in the chief’s mind. I thought that a change-over ceremony would take place when I entered the office building. But after I was introduced to the office staff, I was led to an empty room and asked to wait there! The room was so big and I was only one there during office hours every day. After almost 10 days of waiting, I asked Mr. Chief of Staff the reason why I was sent there. He told me to just go back to the Minister’s Office and stay there until further notice. I was so ashamed since everybody in the ministry knew that I was about to take over the position of Director of the Press. In desperation, I returned to the Information Ministry to Sit-Play-and-Drink with the other two.
About a month after that, Mr. Hoang Duc Nha lost his position as Information Minister. I was so surprised since Mr. Hoang Duc Nha was the Special Secretary to President Nguyen Van Thieu. He got the President’s direct orders, especially during the time when the US, South Vietnam, and North Vietnam negotiated for the Peace Agreement in Paris. There were some political issues which I knew nothing of. Perhaps Mr. Hoang Duc Nha had known that he would be replaced and the new Minister would give my position to his entourage. That was why he changed his mind and told me to wait before taking over the seat. Upon taking the office in February 1975, the new Information Secretary assigned a new Director of the Press in March 1975 and in June that year I met this person in Long Thanh Re-Education Camp! The communist took over the country on April 30, 1975, and hundreds of thousands of former government officials and army officers were put in “re-education camps” – the name for political prisons.
I was back at the Information Ministry after the shame I got in the Press Division. I was so desperate, not only being refused a new high position, but also because of my own family’s problems.
One day in December 1974, President Nguyen Van Thieu came to visit the Information Department. From my room high above in the Department Building, I looked down and asked myself, what would happen to this king? I considered myself a small lizard crawling on the wall and could not pass through it. I started the song, “The Precious Life” with this words:
“I fumble but could not pass the sadden wall”
Only 31 years old, I had many things that people long for.
-Love: I have had some romantic loves, but not one gave me happiness.
-Money: I had a lot of money in my pocket. In 1965 when the price of an ounce of gold was 500 piatres I had earned 10,000 a month (salary from working for a radio station, teaching at high schools, writing for magazines, and royalties from my music). With this amount of money, I could buy 20 ounces of gold a month! In 1969, being featuring in a movie only for a couple of days, I had earned a hundred thousand piatres!
-Fame: I had been famous since 1965 when I was 22 years old. The people loved my music “The First Song of Love”, “The Main Topic Music Show” and “The Untitled Songs.”
-Power: I held somewhat a high administrative position before I turned 32 years old. Many people were under my authority. I was admired and people respected me.
All of the above seemed to be good things, but nothing brought me happiness. I had a little success, but what I got was still not good enough.
The Precious Life
I fumble but could not pass the sad wall
I am looking for love but found only sufferings
I still crave for the desire I had from a young age.
How can I satisfy all of my longing.
I had burned my life in sadness
Wishing the peace will come with days
Why do I live here?
Why continue struggling? For what joy?
The song stopped right here. I could not finish it until 1993, when I re-settled in Portland Oregon, in the United States.
The new Information Secretary took office and he made a big change in the personnel. All the employees, whom Mr. Hoang Duc Nha had dismissed, regained their positions. Mr. Vu Viet Dich, whom I replaced as the Head of Gia Dinh Information in Gia Dinh Province, now returned to his desk. The former Director General of Internal Information Affairs, who Sat-Played-Drank with me the other day, has now regained his position.
Since I was a trusted person of Mr. Hoang Duc Nha, the former Secretary, I prepared myself to lose everything.
Perhaps the new Director General for the Internal Information Affairs felt sympathy for me during our time together in the Sit-Play-Drink room so he introduced me to the new Secretary and said good things about me. I submitted an application to the new Secretary to ask for the assignment back to Saigon Radio Station. Not only did he grant my wish, but he also appointed me as Deputy Director of the News and Program Subdivision, concurrently Head of Program Branch and Head of Strategy Branch. With these responsibilities I could control all the activities of Saigon Radio Station, which broadcasted to all the people of South Vietnam. Now I think that it is the Providence of God that I was assigned to this task to prepare for what happened a few months later, the fall of Saigon at noon on April 30, 1975. I was the one who broadcasted the order from the new President of the Republic of South Vietnam, President Duong Van Minh, to the Vietnamese soldiers to lay down their weapons.
During the last days of April 1975, Saigon was in chaos. People were trying to escape the communists. I went to the American Embassy watching ranks of people get in line to take the bus to the airport. They were the employees of the American offices, the first priority persons to be brought out of the country. Among them were some of my friends who worked in Free Radio Station, an organization of the CIA. Saigon Radio Station was not under the direct orders of the US Embassy so we were not on the list to be saved. Our future was uncertain.
A few days before the end of April, not many employees went to work. The Director General of the station was absent. The whole city was looking for a way to get out of the country. Among them was my wife, who take my son Thai An with her.
The night of April 27th, I stayed home. During the wee hours I could not sleep, listening to the radio, I heard the voice of a technician on the air. I assumed that the anchor-on-duty had not shown up so the technician must have replaced him. I decided to go to work very early the next morning. I could not think of escaping while my employees were still working. Upon reaching the station, only ten out of two hundred employees were working. Some missiles fell on the station grounds that day.
On the night of April 28, some female announcers were still working.
Early in the morning of April 29, while having breakfast in the Pho restaurant close to the station, I heard that the communist was very near Saigon. Knowing that the final days of the war were at hand, I told some employees to go back to their families. Only three technicians stayed with me. I remember only one of them, Mr. Ho On. On the afternoon of April 29, Mr. Vice President Nguyen Van Huyen came to the station to ask the communists for a negotiation session with the South Vietnam Government. In the late afternoon of that day, Mr. Prime Minister Vu Van Mau called on the American army to get out of Vietnam!
Early in the morning of the last day of the Republic of South Vietnam, April 30, 1975, I was informed that there was a possibility that President Duong Van Minh would surrender. I thought if that was the case, the surrender announcement must be broadcast as soon as possible so that some lives could be saved. The killings must be stopped. No need to have any lives lost unnecessarily. Millions of Vietnamese were killed in the 50-year war. Our position in this historical moment was so critical. The distressed country was listening to the radio. Being the highest government official present, I asked the other three employees to work with me until the last minute.
At about 9 am, a reporter in training rushed to the station, handling a tape with the announcement of President Duong Van Minh. Since we had been prepared beforehand, I had a technician produce a tape that can be re-run continuously so that everybody could hear and understand it clearly. I did not want anybody to be killed in these last minutes. When we were working on this tape, two soldiers with weapons came in with a one-star general with them who presented himself as the Brigadier General Nguyen Huu Hanh, the New General Commander of the South Vietnam Army. He ordered us to allow him to call all the soldiers to lay down their weapons. I let him speak right after President Duong Van Minh.
After the surrender tape had been broadcasted many times on the frequency, making sure that everybody had heard it, I let the other three technicians to go back to their families. We knew that the situation had now changed so we hugged, saying our farewells to each other with sadness.
Standing alone in the hallway of the station, looking down at the court-yard, I could not think of anything at all. After a while, a thought suddenly came to my mind: what would happen if the communists come? Would they kill me? After all, there were orders to lay down weapons from the President and the General Commander. I had stood on my ground, it was time for me to head home. At about 10:10 am April 30, 1975, I left my office as a government official of the Republic of South Vietnam. On the way home, I saw some paratroopers, who guarded the Station, had laid down their weapons.
A great rain showered over the capital of a falling nation.
I had fulfilled my duties for my country and my people, and now an uncertain fate awaits me.
One month later I became a communist prisoner, along with hundreds of thousands of my fellow army soldiers and government officials.
Ten Years in Communist Re-Education Camps. medicine
While the communists were celebrating for taking control over the country, we were faced by an uncertain future.
One month after entering Saigon, the communist authorities published an announcement stating that all army officers and government officials must report to be re-educated. They were asked to bring their food and medicine supply for one month. This announcement made people assume that the time for re-education was only one month. I was one of those who wanted to believe that, but I knew and told my relatives that I was going to be imprisoned. It will not be one month. Handfuls of men stayed in prison for 17 years, and many others died.
“Thinking that he would soon return but he went for so long.
Who has sinned while who stayed in prison for life?”
The day finally came when I had to report for the re-education camp. I woke up early to prepare some personal items. My two-year old son, Thai An, woke up with me while his mother was still asleep. I hugged him for the last time, walked out of the house and closed the door. The image of my son, waving his tiny hand, was on my mind for all the ten years of my imprisonment. I went to the designated location, Gia Long High School, to report. They received us in groups of ten. The men in front line would be assigned as group leaders. Unfortunately I was one of the leaders in the prison, and this put me in a very challenging situation.
About three thousand government officials, including ministers, senators and representatives were placed in Long Thanh Camp 30 miles north of Saigon,. All of us hoped that we would be released after a month. The anticipated month had passed but nothing happened. Three months later, the relatives of communists, or professionals like medical doctors, engineers and technicians were set free. This gave us hope that someday we would be free, but the terrifying question is – when?
More than a year later, in November 1976, some of my roommates and I were put in a commercial ship, Song Huong, heading for North Vietnam to Phu Son 4 Re-Education Camp in Thai Nguyen Province. We were hungry in Long Thanh Camp, and now relocating to the North where the weather was colder made us even hungrier. During the first days in the camp, we just wandered in the prison yard and longed for our small bowl of rice and cup of salt water every day. Sitting in the yard looking through the sharp metal fence, I saw some yellowish bricks of earth. I wished that they were sweet cakes so that I could swallow them to ease my hunger. I was thinking of food for the 10 years of my imprisonment.
A few weeks later, we started doing hard labor. I was in the agriculture group, planting rice and cassava. In winter, it was harsh cold. With nothing in the stomach and with bare feet, I had to stay in the water that reaches up to my belly to plant rice. I became thinner and thinner. Even when I was younger in high school, I was not so healthy. I had a bowel problem that meant I could not eat much. I weighed only 50kg at 1.80m high. My relatives thought that I would not endure long with the conditions in the re-education camps. I knew that, so I was ready for the worst.
After three years in Phu Son 4, the communists of China attacked the north border of Vietnam and we were moved south to Thanh Phong K2 in Thanh Hoa province near the border with Laos. This was the bottom of society. There was no civilization. They intended to imprison us here for good, and planned to have our families move with us.
In Phu Son 4 I was informed that my wife already had a boyfriend. I was so sad and disappointed. I knew my fate. In my heart, I wished that my wife would find a good man to take care of her and my son.
Coming to Thanh Phong, I was disappointed even more. I could not return and must stay here for the rest of my life:
The days in Thanh Hoa seeing the smoke covering over the camp roof I was so sad when remembering my lover
Was it the life or have I already lost my consciousness?
Oh my heavy slowly feet, when would we come back?
Oh the fidelity tears whether you would fall down?
Was it clear or muddy oh the water of life? How could I imagine?
The days in Thanh Hoa, the water was ice cold
I departed for hard labor in the morning and returned in the evening
How thrilling was the sky?
Would it be continuing oh my life of joy and sadness?
Where are you, where are you now?
The days in Thanh Hoa, the Laos winds burnt my skin
My body withered in a strange land.
I was heartbreakingly home sick
It saddened me to think that being abandoned was truly my fate. But I still understood my wife’s situation. Being so frail, she must find a means of living in the very harsh communist society for herself and for our little son.
Many of us had lost families. Some of the wives had fallen into the hands of the communists. How shameful!
My health had deteriorated in Thanh Phong. I fell down once because of hunger. One day we went to the jungle to work. Two of us were carrying a trunk of a tree when my friend at the other end of the trunk suddenly dropped his hold. My head was badly hit by a branch that I fell unconscious and was bed-ridden more than a month.
On the morning in the sixth month at Thanh Phong, I was told to pack all my personal belongings because I was going to leave the camp. My fellow prisoners thought that I was being released.
Coming to the new camp, Ha Tay, 20 miles from Hanoi, I realized that I had been assigned here solely because of the need to form a musical group. The duty of the group was to welcome foreign delegations when they visited the camp. They were the intervening countries of the free world, especially the United States of America. The communists had to show that they were treating the former personnel of the Saigon Regime well while they imprisoned us.
Thanks to the negotiations of the US, we were gradually released and re-settled in the States.
Ten years of suffering were also ten years of God’s graces. Our Lord delivered me out from the bottom of the abyss. I have the opportunity to know our Lady and the Saints, especially St. Therese of the Child Jesus. I was reborn on March 21, 1981, the feast day of St. Joseph, the day I was baptized to be an adopted son of God. This was the start of my new life, the life of a witness to the Catholic faith.
God Saved Me from the Bottom of the Abyss
Deacon An Vu, vuthanhan@yahoo.com, 503 8219848
When I was old enough to think, I had always wondered: “What is the meaning of life?” “Why do I exist?”
I tried looking for answers when I was in high school and even until college, hoping that I would find them in the four corners of my classrooms but I found none. Education did not give me what I was looking for.
Like everyone, I danced at the world’s forever changing tunes but I still felt something was missing. I blindly followed all the attractions the world hurled at me.
The first attraction was the love between a man and a woman. I was so deeply in love with my previous girlfriends that I neglected my studies. From my first romance to the last, these relationships brought me so much pain.
The second attraction is fame. I had worked so hard to be in a high position in our society. Truly, I was somebody in Saigon before 1975, but I did not have the happiness that I had hoped for. Though famous and admired, I still felt the pain buried deep within my soul.
In 1975, like hundred thousands of my fellow Vietnamese soldiers, I was put in a re-education camp. I was physically, emotionally, and psychologically tortured in the camps in North Vietnam. I had experienced sleeplessness, headaches, and very serious heart palpitations. For months on end, I did not have any medication to ease these illnesses, and so I became very weak.
One night, when most of the detainees were deep in sleep, I heard Mr. Lai, my friend, talking to someone: “When I cannot sleep, I just pray the Hail Mary, and then I fall asleep easily.”
Although I was not a Catholic, I knew the “Hail Mary”. When I was 17 years old, I had a Catholic girlfriend, named Uyen. We had a very romantic relationship. We used to meet each other in the courtyard of the Redemptorist Church in Saigon. One day, Uyen gave me a piece of paper. On it was the prayer, Hail Mary, which she had written carefully with her very beautiful handwriting. She asked me to learn this prayer by heart. To make her happy I learned it, but with no belief in it whatsoever.
I spent all my time focusing on my romance that I could not graduate from high school. Not only had my parents restricted my freedom, but I also told myself that I must return to my studies. Uyen’s parents did not allow her to meet me again when they learned of our relationship. Until now, I do not know where she is.
Uyen had gone her way, but the “Hail Mary” stayed, dormant, deep in my heart.
Hearing Mr. Lai mention the “Hail Mary”, I recalled it and tried this prayer to find out whether it was as effective as Mr. Lai believed. I fell asleep easily and slept until dawn.
I was very glad, and I was able to sleep normally for a week after that. But more than that, I felt that I was healed not only physically but also emotionally. Hope returned to me. It seemed that the black shadow of death was not hanging over me anymore.
One week later, in the morning I was watching the yellow sunlight shining through the window onto the green leaves of the vegetables that my fellow prisoners had planted. I talked to my roommate who lay next to me. “Uncle Dinh, I would like to become a Catholic. Do you know any Catholic in this room?” Mr. Dinh introduced me to Uncle Man. Uncle Man then introduced me to many other Catholics. I did not know there was such an underground Catholic community in the camp.
My new friends showed their love for me and taught me catechesis to prepare me for my baptism. I hesitated when the given day approached. I felt that I was not psychologically ready. I was afraid. What would happen to me if the communists knew of my conversion? I told my friends that I would like to cancel the baptism. I pondered and pondered about everything, and I knew that my friends were praying for me. I read a Bible that I borrowed.
I seldom talked to my friends; instead I began writing songs. The title of the first song was: “Father is the True God”. Then came “O, Mother, Save Me From This Place” and “Let Us Look Up To The Sky”.
After nearly one month of thinking, the answer came to me. Billion of people, many of them are intelligent people, have knelt down before God. Who am I but a regular guy?
As for my fear of the communists, I had nothing to lose. If because of following Christ, I would be punished or disciplined, then God would bless me. I was holding into the Sermon on the Mount, when the Lord said, “Blessed are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kind of slander against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven; this is how they persecuted the prophets before you.”
I was not afraid anymore. I decided that I would accept my being put in fetters, or even never being released from that terrible place. I would follow the Lord. I asked my friends to baptize me on March 21, 1981.
Before the baptism, I was very nervous, like a bride before her wedding. I knew that my friends were very excited to prepare everything in secret.
One evening, talking to a friend, I said wishfully, “How glad I would be if the lights would turn on right after the water had been poured!” Very few Vietnamese communist concentration camps had power, and Camp Ha Tay, where I was imprisoned, was one of them. Each night the communist cadre would turn on the lights at random times some days early and some days late.
On the given day, when it was still dusk, the clang of a gong called every one to enter their room to be locked in. As we had planned, we were preparing the baptism ceremony in silence. Two kerosene lamps had been lighted at the upper corner of the room, where Mr. Nguyen Van Hung, a former teacher, and Mr. Nguyen Van Do, a former police major, had been assigned.
The baptism was solemnly celebrated. It seemed that everybody in the room knew what was happening because there was no sound or talking. No sooner had Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tien, a former police major, poured the water on my forehead saying, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit” than the lights blinked twice and then stayed on! This happened exactly as I had wished.
God had given me the first gift to support my faith, which was still so weak. Everybody was amazed when I told them that my wish had just happened. They gave God thanks and praise. After the ceremony, each one of us had a bowl of sweetened porridge, which had been cooked by Mr. Nguyen Van Hung, and I sang four songs that I had written.
After the baptism I was overwhelmed with happiness such as I had never imagined. Never, ever had I experienced such an overwhelming joy. I was in prison with terrible living conditions, but I had true bliss, the feeling that one can only be understood if he has faith. My soul felt like it was being raised to another world. The suffering seemed to disappear, and there was but gladness, pleasure and contentment. This state stayed with me for about a week.
From that time on, I was so inspired to write songs about the Virgin Mary and about Saint Therese – “The Little Flower”. I tried to commit all of them to memory, and I asked my close friends to learn them with me, with the hope that upon release we would use these songs to evangelize. Once, I wrote a song I could not keep to myself. I sang it loudly for my friends and I was sure that I was being watched. I tried not to leave any written evidence that would justify punishment. All the songs had to be kept deeply in our hearts.
One day, Tan, the cadre in charge of my unit — a new one — asked me quietly, “Have you written sacred songs? Be careful, just hide them, because if the security cadre knows, he will put you in chains.” The act of Mr. Tan, who not only warned me but also told me to hide the songs, surely came as a grace from God. Thank you, Lord. Please give this good man your blessing.
From the day of my baptism, I was living in God’s blessing, which He expressed through the sympathy of my new Catholic friends. God did many wonderful deeds for me. I should have died, but I was saved. It seemed that I was resurrected. I became a new man with a new soul. I was not in despair anymore, but hope filled my heart. I knew how to repent for my sins. I learned to be meek and lowly. I knew how to love others. I accepted the hardships of life without complaint.
In 1981, it was impossible to think we would ever be released from the camps. The communists had planned to imprison us for life in the jungle. They had begun to build a system of camps along the borders of Vietnam, with Laos and China. They intended to move all of us and our families there for the rest of our lives. I would have died over there but now I am in the United States! Only God could make the impossible possible. America has opened wide its heart to receive the victims who had suffered all kinds of tortures to get to the United States. I am one of those grateful people. God has guided me all the way from that time, with many unimaginable and unexpected steps.
Thanks to the abundant grace of God, the already-dead man I was has become a servant for Him. How can I return to Him such miraculous things as He has done for me? Even after a full life, on my deathbed, I will never be able to repay Him.
The First Sacred Song
During the time when I pondered about my baptism I wrote some sacred songs. The first was “Father is The Real God.”
The first sacred song was sung the night of my baptism.
The Dreams
After I was baptized I had some significant dreams. In a dream I saw three people conversing with each other like in a meeting, one man and two women. They said something, and I only remembered one word: recruit. I wondered whether I was chosen to do something. The other night when half asleep, half awaken, I saw one nun wearing a big rosary around her belly who went near me. I assumed she was St. Therese with her habit on.
In 1983, I had a feeling that I would be released soon. One night, a gentleman gave me a green rose in my dream. What a special gift!
“Let us sing a new song, the joyful day comes near
The sad days have passed
Let us forget the dark time
Let us put the love lip stick on
The green rose you gave me, still fresh today
Do not worry about food and clothing
They will be given even more abundantly
The cold winter has gone, the warm spring has come
Oh how sweet are your words
Thank you so much for your love, which has given me high days
I long for you in heaven above
Wishing that I would hold your hands someday.
An Episode of Unconsciousness
In 2005, during a fund raising event for Teresa Charities in Houston, Texas, I experienced a short episode where I was not awake, not asleep but conscious. It was like I had just awakened from sleep while passing between two rows of tables where guests were dining. I was so frightened. Hurriedly, I tried to sit on a chair in front of me. I called Deacon Bach Nguyen, one of the organizers of the event, and told him what I felt. I do not remember what was happening around me for hours. I only remember a few minutes when the event started and a few hours later when the party was about to end. I was among the party attendees but do not remember a thing. The singers performed, the auction went on, but where was I during those times?
The Teresa Tree
In 2006, after I submitted to the Archbishop of Portland the application to establish the Family of Saint Therese, I saw in a dream a very big tree. It’s trunk was like a skyscraper building and it’s branches reached far, far away to the horizon. Perhaps this was a sign that the Family of Saint Therese would be big like that tree.
Released From Prison
After almost ten years in prison, in January 1985 I was released. All of Vietnam was preparing for the Lunar New Year. About two hundred of us were taken by trucks to the railroad station in Hanoi. They dropped us on the street in the late evening and told us to pass the night there. They still had not given us our release papers. I knew an address in Hanoi: 28 Mai Hac De. This was the address of Thoa’s father before he moved South in 1954. Thoa’s uncle’s family was now living in this house. When I was in Ha Tay Camp, Thoa visited me once in 1982; after that she left a certain amount of money and asked Ms. Hoang Yen, her cousin, an 18-year old with a kind heart, to visit me sometimes on her behalf. Truly Hoang Yen once in a while came to visit me and became like an angel to my fellow prisoners since she helped them to smuggle letters to their families. Hoang Yen became a source of consolation for me for more than one year.
In 1983 I was moved to Nam Ha Camp and since it was far away from Hanoi, Hoang Yen stopped visiting me. Hoang Yen once lived at 28 Mai Hac De, so she was the one I remembered during the first hours being a free man. I invited one of my close prison friends Mr. Khuong, to go with me to Hoang Yen’s house. We took a “cyclo”. A cyclo is a kind of personal transportation (from the French occupation) that makes use of the feet of a man. It was a nice night with a bit of a cold wind. Khuong stopped by at a post office to inform his family of the day he would reach Saigon. I wanted to surprise my family, so I just stood outside to watch people pass by. Leaving the post office, we went to a small Pho restaurant. I was a vegetarian at that time so I just chose a non-meat rice noodle bowl. That was the most delicious meal I ever had, after ten years of being starved! Mr. Khuong, in his good humor, introduced me to the people around us as Mr. Vu Thanh An, the famous musician! Some of them just came over and shook my hand, and congratulated me for my freedom. I wondered why the people in the North know my name, a musician from the South ten years ago. When I was in prison, doing hard labor, near the residence of camp’s employees, I heard someone singing my song “Dung Yeu Toi” (“Don’t Love Me”). I was very surprised that the people in the North knew my songs. When we went to Hoang Yen’s house it was already late at night, Hoang Yen’s parent were very surprised seeing us. Hoang Yen was not there. They told us that she had already gotten married and was living in another house. Yen’s father was very nice, asking me many questions. He did not think that I would be released so soon (after 10 years!). He told me that when Thoa visited him the other year, he told her that I would be very old before I would be released. Many people would have thought the same and for that reason Thoa started to look for her own happiness.
Back at my father’s house, I was half happy, half sad. I could not eat the first meal. I have had a family of my own before, with wife and son, and now I was lonely and all by myself.
In Love with the Medical Doctor Nguyen Thi Oanh
After they found out that I was back, some acquaintances came to visit me. Among them was my close friend from high school, Pham Huy Trung. He promised me that he would give me 100 piatres a month as a means of living. Mr. Trung introduced me to the medical doctor Ms. Nguyen Thi Oanh. She was waiting for her immigration to the USA with her family. I could say that Oanh was my real benefactor. Because of her, my confidence in life was restored after a long time in prison. With her encouragements, I got back on my feet. I taught students English at their homes to earn a living. To be official I needed to get an ID, hence I enrolled in the Artist Club at Binh Thanh Precinct. With the red seal ID, this club certified me as its member and I could go look for a way to cross the border to go abroad. The problem was I did not have money, so how could I cross the border? They asked three ounces of gold for a place on the boat to Thai Lan but I did not even have a dime! In the Artist Club, I met Ms. Tuy Phuong, a well-known singer, I had been her fan since childhood. Tuy Phuong was very kind to me. She let me use her house to teach students. Tuy Phuong even invited me to join her group (among them was Composer Khanh Bang who was blind). Somebody has promised that the US government would someday pick us up to go to America. She even showed me the place where we would wait for the caravan. Though a bit doubtful, I joined the group but nothing happened for a long time. I knew afterwards that somebody was just bluffing us. They used our names to lure people to get money.
My father’s house was crowded with all my brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews. Because of the difficulty of the new regime, they’d all lost their houses and came to stay with my father. There were fourteen of us in a two-storey small wooden house. My old father, even in his illness, tried to build for me a tiny attic just four feet under the tile roof. It was very hot during day-time and very wet when it rained. I must climb up a pole to reach the narrow place where I could lay down to rest each night. There was a time when some strange insect bit my foot and it swelled. I wished I could find a better place to rest. In the Artist Club, I met Mr. Nguyen Tan Xuan, who wrote songs. One day when I visited him at his house, I saw that he had a spacious veranda. I wished that my bedroom was this spacious! It was about one meter wide and two meters long. I told Mr. Xuan that I would like to rent that veranda! Hearing my question, Mr. Xuan just kept quiet. A few days later, he told to me, “Would you like to get married? If you have a family, this would be a great place to live”. It was my turn to be speechless! How could I respond to Mr. Xuan while I still had a relationship with Dr Nguyen Thi Oanh? Dr. Oanh lived alone so I frequented her home and I was very close to her. She was waiting for the day she would leave Vietnam. She did not promise me anything.
“If you could not go abroad, would you marry me?” I asked her one night.
She replied almost immediately, “NO”. Her response opened the way for me to get married to another woman.
Crossing the Border-Get Married or Get Into a Seminary?
People knew that I was abandoned by my first wife so many of my friends and my relatives wanted introduce me to eligible singles. All of them would help me rebuild my life. I was in a dilemma between two paths: crossing the border or getting into a seminary to consecrate my life to the Lord. After my baptism, I wished that I could offer my remaining time to serve my Lord.
Two of my friends, Mrs. Tan Xuan and Ms. Ho, were excited to set me up to their long time friend, Ms. Nguyen Thi Van. They met with her many times and persuaded her that they would like to introduce her to me. At first, Van refused since she did not want to have another husband. When she could not resist Ms. Tan Xuan’s insistence any more, Van asked her, “Is he handsome?” Mrs. Tan Xuan responded, “Oh yes!” “How is his complexion?” “He has a fair complexion!”
Van could not imagine how a man who had been in prison for ten years could have a good complexion. Finally, Van agreed to see me.
One year later, after some ups and downs in the relationship, we became husband and wife. At the beginning of our life together, I told Van about my wish to consecrate my life to God. I repeated this many times and it made Van a little upset. It was quite inappropriate to be talking about consecrated life while courting! I was a divorced man but my first marriage was not in the Church so I could get the Sacrament of Matrimony. The Pastor of Nam Hoa Parish presided over the Rite of Marriage for Van and me.
I chose her because she had many aspects that made me admire her. She was the most beautiful lady I’d ever met. One of my relatives, upon seeing her said that she looked like Tham Thuy Hang, one of the most adored actresses of Vietnam. Van was a very praiseworthy lady. Her first husband, an army major, died in combat in 1972. Being a single mom for fifteen long years, she raised two daughters during the most difficult years of the Vietnam War. She always had a good reputation. She never had any relationship with any man during all those years. She was very talented in business. While most people were poor, her family ran a photo shop that earned a good income. Most of all, she was very gentle. Seeing her eat a piece of orange in one peaceful moment, I decided to be with her for the rest of my life. I considered her a special gift from God.
A few months after our wedding, while I was taking an evening walk in our neighborhood my heart started beating fast just like the episodes I had when I was still in prison. I thought that it was a sign of my last days. I was still suffering from my palpitation when my wife told me that the re-settlement in the US, for people like me who spent more than three years in prison, had now officially begun. I heard about this program in 1981 when I was in Ha Tay Camp. We knew that the US government had an agreement with Vietnam about our release and our departure for the US. This was great news for all of us. We would have the opportunity to rebuild our lives. The program was called HO. Our family was on the HO 8 list but we were also on another list for families who had an Amerasian child, a child of two races: Vietnamese and American. My wife has one. We were first called to this second program to go first to the Philippines, to stay there for six months to learn about the way of living in the US before settling in America. We went to the Bataan Refugee Camp in the Philippines in November 1991. Once I was there, I felt like I was reborn. In sixteen years of oppression, my human dignity had been trampled but now I was free and respected. Gradually, I returned back to the former Vu Thanh An of the Republic of South Vietnam before 1975. Looking back on my past relationships I wrote the second lyrics for “The Untitled-Songs.” I performed in some of the musical shows in the camp. I was surprised that some of the Filipinos knew my songs. One of the Filipino teachers in camp even sung “Untitled Number 2” in Vietnamese. I was invited to do a musical program for Veritas Radio Station in Manila.
Coming to the United States Vu Thanh An Returned to Life
Coming to California, I was almost 50 in May 1992. Many difficulties awaited me. In Orange County, we called it the Capital of Vietnamese Refugees, our lives were not stable. My wife worked on her sewing machine all day, my first step-daughter was jobless and the second step-daughter could not enter college. I was invited to this and that party all the time. How could I give people the joy of singing when our family was not secure? Around November, I was invited to Portland, Oregon, by my friend Ms. Phuong Ninh for my musical welcome party. Mr. Ha, Phuong Ninh’s husband, was very kind to me. There was a time when he picked me up from the airport and he was fined hundreds of dollars because he drove too fast. In Portland, I met Mr. La Thanh Hai. He has a two-storey house, and the rooms upstairs were vacant. He offered it to my family free of charge. That was a wonderful opportunity for us. Mr. Hai said that if we moved here, it would be very easy for me and my older daughter to find jobs. And my second daughter could be enrolled in the community college right away. In Orange County, the rent was high though the four of us shared just one room. It was unimaginable how a two bedroom apartment could hold three families in it. One family in each bedroom and the other was in the living room! My wife and another lady even worked on their sewing machines in the kitchen area. With these in mind, I accepted Mr. Hai’s invitation on the spot.
Re-settlement to Portland, Oregon
What we expected really happened: our older daughter found an assembler job in a factory in Vancouver, the city next to Portland. She eventually became a hairdresser. Our younger daughter was accepted into Portland Community College (PCC). I worked as an interpreter in a law office. The small apartment was quite comfortable: two bedrooms, living room, kitchen and restroom. We had free rent for a few months then afterward we paid only $200/month. This was a great support for us for the first few years in the US. Our older daughter eventually got married in 2003 to Phuong, Mr. Hai’s nephew. They had 2 girls and a boy. Our younger daughter, a single mom with a son became a registered nurse.
Two years later, in 1995 I hesitated in deciding whether I would continue studying to become an attorney. I graduated Law School in 1972 from Saigon University, and this degree was accepted in the US. My fellow Vietnamese-American lawyers advised me to take the test to get the license to practice law. Among them was Tran Thi Thu Cuc, my close friend. Some attorneys even organized a special course for someone like me. I came to Los Angeles to take the documents to study at home. For me this was quite a difficult adventure. Because of the language barrier, I thought that I would not succeed. It would take years before I could reach the goal of becoming an attorney. My health at this times was not good. Besides the arrhythmia, I also had insomnia. I even let Dr. Phan Duy Hien from France, through the method of acupuncture, push some small strings of gold into my body. This did not make me I feel any better. During that time I used my time to put all the 150 psalms into songs and I finished the song named “The Precious Life,” which I had started during Sit-Play-and-Drink at the Information Ministry in 1974:
“I fumble but could not pass the sad wall
I am looking for love but found only suffering
I still crave for the desire I had from a young age
How can I satisfy all of my longing
I had burned my life in sadness
Wishing the peace will come with days
Why do I live here?
Why continue struggling? For what joy?
I just stopped there and could not continue.
Almost 20 years later, having struggled through a very difficult time, I added:
“Once losing a loved one you would have pity for the lonely
Once going through the wet snowy winter you would have joy when the sun comes back
Once surviving the lamenting time you would understand how precious life is”
“Once losing a loved one you would have pity for the lonely” – this was my understanding for my wife, Ms. Van. She lost her first husband when she was so young, and in this difficulty she raised her two daughters by herself for fifteen years before meeting me. She endured courageously the bloody war without any stain to her good name. She was a special gift that God stored in his treasure for me.
“Once surviving the lamenting time you would understand how precious life is”. All of the people of South Vietnam have suffered many hardships after 1975, and I am sure that everybody would realize the preciousness of life, like me.
Before my Diaconate Ordination in 2002 I added:
“Reaching the abyss of life we would know the immensity of the sky
Let us open our hearts to receive the Ocean of Love
Even forgiving a thousand times would not be mercy enough.
Let us give thanks for having the precious life”
Having gone through many ups and downs in life for thirty-eight years, I realized that even the sufferings were blessings from God. I am very appreciative because thanks to the sufferings, I have become the man I am today. If I had not endured ten years in prison I would have never known God.
I tried to put up with my back pain and not go through surgery. In 2004, a friend taught me some hand and arm movements, and thanks to these simple exercises my pain was reduced. I could lie down on the mattress. Before, if I laid down on the mattress, my back would be curved and the next morning I could not stand straight. Now at the age of 71, I still walk fast like a young man. With the help of my friends I produced the first sacred song CD named “Oh, Teresa” followed by two more CDs – “I Raise My Soul to God” and “The Most Holy Mother”. In 1996, I published the love song CD – “Goodbye, My Love”. With this CD I wanted to inform everybody that I had promised God that I would stop singing and composing love songs. I would like to study theology to become a permanent deacon. Many people still ask me to sing the “Untitled Songs”, but I have kept the promise. I say to the people that because I have kept the promise, God has bestowed on me the greatest gift of being ordained deacon, even though I am very unworthy.
In Formation: Becoming a Permanent Deacon
In the summer of 1995, while attending the workshop about the New Catechism of the Catholic Church in Chicago, I met the Archbishop Nguyen Van Thuan and many Vietnamese permanent deacons. I learned that some permanent deacons are married men! It was so wonderful to learn that a family man like me could receive the Holy Order! I called my wife and joyfully informed her about this great discovery. I told her that I eagerly would like to enroll in the Diaconate Program. One of the requirements to be enrolled in the Diaconate Program was the approved signature of the wife of the candidate. Van had already known my desire to consecrate my life to God when we first met, so on hearing my request she gladly agreed on the spot! That was the beginning of my greatest journey.
In the early afternoon of Thanksgiving Day, November 23, 1995, along with my wife, I went to the Lavang Church in Portland, Oregon, to see Father Vincent Cao Dang Minh and ask him to refer me to the Diaconate Program. Father Minh agreed immediately. According to the program, the diaconate candidate must have a Master’s Degree in Theology. Father Cao Dang Minh was very supportive. He even asked for a scholarship for me. I would have paid twenty thousand dollars for the tuition but I did not have that amount.
In my heart, I already knew that with my limited capability, I would never pass the academic formation. How could I be ordained? I was in my 50’s and knew very limited English. So how could I get along with my class-mates engineers, lawyers, judges? Despite all these difficulties, I still enrolled in the program because my desire was so great that I dreamed the impossible would become possible.
My Heart Arrhythmia
I have heart arrhythmia. This problem started from the time I was in re-education camp. Sometimes I would feel the irregular beats.
In the winter of 1982, I was in the camp’s clinic because my health had deteriorated. One of my problems was insomnia. One evening before we were locked up in the room, my fellow prisoner in-charge of the clinic told me, “Let me inject you this medication, which will give you a good sleep tonight.” After the injection, we were locked behind the closed doors, my heart beat so strong and so fast that I was afraid my chest would explode. I did not know what to do and only called from God for help using the rosary, which was blessed by the Saint Pope John Paul II. This was the gift Mr. Nguyen Van Man, my godfather gave me, the night I was baptized. During those days, once the prison doors were locked, if there was any emergency the prisoner should shout loudly so that the communist cadre would come. I shouted and shouted loudly but nobody came. I thought that if my heart continued beating this hard and fast it would suddenly stop. After a while, about one hour I went to the restroom. It was quite strange that my heart was back to normal, like a calm sky after the storm.
After this incident, sometimes I feel my heart jumping in my chest. The fear of a sudden death has come to my mind once in a while.
One day in 1983, on the way to hard labor in a valley near Nam Ha Camp, my heart started jumping. I was so sad thinking this was my last days on earth.
I shared this sadness with Mr. Nguyen Phat Loc, my close friend in camp. He was my source of consolation in prison. Before the fall of Saigon, Mr. Loc was the Minister of the Intelligence Department. He knows how to read palms and tell the future by the ancient Chinese method called Tu Vi. I lamented to Mr. Loc that perhaps I would die in prison. Under the shade of the tree during the hot noon time, in the middle of the valley jungle, Mr. Loc told me,” Don’t be worried, you will fly like a bird later on. When you meet the Pope, remember to give him the song – “O Coeur Tres Saint De Jesus”.”
When I resettled in the US in 1991, I would fly in planes regularly. In 1993, I flew to Chicago to attend the World Youth Day and I was able to submit the song to the Pope.
a few months latter I received this letter from The Vatican:
In 1998 I went to Germany with the poet Du Tu Le and composer Tu Cong Phung. We resided at the home of Mr. Pham Van Chinh. I spent the nights with Mr. Chinh’s son, and I had one more serious heart episode. I was so afraid, not only for me but also for Mr. Chinh because if something happened to me, it would put Mr. Chinh in a difficult situation.
The Vietnamese Composers:
Văn Phụng, Song Ngọc, Nam Lộc, Phạm Duy, Hoàng TRọng, Nhật Bằng, Ngô Thuỵ Miên, Nguyễn Túc, Vũ Thành An, Từ Công Phụng
Returning home I went to a heart specialist, and he gave me a device to monitor my heart beat. In 24 hours, it recognized more than forty thousand irregular beats! I have taken heart medication from then on. I’ve tried different brands of medication since each kind only works for a few months and my doctor must prescribe another one. I remember Dr. Spears prescribed for me the medication named Amiadorone. This one was not good since it affected my lungs and my kidneys. I had no choice but to use it. It was better to die later than to die now. Taking Amiadorone for about three years, I got to know the bad side effects of this drug. In summer 2002, at the World Youth Day in Toronto, Canada, I visited Niagara Falls. On the way back, my face became red like a boiled shrimp! It was a side effect of the Amiadorone.
Sometime in 2003, I changed my doctor. My new doctor was Dr. Stelich. She was worried about the Amiadorone so she prescribed for me a new one, Metropolol which used to help high blood pressure. She said that this drug was safer than Amiadorone. It was fortunate that my heart beat was normal when I started using this new medication. Dr. Stelich and I were very happy about the effects and I have been taking it ever since. If I had not stopped taking Amiadorone I am afraid of what could be happening to me right now? I think it was Saint Therese who helped me through Dr. Stelich.
In 1997, because of my heart problem, I told Father Vincent Minh that I will discontinue with the Diaconate Program. He was very upset since he had not only introduced me to the Archdiocese but also found a scholarship for me to take the theology courses at the University of Dallas by taking classes in Portland. My two classmates were Deacon Harold Burke Sivers and Deacon Brian Diehm.
After my heart became stable, I wanted to go back to the program. One day I called Deacon John Ries who was the Associate Diaconate Director of the Archdiocese of Portland, asking him whether my file was still open. He said yes. I was so glad hearing that.
In 1998, I was accepted for Discernment Year. One of the requirements was for the aspirants to attend classes with their spouses. Van, my wife, could not understand English but she still tried to attend classes with me. After a few months, I asked Father Huneger who was the director of the program the permission for my wife to just stay at home. He granted my petition. Deacon John Ries was not happy about that, but had to accept the fact even if my wife continued coming to classes she would not have understood a thing. This was a sign of the generosity of God to bless me to become a deacon.
While we were taking these classes my heart had many irregular beats. Only my wife, Van, shared my worry. I passed the Discernment Year and I was installed reader and acolyte.
According to the program I must get the Master of Theology degree. To get this degree, one must attend classes for at least three years. I told Deacon Vern Korchinski, a member of the Diaconate Board, that I would need at least five or six years for the degree since my English was not good.
It was fortunate that the Formation for Deacon in the Archdiocese of Portland an exception was given to Hispanic Deacons. They only needed an equivalent education. I was the first Vietnamese aspirant in the program so Archbishop John G. Vlazny granted me this exception. This was one more sign of the special blessing from God. Right from the beginning I knew that I would never have been ordained deacon since I didn’t have much ability. Being in the program was my honor and I was very happy about that.
One more incident happened which showed the great providence from God was the day I was accepted into the Candidacy year. For the final year of the program, a man, who was the successor of Father Vincent Minh in 2001, tried to stop me. I will not mention his real name and refer to him as the successor. One day, Deacon John Ries told me that the successor went to the Archdiocese and reported something bad about me. He said that I was not worthy of being a deacon. I was so depressed upon hearing this news. I tried so hard for so many years and now just because of some bad accusation with no proven evidence my dream would end.
I was sure that the successor only heard rumors about me but did not have any evidence. I requested for a meeting with my accuser for him to prove my unworthiness. The Archdiocese granted my request. When I came to the meeting which was held in the office of Saint Rose Parish in Portland, Oregon, the pastor, Father Huneger was typing the report. About twenty minutes after the appointed time, everybody in the meeting including father Huneger, father Luan Tran and Deacon John Ries agreed to dismiss the case since my accuser did not show up.
Everything was back to normal and I was accepted into the Candidacy Year!
Once again, God bestowed on me a great blessing. I was very unworthy but with a sincere heart I followed our Lord, with complete trust in His Mercy.
Ordination Day, November 23, 2002
I was ordained on Saturday November 23, 2002, at 11 am at Saint Mary Cathedral, Portland, Oregon, by Archbishop John G. Vlazny. I was assigned to Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in Southeast Portland. Almost one year later I submitted my petition to become a priest to the Archbishop of Portland with the encouragement of my pastor, Father Amancio Rodriguez. I professed to the Archbishop that I have not had sexual intercourse with my wife since the day I was ordained deacon.
The Archbishop of Portland denied my petition.
In 2012 I also brought my appeal to the Bishop of Thanh Hoa Diocese, Bishop Joseph Nguyen Chi Linh. He did not deny it immediately but he hesitated because I am a married man.
The Establishment of Teresa Charities
In 2002, I attended the World Youth Day in Toronto, Canada. I sold a lot of my musical CDs, most of them sacred songs. I knew that I could not use the money from those CDs for myself. I had to do something for the poor. First, I contacted Father Joseph Dinh Huy Huong, my spiritual director, who was in Vietnam, asking him to establish some libraries for children. A few months later I focused on the elderly. I would like to help them with their basic need like rice etc. I announced on the radio that with only USD $2 we could help an elder have two meals daily for the whole month. I got a lot of donations after this announcement. In the beginning, in 2002, there were only thirty recipients in the Cai Nhum Holy Cross Adorer Sisters through the collaboration of Sister Martha Phan Thi Tuyet Hong. The number increased rapidly. In 2004, Teresa Charities officially incorporated. In 2005, three years after the start, the number of recipients reached five thousand. The highest number was in 2009 with almost fifteen thousand. These elders received 10 kg of rice monthly. After 2009 the donations decreased in half and at the same time the price of rice became four times more expensive in 2013. As I am writing this Teresa Charities still strives to maintain this service.
I was very impressed when viewing a video clip on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSUZ6DlgNMk&feature=youtu.be An old lady expressed the appreciation to the “Order of Teresa.”
One day in 2005, I brought the flyer about the program to a store in Portland, Oregon. Mr. Nguyen Phu Duc, the owner, said to me, “The Teresa Order is really doing good things.” From this comment I thought: Why not establish a religious order to serve the ministry longer? We have been collaborating with different Catholic religious orders and even the Buddhist monks and nuns to serve the elders in more than 300 locations all over Vietnam from North to South . Why not have a religious order of our own to do this ministry wholeheartedly? We already have the Charism: the Little Way of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus and the ministry serving the elderly. With these two unique projects I was convinced that sooner or later the Teresa Religious Order will be recognized by the Church. Time is needed for this dream to come true; it would take twenty years or so.
When I first attended the classes of the Diaconate Program I thought that I was but a sinful man with very limited ability, especially in the English language. More over, I was already of mature age, fifty years old. I never expected that one day I would be ordained Deacon. But, our Lord is so generous that he ordained me after seven years of trying my best to follow Him constantly and patiently.
Once more, I trust in the infinite generosity of our Lord. I am a very unworthy man, a married one at that, but I dared to found a religious order: The Family of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus. In 2005, I was brave enough to submit a report to the Archbishop of Portland in Oregon about the activities of Teresa Charities and asked him to start the Family of Saint Therese. While waiting for his response, through radio broadcasting talk shows, I invited people to join this organization to serve the elderly. I was very happy that I got a big turn out. I received many enrollment applications from around the country, some of which were from religious groups other than Catholic. We officially formed two big groups, one in Portland, Oregon, and one in Houston, Texas. All of the members in Houston are Vietnamese, headed by Deacon Joseph Bach Si Nguyen. This group has regular meetings. Each year, since 2004, the Houston Family has organized fundraising dinners usually during the time of the Feast of Saint Therese, October 1. Thousands of guests attend the event and donations have always been big, almost a hundred thousand dollars each time. There are two groups in the Portland Family: a Vietnamese-speaking group and an English-speaking group. Besides these main groups, we have smaller groups: Dallas, Texas Family; Tennessee, Ohio Family; Lafayette, Louisiana Family.
I contacted Father Anton Vu Duc Tu in the Thanh Hoa Diocese and Sister Maria Nguyen Thi Thu Huong in the Bui Chu Diocese, asking them to collaborate with me in establishing the Family of Saint Therese in these places. They accepted gladly. A little time after that, the Families were formed in Dalat Diocese and Hue Diocese. I was assigned to serve as Deacon in Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in Southeast Portland, where there is a big Filipino community. Through faithfulness of our Filipino friends, especially Ms. Lisa Arnaldo, the coordinator, I have had the opportunity to serve some elderly in Quezon City since 2005. After four years of continuous communicating, the Archbishop of Portland in Oregon, John G. Vlazny, signed the decree recognizing the Family of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus as a Private Association of the Faithful on December 8, 2009, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
This was great news. I had thought that it would take at least twenty years or more for our Family to be accepted. What a beginning! From now on we could reach to further our horizons in the Kingdom of God. More than a month later the Bishop of Dalat Diocese in Vietnam permitted the Family to have activities in his Diocese by a decree signed on January 12, 2010:
DALAT DIOCESE
9 Nguyen Thai Hoc
Dalat- Lam Dong
Peter Nguyen Van Nhon
Bishop of Dalat Diocese
After studying the Statutes of The Family of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, a private association of the faithful:
According to the Decree of Archbishop John G. Vlazny, Archbishop of Portland in Oregon , USA, signed on December 8, 2009 recognizing the Family of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus as a private association of the faithful.
According to 298 and 299 of Canon Law, I permit The Family of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus to have activities in Dalat Diocese.
Dalat, January 12, 2010
Signed & Sealed
Peter Nguyen Van Nhon
Bishop of Dalat Diocese
Signed
Rev. Anton Nguyen Duc Khiet
Chancellor
The Archbishop of Hue Diocese recognized the Family on August 6, 2011:
Catholic Church
Archdiocese of Hue
6 Nguyen Truong To
Hue-VIETNAM
DECREE
Recognizing the Family of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus
Based on the Decree of Archbishop John G. Vlazny, Archbishop of Portland in Oregon, USA recognizing the Family of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus signed on December 8, 2009.
Based on The Statutes of the Family of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus approved by Archbishop John G. Vlazny on January 22, 2011.
Based on the Canon Law 298, 299.
I approve for the Family of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus to have activities in Hue Archdiocese according to its Statutes.
Archdiocese of Hue
The Feast of Transfiguration
August 6, 2011
Signed & Sealed
Stephano Nguyen Nhu The
Archbishop of Hue Diocese
Signed
Rev. Duong Quynh
Chancellor
The Bishop of Bui Chu Diocese recognized the Family on October 1, 2012:
Bui Chu Diocese
Xuan Ngoc – Xuan Truong – Nam Dinh
DECISION
Recognizing the Family of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, a private association in Bui Chu Diocese
Based on the Decree recognizing the Family of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus as a private association of the Faithful signed by the Archbishop John G. Vlazny Archbishop of Portland in Oregon on December 8, 2009.
Based on The Statutes of the Family of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus approved by Archbishop John G. Vlazny on January 22, 2011.
Based on Canon Law 298 and 299.
I approve for the Family of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus to have activities in Hue Archdiocese according to its Statutes.
Bui Chu Diocese October 1, 2011
The Feast of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus
Signed & Sealed
Joseph Hoang Van Tiem
Bishop of Bui Chu Diocese
The wonderful news for the Family was that the Bishop of Thanh Hoa Diocese not only recognized the Family but also permitted its members to wear uniform and profess their promises of three Evangelical Counsels on November 17, 2011.
THANH HOA DIOCESE
50 NGUYEN TRUONG TO
THANH HOA CITY – VIETNAM
PERMISSION
Based on the Decree of the Archbishop John G. Vlazny, Archbishop of Portland in Oregon, USA signed on December 8, 2009, recognizing the Family of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus as a private association of the faithful, founded by Rev. Mr. Vu Thanh An, a Deacon in his Diocese.
Based on the Decree of the Archbishop Stephano Nguyen Nhu The Archbishop of Hue Diocese signed on August 6, 2011, recognizing the Family of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus in Hue Archdiocese.
Based on the quality of the trying activities of the Family of Saint Therese for the last three years.
Based on the Canon Law 298 and 299.
I officially recognize and permit the Family of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus to have activities in the territory of Thanh Hoa Diocese.
This decision is valid until the end of my term as Bishop of Thanh Hoa Diocese.
Diocese of Thanh Hoa
November 11, 2011
Signed & Sealed
Joseph Nguyen Chi Linh
Bishop of Thanh Hoa Diocese
One more piece of marvelous news for the Family was that on November 2, 2012, in the meeting at Bui Chu Diocese Office, between the Bishop of Bui Chu Joseph Hoang Van Tiem, Sister Maria Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, Dominican Sisters in Phu Nhai and I, Bishop Joseph had agreed for members of the Family of Saint Therese in Bui Chu to wear a uniform and profess their Three Evangelical Counsels. After the meeting, Bishop Joseph guided Sister Maria and I to Nghia Duc Parish to hand over a big house for the Family to use as the Mother House. A few weeks later he transferred us to Phuong Chinh Parish. A community of the Family of Saint Therese has served there ever since.
On paper the Family of Saint Therese in Bui Chu and Thanh Hoa was only Private Association of The Faithful but in reality we are already a religious community.
A longtime ago in the tradition of the Catholic Church there was the story of St. Francis:
In 1209, Francis led his first eleven followers to Rome to seek permission from Pope Innocent III to found a new religious Order.[18] Upon entry to Rome, the brothers encountered Bishop Guido of Assisi, who had in his company Giovanni di San Paolo, the Cardinal Bishop of Sabina. The Cardinal, who was the confessor of Pope Innocent III, was immediately sympathetic to Francis and agreed to represent Francis to the pope. Reluctantly, Pope Innocent agreed to meet with Francis and the brothers the next day. After several days, the pope agreed to admit the group informally, adding that when God increased the group in grace and number, they could return for an official admittance. The group was tonsured.[19] This was important in part because it recognized Church authority and prevented his following from possible accusations of heresy, as had happened to the Waldensians decades earlier. Though Pope Innocent initially had his doubts, following a dream in which he saw Francis holding up the Basilica of St. John Lateran (the cathedral of Rome, thus the ‘home church’ of all Christendom), he decided to endorse Francis’ Order. This occurred, according to tradition, on April 16, 1210, and constituted the official founding of the Franciscan Order.[1] The group, then the “Lesser Brothers” (Order of Friars Minor also known as the Franciscan Order), preached on the streets and had no possessions. They were centered in Porziuncola, and preached first in Umbria, before expanding throughout Italy.[1]
According to this story, at first Pope Innocent had not yet officially recognized the Community of Francis as a religious order but he permitted the group to be tonsured in 1209. The recognition decree was only signed a year later in 1210. The same story happened to the Family of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus. The act of permission for the members of the Family of Saint Therese to wear uniform and profess their promise of Three Evangelical Counsels in 2011 was the sign for the Family to be a de facto religious community or consecrated community from that time on. We firmly believe that the Family will be officially recognized by decree of the Church in the future. The members of the Family have in fact lived, done the service and been trained as religious.
The successor of the Archbishop John G. Vlazny of Portland, Archbishop Alexander K. Sample, signed the letter on April 29, 2013:
In this letter there were two important factors: (1) Teresa Charities belongs to the Family of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus. (2) Teresa Charities has the permission to have a religious worker from Vietnam. These factors would help the Ministry of Teresa with the opportunity to develop greatly in the future.
The Establishment of the De Facto Religious Community:
The Thanksgiving Mass for the first seven members of the Family of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus of Thanh Hoa Diocese to profess their Three Evangelical Counsels was celebrated by the Bishop of Thanh Hoa Diocese, Bishop Joseph Nguyen Chi Linh. He blessed the uniforms, the veils and witnessed the profession of the members. He stated that this was a historical day for the Family of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus in Thanh Hoa Diocese, the consecrated community.
From this great event some members of other religious communities joined the Family. They were living in the community and being trained to prepare for the profession day of the following year 2012. There were some members of the Dominican Sisters of Thai Binh Diocese among the candidates to make the promise. So the Bishop of Thai Binh Diocese, Bishop Peter Nguyen Van De called Bishop Joseph Nguyen Chi Linh to ask about the matter. This happened only a few days before the set date of the profession Mass on October 30, 2012.
In the afternoon of October 27, I was in Hanoi after a seven day retreat for the candidates in Chau Son Abbey when I got the call from Father Anton Vu Duc Tu. He said that Bishop Joseph had summoned us to meet him at the Diocese Office the next morning October 28. I knew that there were some obstacles awaiting us. I rushed to Thuong Chieu Parish, Thanh Hoa Diocese, where the Thanksgiving Mass for the profession would be held in the next two days. We drove six hours through wind and heavy rain. It was forecast that a big storm was coming. The next morning, father Anton Vu Duc Tu and I went to the Diocese Office where the seminarians were using staffs to hold up the trees in the Diocese courtyard for fear that they would be knocked down by the storm the next day.
In the meeting, Bishop Joseph informed us that he would permit the declaration of the promise of the candidates who resided outside of Thanh Hoa Diocese if they had the permission of their local bishops. In the future he would only accept candidates who had residential enrollment in Thanh Hoa Diocese Territory. Among the candidates to make the promise were two from the Diocese of Bui Chu and three from the Diocese of Thai Binh.
Back at Thuong Chieu Parish that afternoon, I had a fever and severe back pain. The storm was coming with strong winds. The power was out and my cellphone battery was almost empty. Even so, I called the unfortunate candidates who would be refused to profess. They were crying. How could they get the permission of their bishops in less than thirty-six hours in this kind of weather? They only had the afternoon of October 28 and, the whole day of October 29, because the profession day was set for October 30. I encouraged them and pushed them to go to their bishops in spite of the difficulties. I told them that I would give them money to go by taxi. They obeyed and went into the storm. Ms. Duyen and Ms. Sen went to Bui Chu late night of October 28. Bishop Joseph Hoang Van Tiem gladly saw them and said that he would sign the permission the next morning. The other three candidates were not so fortunate. Ms. Mo, Ms. Giang and Ms. Xuyen were stuck in the middle of the storm. They had to stay the night of October 28 in a good Samaritan’s residence by the street because no one could move in the dark with trees falling all over. Lying in Thuong Chieu Parish, I followed-up on each one of them; all I could do was pray to God for them. It was fortunate that my cellphone was still working until I got the news that all of them were safe before midnight. The next morning the three candidates managed to get to the Thai Binh Diocese Office. Bishop Peter Nguyen Van De refused to sign the permission and said that the candidates only needed the signature of their pastors. One more obstacle for the candidates. They went through the storm to reach their pastors. In the end, they got what they needed and happily rushed to Thuong Chieu Parish in the evening to prepare for the profession the next day. It took them five hours to go the distance of 100 miles by car. The storm was dying down.
When they had almost reached their destination at about 9 pm, I got the call from Bishop Joseph Nguyen Chi Linh. He told me that the Bishop Peter had not signed the permission, which meant that he was not happy with the matter. So Bishop Joseph decided that the candidates from Thai Binh Diocese better not profess their promise this time. He advised that they should be patient and wait one more year. If their names were in the list of residents of Thanh Hoa Province, he would gladly permit them to make the promise next year. When the candidates reached Thuong Chieu Parish, I informed them of the bad news. All of them cried bitterly. I did not know what to do but I consoled them, asking them to be patient and obedient.
The Mass for the profession the following day went well. It was wonderful that the weather was back to normal after the storm. The sky was blue and the sun shone brightly. During lunch after the Mass, Bishop Joseph Nguyen Chi Linh used the name of The Society of Apostolic Life in referring to the Family of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus. This meant that in paper the Family is only a Private Association of the Faithful, but in the Bishop’s heart it is a religious community. I was not totally happy because there were three candidates who were not accepted. I prayed to God for a way to help them. They had left the Dominican Order, which is a big religious order, because they trusted in the Family of Saint Therese. They were now put in a very difficult situation. They could not return to their original community and at the same time the acceptance to the Family the next year was not for sure. I also understood the loss of the Dominicans because they had trained their members for so many years and now suddenly some of them just left to join another community. These ladies have only professed their temporary vows. Once the one-year term of the vows end, they would be free to join another community. The next morning, November 1, 2012, I left Thuong Chieu Parish for Phu Nhai Bui Chu Province, where I asked Sister Mary Thu Huong to contact the Bishop of Bui Chu, Bishop Joseph Hoang Van Tiem. Bishop Joseph agreed to meet with us the following morning at 8 am. After a few words of greeting I asked Bishop Joseph for permission for the members of the Family of Saint Therese of Bui Chu Diocese to wear uniform and promise their three Evangelical Counsels. There was not a minute of waiting. He granted it on the spot!. Perhaps he knew the situation because just two days before he had signed permission for two members of Bui Chu to join the Thanh Hoa Family. I believed that the Family of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus in Bui Chu had always been in the Bishop’s heart because right after granting the permission he led Sister Mary Thu Huong and I to Nghia Duc Parish to turn over to us a big house to use as Teresa Center! A few weeks later he transferred us to another place, Phuong Chinh Parish, where the members have been residing ever since.
In the afternoon of November 2, 2012, before leaving I told Bishop Joseph that the following year I would introduce to him the members of the Family. That was the last time I was with the big-hearted Bishop. He passed away suddenly a few months later. I pray that in heaven Bishop Joseph will intercede for the Family of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, for his heritage to more stable and developed.
With the permission of Bishop Joseph Hoang Van Tiem, I accepted some of the candidates to make their promises and wear their uniform. Among them were the three candidates who had been denied in Thanh Hoa Diocese. Some priests and nuns told me that I should not accept members who left other religious communities to join the Family. They argued that these ladies must have had some problems with their original community. But I had another idea. We should support these vocations, and give them another opportunity to serve.
No one is perfect; all of us have problems. For me, if one wants to offer one’s life to God, and especially if one wants to be obedient, ready to be trained, then one should be accepted to the Family of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus. These persons had been trained and had lived the consecrated life for a while. They are assets of the Church. From the time of the establishment in 2005 up to 2014, there are about a third of the members of the Family who have left the community for some reason or another. But two-thirds remain and are still living the vocation in the Family. By the grace of God, the Family now continuous to with some experienced members coming from other religious orders.
To give the Family the opportunity to be stable and to expand, Bishop Joseph Nguyen Chi Linh of Thanh Hoa Diocese gave the Family a piece of land in Quan Xa Parish with an old church.
After Thanh Hoa Family received the Quan Xa Church, the Phu Ly Family has accepted some members of other communities. Bishop Joseph Hoang Van Tiem approved our petition to have a special course of three months in Phu Nhai for new candidates to prepare for the official enrollment to the Family. The retired Archbishop of Hanoi , Archbishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet presided over the Mass for new members to profess their promise to the three Evangelical Counsels on October 30, 2013
The Dream to establish on International Private Association
The Family of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus has been officially recognized as a private association of the faithful in Portland, Oregon, USA, in 2009. Teresa Charities which belongs to the Family has activities in the United States of America, Vietnam, the Philippines, Tanzania, and Colombia. We have a dream of establishing the Family as an International Association, recognized by the Holy See. I presented this dream to Archbishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet in Chau Son Abbey, Ninh Binh Province on the afternoon of October 27, 2013. He showed me how to realize this dream; Carefully preparing the statutes and establishing the Mother House in Hanoi Archdiocese or Thanh Hoa Diocese.
4 pm on October 27, 2013 with Archbishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet at Chau Son Abbey.
The Archbishop of Hanoi, Archbishop Peter Nguyen Van Nhon told me that he supported my dream of having about an International Association during meeting at his office in the afternoon of November 5, 2013. He showed me how to operate such an organization and advised me to go to the Bishop of Thanh Hoa to ask for a Mother House in his Diocese.
In the morning on November 7 at Thanh Hoa Diocese Office, after hearing my report about the encouragements and approvals I got from Archbishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet and Archbishop Peter Nguyen Van Nhon, the Bishop of Thanh Hoa, Bishop Joseph Nguyen Chi Linh, agreed that I should start the procedure to establish the International Private Association. In the following days, I received more approvals from the Archbishop of Hue and Bishop of Thai Binh.
With the approval of the Retired Archbishop of Hue Archdiocese Archbishop Francis Xavier Le Van Hong, Archbishop Stephen Nguyen Nhu The accepted my invitation to be the spiritual director of the Family of Saint Therese of Hue Diocese and also the advisor for the Board of Spiritual Directors of the would-be International Private Association.
With Archbishop Stephen Nguyen Nhu The at noon on November 15 at An Truyen Parish – Hue Diocese
After attending the rice distribution in An Truyen Parish at noon on November 15, 2013, I was not feeling well and had a fever, perhaps because of food poisoning. Even though I was not so well, I left Hue for Kim Doi Parish at about 4 pm as scheduled. I did not want to fail all the elders who waited for me. I knew my health condition so at noon I called Father Tran An to cancel the event planned for the next day in La Vang. I could not endure a long day with many activities because I still had a ten day trip to the Philippines on my schedule.
Starting from Hue Diocese Office we left for Kim Doi Parish under heavy rain. We drove on the road along the river side. The water already reached up to the brim of the road. During the Mass I was trembling and could not stay put in my seat. I prayed to God for a safe journey. I still had a lot to do in the Philippines the following week. The Mass ended and I insisted to the pastor that we should leave quickly. I knew that all the elders and guests were somewhat disappointed because we could not have dinner with them. On the way back to Hue, the rain was even heavier and everywhere the water completely covered everything. Many cars stopped in the middle of the road because water entered their engines. The driver tried his best to guess where the road was and where the rice field was, and drive on the right path. I told all the folks in the car, “Let us go in faith.” The car felt like it was flowing on the river and the water already leaked into the car. The floor was full of water but the car kept going! Reaching the Diocesan office, no other car was on the street but ours. I was exhausted when I opened the door of my room. I thought I was about to pass out. I managed to make it to my bed. I called Father Vincent Tran Van Duong in the Sacred Heart Order nearby. He came with a candidate named Mr. Vy. After checking my condition, Mr. Vy waded through flooded streets to get medication for me. It was fortunate that the fever had broken the next day.
God had saved me from danger. If the car had stopped on the way home, what would have happened to me since no one could have brought me medicine that night when water covered a vast area.
I reached the Philippines on the night of November 24, 2013. Because of super typhoon Haiyan I changed my schedule. I wanted to visit the locations most damaged by this disaster which claimed thousands of lives.
At 11 am on November 25, 2013, we visited the Bishop of Cubao, Bishop Ongtioco. Going with me there were Lisa Arnaldo, FAST Coordinator in the Philippines, Father Angelito Ancla, CMF, parish priest of the Immaculate heart of Mary Parish, and the members of Age of Legacy Ministry of the parish. I offered the Bishop eighty thousand pesos for the typhoon victims. The Bishop expressed his appreciation for the generosity of the Vietnamese people.
Deacon An Vu, Bishop Ongtioco and Father Angelito Ancla
Bishop Ongtioco, Luisa Arnaldo and Deacon An Vu
Rice distribution on the afternoon of November 25, 2013, at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish
The Family of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus in the Philippines 2013
Early morning on November 26, Ms. Luisa Arnaldo and I left Manila for the typhoon area. The plane landed at Cebu airport at 8:30 AM. We took the boat and reached Ormoc City at 4 pm. The city was greatly damaged. No house was spared. No leaves were on the trees. The electricity was out. No one expects the power to be restored within the year.
I left a grant to buy food for the people here and planned to continue to help in the future.
Back in Manila, I visited the Bishop of Novaliches, Bishop Tobias, on November 28 . The evening of the same day, I had the privilege to hear Father Lito and members of the Age Legacy Ministry sing the first carols of the Christmas season of 2013. This was quite an honor for a sinful man like me.
Before leaving the Philippines for the US, I had a meeting with Father Lito, Father Educ and Luisa Arnaldo. We planned for future activities. We agreed to expand the ministry to some other countries with the help of the Claretian Fathers. We talked about the gathering of members of the Family in the Philippines. It is easy for members from Vietnam and the US to come to the Philippines. If God wills it, we would have representatives from countries like Tanzania, Congo, Colombia, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Indonesia, India, East Timor, Cambodia. Along with the US, Vietnam and the Philippines, we would have twelve representatives all together. What a great number!
In the meeting with the Archbishop of Portland on March 20, 2014, at the Pastoral Center, Archbishop Alexander K. Sample agreed that we should have the International Mission and Assembly in the Philippines in 2015. He mentioned the prospect of petitioning for recognition from the Holy See for the International Association for the Family of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus and the Mother House, which would be in Portland. He hoped that he could attend the assembly and the Emeritus Archbishop John G. Vlazny would be glad to attend also, since he had first recognized the Family in 2009.
The set date for the Mission and Assembly is October 19 to 29, 2015.
Invitation to Ask God for his Sanctifying Grace
There was an old man who bought a one-week cruise ticket. He brought with him cooked rice and sesame salt on board.
At mealtime, when everyone gathered to enjoy different delicious seafood dishes, this old man quietly went back to his room, closed the door, and ate his cooked rice with sesame salt.
Everyone though it was strange, yet thought that he was allergic to seafood.
On the last day of the journey, a young man was brave enough to approach the old man curiously asked, “Why did you eat only this cooked rice and sesame salt? Do you have some kind of disease that makes you refrain from eating seafood?”
The old man answered, “I am not sick but I am too poor to afford such delicious seafood dishes, though I am dying for those foods.”
The young man then said, “Oh, sir! The ticket you bought already include the food and every entertainment they serve on board. Unfortunately, it’s now time to leave the ship.
The old man felt sorry for his ignorance. It was too late to taste the different delicious seafood dishes and enjoy the pleasures on board.
God said, “Be holy as your Holy Heavenly Father” (Mt 5:48).
Since we were born, God has granted us many chances to be holy, i.e., to become saints.
Do not be like the old man in the story who missed the opportunity to enjoy what he was supposed to have on his cruise.
St.Therese of the Child Jesus before entering the Carmel Convent at Lisieux was an ordinary girl. Yet, she had been longing to become a saint. She entered the convent with a firm determination to achieve this dream.
With God’s grace, she had found for herself a quick and easy way to become a saint, The Little Spiritual Way or the Little Way of Love. She practiced this Little Way and succeeded. It was only a few years later that she was acknowledged as a Doctor of the Church by practicing such a Loving Little Way.
Let’s ask for God’s sanctifying Grace and make it a goal for our life. Asking for God’s sanctifying grace helps us to take everything of this earthly world easy. Money, power and position are things which usually bring people to hurt. Asking for God’s sanctifying grace is a goal that helps us to take things lightly and even endure sufferings, sufferings which one would rather dodge than encounter. Asking for God’s sanctifying grace is a goal that helps us always have peace and happiness.
In order to become a doctor, we have to take an entrance exam into medical school. There we have to be trained in theory, experiments, and have to pass qualified tests to graduate. In order to become a saint, we have to enter a convent, an institute, or a congregation to study the secrets of being a saint. Together we practice those secrets and have to be tested by challenges in order to forge our determination to become saints.
We invite each of you to join our Family of St. Therese of the Child Jesus. Together we build our daily life and together we strive to be saints, just like St. Therese.
Joining the Family of St. Therese, you will be guided to study the way to become a saint of St. Therese. Her method of being a saint is very easy and everybody can practice it, “Doing simple thing with great love.” This is the key, the crucial point of the Little Way of Love. Everyone has his or her simple things to do in any single daily life situation. If each of us does these simple things wholeheartedly, these things make us saints.
Joining the Family of St. Therese, we will all receive God’s grace. The Family of St. Therese is a big Family, wherein God is the Housemaster, St. Therese the Child Jesus is the Steward and each member is the servant. Who do we serve? We serve God in the Elderly.
While we serve using St. Therese’s method, each of us has a chance to become a saint.
What is the meaning of becoming a saint?
Let us use the example of St. Therese when she worked with others at the laundry of the convent. Therese wrote in The Story of a Soul:
Another time, washing handkerchiefs in the laundry opposite a Sister who kept on splashing me with dirty water, I was tempted to set back and wipe my face to show her that I would be obliged if she would be more careful. But why be foolish enough to refuse treasures offered so generously? I took care to hide my exasperation.
I tried hard to enjoy being splashed with my dirty water, and by the end of half an hour, I had acquired a real taste for this novel form of aspersion. How fortunate to find this spot where such treasures were being given away! I would come back as often as I could.
To become a saint is to know how to act in every life situation as a saint.
In certain situations, we act in accord to these ways:
1. Behave as a man or woman.
2. Behave under the evil influence.
3. Behave in accordance with God’s words as a saint.
When dirty water is sprinkled over our faces, we are likely to behave in three ways:
1. As an ordinary person: dodge the dirty water, and remind the one who sprinkled dirty water to stop doing that.
2. As someone who was under the influence of the devil: get angry, and think of paying them back.
3. As a saint: be happy receiving the dirty water and consider it as the shower of God’s grace watering over us. Feeling more love for the one who is sprinkled the dirty water over you.
Love moves the person to perform these acts: In …
Case 1: There is no love or, if there is, it’s rare,
Case 2: There is only hatred;
Case 3: There is only Love, full of grace.
If we are always aware, we are able to behave with the love of a saint, just like St. Therese, in any situation of our life.
How do we acquire such a LOVE in order to behave as a saint?
The easiest way is to implore God.
At the time the Priest invokes the Holy Spirit to come down upon the bread and wine, the consecrated bread and wine through the transformed power of the Spirit, becomes God’s flesh and blood. Let us kneel down, open our mind and heart and with all our faith, ask God to transform us into His saints.
Entering the Family of St. Therese of the Child Jesus in order to become Therese’s little Flowers in the world.
Deacon John Maria Teresa Vũ Thành An.
First Sunday, Nov 28, 2010
October 10, 2002
Dear An Vu
Thank you for sharing your conversion experience with me and others.
As I read it I could feel the sincerity and candor of your heart. I was moved by it. I saw in the story of your life the finger of God guiding you through different steps to dedicate your life to the service of God.
I pray that your ministry as Deacon at Our Lady of Sorrows will be rewarding for you and for all of us. I am glad to have you as my partner in the ministry.
May God bless you.
Fr. Amancio Rodriguez
Pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows parish
Portland, Oregon
Reflection
Deacon Bill Richardson
There are some people in our lives with whom we seem to connect easily from the very beginning. For me. An Vu has been one of those individuals.
I have met few people whose background and life experiences have been more dissimilar than his and mine, and yet, at some deep level, I’ve sensed a closeness, a kinship of spirit since we first met in Portland in the Fall of 1998.
An is Vietnamese, an artist of considerable talent and renowned in his own native country as well as here in the United States, and also a gifted public speaker. We met through a Catholic Church program organized for men who are interested in serving the Church as deacons.
From early on, I was impressed by An’s graciousness and kindness, qualities that emanate from deep inside of his soul. There is a joy and serenity of spirit reflected in his countenance whose source can only be God Himself. It is the product of much suffering, but a suffering that is not displayed outwardly, or readily visible, rather, I suspect, it is one that has been transformed by the profound action and power of divine grace over the course of many years.
What do we truly know about others even friends we’ve known for years? Often not a great deal, unless and until they reveal themselves and allow us to see something of their inner world.
As an artist and songwriter, An Vu expresses himself and the awesome action of God in his life most eloquently through his music. He knows the emptiness, sadness, and desolation of an existence that is limited to the pursuit of pleasure and the adulation that fame brings. So too is he well acquainted with the brutal pain and suffering that human beings can inflict upon one another, justified as “political re-education ” or “building a better and more just society” (he was confined to a Vietnamese prison camp for 10 years shortly after the fall of Saigon in 1975 ).
There are many who grow hardened or cynical after such an experience. By the grace of God, An has taken a different path. It was precisely in the midst of the most awful abandonment and suffering that the transforming power of Jesus Christ in his life began to be manifested, starting, at the invitation of a friend, with the quiet recitation of the “Hail Mary” prayer, and eventually culminating in his request for baptism at the hands of one of his Catholic prison mates in March of 1981.
The horrible fear and intimidation that were a constant threat from prison authorities, not only as he was contemplating this life-changing commitment to Christ and the Catholic Church, but also afterwards as he began to live out the implications of his newfound faith, became not an obstacle or barrier to his commitment, but rather the crucible of purification, strengthening and fortifying him to the point where he would soon, in turn, be able to help and encourage many others along this same path.
And that is what God has been doing with An Vu in the ensuing years: his quiet courage and deep inner peace continue to be a source of inspiration to people who know something of his background, as well as those who meet him for the first time. Beyond that, his God-given talent for music has allowed God to touch the hearts of many more people with the Christian message of hope and new life in Christ.
My friend and fellow-minister An Vu is a vivid reminder of the wonderful power for good that Christ makes available to us if we are willing to surrender our lives to him in total trust, even (and perhaps especially) in the midst of very trying circumstances that life brings our way.
Deacon Bill Richardson, Monroe, Oregon
September,2002
Reflection
Brian Diehm
I don’t suppose many Americans understand who An Vu, or Vu Thanh An as he was known in Saigon up to 1975, really is, or what he represents to the Vietnamese culture. He only hints at his achievements, and modestly leaves the details out, when he says in disparagement “truly, I was somebody in Saigon before 1975.”
An was a popular singer, a troubadour, a balladeer of love songs, and his music — haunting, bittersweet, despairing — spoke of the tortures of romantic love as well as the magnificence of such human passion. Since the American experience has devolved into multiple and separate cultures, one has to go back to an earlier era to find a common American icon of the stature of Vu Thanh An in Vietnam. His fame had the intensity of Elvis’, but his spectrum of appeal was as broad as Frank Sinatra or the Andrews Sisters’ in the 1940s. He was universally known and his music was universally loved.
His music touched a generation, a culture, a people of a time, to a depth and in a way that we perhaps cannot understand. I think his experiences in love somehow matched the experiences of a culture that was also having its heart broken by a devastating civil war. The ideologies, though true, were not enough; the love of humans, though true, was not enough…
To say that An was a popular singer is to slight his achievements at the time. His own life was in disarray, and ultimately his popularity, and his ability to touch the soul of a people, were not enough to bring peace of soul to himself. Still, I believe he was in some way singing of the nobility of the human spirit at its most intense; to convey that, and to share it and celebrate it with an entire people, is an achievement that is not to be dismissed. Affirming the nobility of human dignity is a Godly calling, even if the troubadour did not yet recognize the nature of the call.
Perhaps it is understandable that the family of a young lady in such a society, cautious about marriage plans and careful to map the futures of their well-loved children, would find An an unsuitable suitor. After all, a popular singer was perhaps not an honorable career such as would be a doctor, or a lawyer, or a priest, or even a business man. But these rejections became for An the means of understanding the pain of his own people, and he was able to translate this pain in a way that an entire people understood was speaking the agony of their own souls. And many, through the shared expression of that pain, found comfort. Such a role is not chosen directly; and the abandonment of more “honorable” paths is not a conscious choice. Fate, or something greater, chooses such a one and forms him into something unique.
An tells his story almost as a sketch. We don’t get many of those trivial details that allow us to form images in our mind — or at least it looks that way when we first set out upon his journey as he tells it. But rereading his stark and simple story reveals that he has left nothing out — that is, no part of God in his story is left out, though he may have omitted as unimportant some of his own suffering. The story An tells is not his story, but His “God’s” story, and that is what shines forth in the retelling.
Listen to An describing the upwelling joy of one newly retrieved to Life. His response is all the things he must not do: loud praise, overflowing words, and not least, because An is a man of music of the heart, in songs and singing. The joy surges forth, and it will not be denied.
Like the great mystics of every era, An is describing something that is not describable in the words of any earthly language. He is blessed to touch the mystery, and his whole being is left ringing like a bell. And like a clear bell in a din of cacophony, An’s witness did not go unnoticed. But more, An’s story itself stands witness to the workings of the Holy Spirit. On the Day of Pentecost, the Apostles were hiding in the upper room for fear of the Jewish authorities. The Holy Spirit changed them into singers of the Truth, in every language and right out on the street. Fear was gone, and in its place the Holy Spirit filled them to the bursting with the Good News. And in that Communist hell hole prison in the jungle of North Vietnam, the An who lived in fear of those in charge is baptized in water and Spirit, and he is filled to bursting with the Good News!
Do we really need more details of An’s experience to understand his story? Luke didn’t think so when writing of the Day of Pentecost, and An in relating his story has told only what matters: the Joy of the Lord.
Today, An Vu works to serve the Lord.
This simple statement would be, in the style of his telling his story, enough to carry God’s message. But allow me to fill in some of the gaps that he would, in all humility, not bother mentioning. As I have come to know him, An Vu is a simple man, a humble man, a gracious man, a thoughtful man, a Godly man. He is one of the least self-centered people I know, always taking the conversation away from himself. This is not to say he is a shy man, but rather that the spirit of service is strong in him, and Godly service is never to self.
An operates a radio station in Portland, Oregon that serves the Vietnamese Catholic community throughout the west. He serves in Our Lady of Sorrows parish in the Archdiocese of Portland. He is as of this writing in formation to be ordained a Permanent Deacon in the Catholic Church. And, he composes, performs, and publishes music.
I believe it is still the music that allows An to express his soul. And to me, his musical mission, the love that he communicates through the art, has not fundamentally changed. He is still able to express great love in his music, and his music is still able to touch the soul and express those truths which cannot be put into words, only felt. Through his music, I can achieve a tranquility that comes from my heart having expressed itself.
But in another sense, his music has completely changed as a consequence of that secret baptism in a Communist jail. His music still expresses the nobility of the human spirit, but now it is the completed spirit of the human who is aware of that nobility because it has been completed in God himself. This completing of human nature through touching the divine nature has fulfilled his music as well. Through his music, we can begin to glimpse the magnitude and the glory of the love God has for us. If God’s love shines through An, his music and his story assure us that the same love is also ours for the asking.
Today, An Vu works to serve the Lord.
Vu Thanh An, a Convert: What a Miracle!
Du Tu Le
Years ago, when acknowledging the contributions of Vu Thanh An’s love songs to the world of music, I wrote:
“The years of the Vietnamese youth, the years of Vu Thanh An’s own youth as well, were the years of the late ’60s. When the war had gradually deprived the young chests of so many dawns brightened with the meaning of life; when bombs and bullets had blocked all alleys and paths of the future; when the young Vietnamese from both parts of the country could not see the color of hope and had not tasted the drink of their sweet first love—the drink full of explosive separation, the destructive mercury drink—then, Vu’s love songs entitled The First Love Song and The Untitled Song came into being.
“The emergence of Vu Thanh An’s music immediately turned out to be a response, a compensation for the profound human inadequacies as well as the abyss of abandonment. Yes, the abyss of straying and deviation of youth. Vu Thanh An’s music, therefore, became a source of consolation, of comfort for the young people who were dragging along their gloomy lives. And life, at that time, was merely an immense desperation as worded in Vu’s songs: ‘please try to love people so you can survive’, or ‘then after a while, human life would also end.’
“Vu Thanh An’s music always opens into the horizons of trivial love and trust, no different than the Jewish people of the old days who always looked towards “the Land of Promise,” till the end of their lives. Vu’s music always illuminates a search for survival, a search for cracks in the ocean full of blood and bones. Besides the shattered praises, or the traceless separations, the flame of trust and love of Vu’s music always flickers, always glitters…”
Twelve years ago, when writing: “the flame of love and trust of Vu Thanh An’s music always flickers, always glitters,” I merely wanted to emphasize the evident human love found in his world of love songs. It was beyond my belief that after months and years in Communist prisons, that flame of love and trust had been reinforced by faith in Christ, to become a splendid torch in the sensitive heart of the talented musician.
And to me, besides the fact that Vu Thanh An had received late in life the Call of God, it was his willingness that counted, the undaunted vigor of a succcessful songwriter who is entering his 50s after experiencing so much of weariness and humiliation through his ordinary life. Vu Thanh An, however, had been able to suppress himself, to efface his glamorous fame, in order to complete his theology program over the course of many years.
Eventually, his dedication was compensated for by God. Becoming a disciple of Christ, Vu has voluntarily offered the rest of his life to the love of Christ.
The official conversion to become a preacher of Christian faith for a new follower named Vu Thanh An (a famous artist in his late fifties), to me, is indeed a greater struggle than any other rigorous struggle that an ordinary man can overcome.
This event, that had never happened before among the artist class, has encouraged me to express my respect and admiration towards him.
I understand now, that there is nothing that God cannot make happen.
Moreover, I also understand that, while being imprisoned in the limitations of weak and sinful flesh and bones, not everyone—even those starting from a very early age—can reach the stage of enlightenment that Vu has successfully done.
Translated into English by Thien Nhat Phuong
Reflection
Mr. An Vu’s conversion to Catholicism took place under extraordinary circumstances. God called Mr. Vu while his physical freedom was denied him as a political prisoner. His loss of personal freedom paradoxically helped him to reflect in a deeper way on the spiritual freedom of those who accepted the invitation to become a child of God. Mr. An Vu enthusiastically embraced God’s grace and was received into the Catholic Church by a fellow prisoner. From that moment on, he has learned to say “yes” to God in all things. When his health deteriorated due to a heart condition, he was steadfast in his faith. Gradually, he regained his strength, and, in the process, discovered that anything is possible with faith.
Mr. An Vu’s road to holy order has been an arduous one, but he persevered in the faith and the hope that God would complete in him what he has started. He responded enthusiastically to the call to serve the Church as a deacon. He has never wavered in his belief that God has called in this capacity. The dedication to his intellectual, spiritual, and pastoral formation as a candidate has been inspiring! I am very glad to have played a part in his preparation for order.
Fr. Luan Tran
Pastor of St. Frederic Parish
Vu Thanh An
by Joseph Nguyen Ly Tuong
In 1981, when Vu Thanh An was about to be baptized, some of my friends warned me: “Vu Thanh An is an artist, a musician. Artists have only temporary inspiration; they just follow the calling of their hearts when doing something. This baptism is simply a ‘one-time inspiration.’ After his emotional crisis, he will quit.”
My answer was “The real artist always thirsts for the Truth, the Good, the Beauty. God is the source of all truth, goodness, and beauty. The real artist will recognize God and seek Him. If one runs after evil and lives in greed, then he is not a real artist and will not find God, the source of truth, good, and beauty. If Vu Thanh An is a real artist, he will recognize God, he will find Him.”
Twenty seven years have passed from the time I knew and lived near Vu Thanh An in the communist camps. I have seen his faith grow only stronger and stronger, particularly since 1981.
Vu Thanh An not only believes in God, but he also firmly dedicates his life to serve God and the Church. In prison during 1983, he consecrated his life to the Holy Mother Mary, and began taking part in the International Soldier of Fatima Movement. Upon his release from prison, he came to the United States and entered the formation program for the Diaconate. This is not something that is easy to do. One needs to have a good education to study subjects such as Catechism, the Canon Law, the history of the Church, theology, and administration. Not only is the schooling rigorous, but Vu Thanh An had to show a great degree of dedication to develop his own Catholic spirituality in Faith, Trust, and Charity.
When I was informed that Vu Thanh An is to be ordained a Deacon on November 23, 2002 in Portland, Oregon, USA, I was very glad. I realized that to me, An is exemplified by the areca-nut tree, a coconut tree stretching to the sky with big foliage. An is very tall, taller than the average Vietnamese person such as myself. When I stand beside An, I feel that his presence is stretching, stretching more and more to reach God and the Holy Mother.
I acknowledge that God has blessed Vu Thanh An with special graces. God said, “It is not you who chose me, but I who chose you. It is not you who first love me but I who first loved you.” These graces show the special love that God has blessed An. Together with Vu Thanh An, friends, and relatives in the family, I thank God on the occasion of An’s being called to ordination to the diaconate and I wish Vu Thanh An all the graces which he needs to fulfill the mission which he has been given by God through the Holy Mother, Our Lady of Lavang, Mother of the Vietnamese people.
Joseph Nguyen Ly Tuong
October 1, 2002
The Memorial of Saint Therese of the Infant Jesus, Vu Thanh An’s patroness saint.
Joseph Nguyen Ly Tuong is the fellow prisoner who taught catechism to An, and who arranged his baptism in Room #1, Ha Tay Camp, Ha Son Binh district on March 19, 1981, the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, the patron saint of the Church.
Reflection After 20 Years
On the Occasion of the Diaconal Ordination of Vu Thanh An in the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon
Nguyen Van Hung
In the beginning of the year 1980, the winter was cold. It felt even colder when the series of gongs called everyone to enter their room to be locked in by the Communist cadres. The sounds of the big locks were rigid and cold. Those shivering fear sound, but the prisoners had over time become hardened by the sound of the locks and gongs, and paid no heed. Over the seasons, the prisoners had established for themselves some small evening joys for this time after the locks shut. They gathered themselves in groups beside cups of tea and coffee — the “cups” were recovered food cans. They shared cigarettes given them by their families during visits.
The prisoners told each other their stories: sad histories of their families or the stories of their own wandering lives. Each event that was related, big or small, represented a sadness or gladness, whether simple or great. Each story took its place in the hearer’s souls, whether flashed over like the winter wind or remaining in the soul of a fellow prisoner so that he would never forget. One evening, a night as bright as the starry sky that we could see outside the window, our group shared an overwhelming gladness. We were preparing for the Catholic baptism of Vu Thanh An.
Whenever any prisoner came back to any religion, it seemed to us that he received a divine revelation. Something beyond what we were given to see. The conversion of Vu Thanh An was one of these situations. The Lord has been with him in his everyday life, starting from before his baptism.
Most of us do not treasure what we have had, and always regret what we have lost. An is not that kind of Christian. He is glad for what he has, because he understands that everything he has been given is from God. An understands that limited human ability cannot do anything without the grace of God. And, having realized this, An came to the Lord.
In Christ, he humbly approached some Catholics in the camp. Everyone opened wide their hearts to him. They received him, and shared in his happiness and joy. In turn, An was blessed with relief from his spiritual loneliness. The heartfelt love he had ached for was opened up to him, and it enlivened his heart after long suffering.
God had prepared the path for An becoming a Catholic, in an extraordinary fashion and in the most unlikely time and place. At the time, I wondered whether God had tested him. Since that time, the sacred songs which An has composed, beginning soon before his baptism and continuing until this day, surely show how strong his faith is.
Twenty one years have passed since 1981, from the time An was baptized by his fellow prisoners at Ha Tay camp in North Vietnam to the end of 2002, he is now being ordained a Deacon in the Church. Those twenty one years have passed like the blink of an eye. In those intervening years, An has done many useful things, especially things for Catholics and the Catholic Church.
Since the time of his conversion and baptism, An has written many sacred songs. In the summer of 1995, he published the CD O Therese!, and in the spring of 1996 the CD The Most Holy Mother Mary. In 1996 he vowed to cease writing love songs in order to concentrate on writing Responsorial Psalms used in the Sunday Mass. Also that same year, An began his Diaconate formation program to begin a new life serving the Lord in a more formal way.
In the 20 years since that baptism with his fellow prisoners and friends, some who were present that night have since passed away. I am one who is fortunate to share in his happiness, both on that night so long ago and in his happiness on the occasion of his ordination. On that day long ago, my group assigned me to cut, in secret, a flower from the Communist cadre’s area for An’s baptism, and to cook a sweetened porridge pot, and prepare my place alongside Mr. Do’s in the upper corner where the baptism was to be celebrated. I feared the interrogation I would undergo if the Communists ever discovered the secret of my participation in the event. Considering that An was even at greater risk, I knew and understood his courage and the strength of his faith.
Now in our new land, religion is not forbidden or oppressed. The material life is so abundant that people live lavishly. In such conditions, the trust in God that was once so strong in our people now seems to have grown cold, diminished over time. I myself must admit that I am not as wholehearted in faith as I was when I lived under hash conditions in prison. Vu Thanh An, on the contrary, lives a faith that has become stronger and stronger. I thank An for this opportunity to write this reflection for two reasons. First and foremost because he has given me the privilege of publicly and formally congratulating him on his ordination in this land of vast green pine forests. But also, he has given me a gift: an opportunity to reflect on my own life, and the poor life I have made, so much in contrast to An’s life, from the gift of my own baptism.
He moved from music fame to communist slavery to deep faith
By Ed Langlois
Of the Catholic Sentinel, Portland Oregon July 5, 2013
One of Vietnam’s most famous singer-songwriters from the 1960s and 1970s is now a Catholic permanent deacon, running an outreach to the world’s poor from Oregon. An Thanh Vu, for all his notoriety, spent 10 of his prime years in a brutal communist concentration camp.
People in Vietnam still sing and hum his songs. Known by some as Southeast Asia’s version of John Denver, he now looks at the love ballads he wrote as words of devotion to God, Jesus and Mary, the Mother of God.
“I would like to show the Lord that I love him,” says Vu, 70-year-old deacon at Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in Southeast Portland.
Vu, tall and slim, has established a private association of the faithful named after St. Thérèse of Lisieux. The Archdiocese of Portland officially recognized the Family of St. Thérèse in 2009 and many Vietnamese dioceses have followed suit. The association’s mission is to bring the 19th century French saint’s simple way of spirituality and goodness into the lives of modern people. A charitable outreach offers food, socialization and community organizing to poor elders and disabled people in Vietnam and the Philippines. Support comes largely from 10,000 donors in Oregon and other parts of the U.S. Two years ago, a delegation from Our Lady of Sorrows went to the Philippines to see the ministry in action.
The poverty in the Philippines stunned Vu. “The slums are poor, poor, poor,” he says. “Poorer than in Vietnam.” Trash and flies are everywhere. Families hold on to dead bodies for weeks while they save money to pay for a funeral.
Vu dreams of a group that will continue the ministry after he is gone. He is working to develop a community of priests and nuns. And he’d like to see a center for family ministry in Vietnam that serves seniors full time. Already, various Vietnamese churches serve meals to elders and give bags of rice to take home. Vietnam, though it has a tradition of respect for elders, does not focus public resources to help the elderly. Vu is stepping into the gap.
“Everything started here,” he says, holding out an open hand to present Our Lady of Sorrows. He is grateful for support from the parish and the archdiocese.
He came to Our Lady of Sorrows in 2001 and started the ministry in 2002 with the help of parishioners. He lives not far from Our Lady of Sorrows with his family and is now a grandfather.
As long as the ministry stays shielded within Catholic parishes in Vietnam, authorities tend to leave it alone. Vu’s relations with his home country are complicated, at best,
After the fall of Saigon in 1975, the singer was detained by communist officials because of his democratic leanings. He had become program director for the South Vietnamese radio network, a major source of news and commentary during the war. He was one of government officials and soldiers working until the last minutes of the South Vietnam Republic Regime.
Vu spent 10 years in a prison camp in the jungle. After a decade of fame, money and adoring fans, he was now laboring shoeless in rice fields. “I was like a slave,” he says.
He nearly died from disease that spread among prisoners. His wife abandoned him. Once, during a logging operation in the jungle, a tree trunk struck him in the head, leaving him bedridden for a month. He suffered heart palpitations, but received no medication.
Faith came at a point of despair. Vu heard a fellow prisoner whispering the Hail Mary in the dark of night. He knew the prayer, which he had learned years before from a Catholic girlfriend. He began saying the prayer himself. He slept better and began to feel healed emotionally. He wanted to embrace the faith and began asking around about who in the camp was Catholic. Many emerged, revealing a major Catholic underground.
“My new friends showed their love to me and taught me catechesis to prepare me for my baptism,” he says. After some fearful hesitation, he was baptized secretly in 1981. A former South Vietnamese police major poured the water on his head.
“After the baptism I was overwhelmed by happiness such as I had never imagined,” he says. “Never, ever had I experienced such a joy. I was in prison with terrible living conditions, but I had a true bliss, the feeling that one can only understand if he has faith.”
He began writing songs of faith and sharing them with fellow prisoners. Had he been caught, guards would have put him in chains.
A friend told him the story of St. Therese of Lisieux, a French Carmelite nun who devised a deeply felt and practical approach to the spiritual life. Her writings proposed dependence on God as a little child depends on a parent.
“I kind of fell in love with her right away,” Vu says. He read her books and started writing songs to her, too.
Vu, who speaks Vietnamese, English and some French, was released because of U.S. interventions on behalf of political prisoners. He came to the United States in 1991. Eventually, he began operating a Portland-based Vietnamese Catholic radio station that broadcasts news and recorded Masses. The station is still going.
Archbishop John Vlazny ordained him a deacon in 2002, and within a few years he began the outreach to poor elders overseas.
He has employed St. Therese’s “Little Way” in his ministries. That includes a program through which people can donate just $2 for a supply of rice that will feed an elderly person overseas for a month.
“I was hungry once,” he says. “I know how hunger feels.”
Perhaps he hated his captors 35 years ago. He is not quite sure. But now he thanks God just to be alive. “I never imagined I could be 70 and healthy,” he says.
He visits Vietnam now with mixed emotions. He decides to focus on his ministry to the country’s poor and disabled elderly.
His music helps his ministry. At World Youth Day in Toronto in 2002, for example, he sold CDs and used all the revenue to buy rice for elders. Until recently, Vietnamese officials did not recognize that his songs existed, blocking their distribution. Some fan clubs are trying to remedy that.
He now composes songs that go with his homilies, given at Our Lady of Sorrows, Immaculate Heart and St. James in Vancouver, Wash.
“God has blessed me,” Vu says. “A family, a parish, a ministry. From nothing to so much.”