Posted on 08/12/2007 5:18:01 AM PDT by NYer
CARTHAGE - My siblings and I call it "The Asian Invasion." Every summer during the first weekend of August, tens of thousands of Vietnamese Catholics flock to the small southwest Missouri town of Carthage for a four-day festival to celebrate the Virgin Mary. Vietnamese refugees credit the Catholic icon for their protection and rescue from Vietnam as they fled the country after the Vietnam War.
The Marian Days celebration began in 1978 with only a few hundred people. It takes place every year on the 28-acre campus of the Congregation of the Mother Co-Redemptrix, a Vietnamese order of priests and brothers that has a provincial house in Carthage. The order came from Vietnam in 1975 just after the end of the Asian conflict.
Each year, attendance increases, with the most recent festival, which took place last weekend, besieging the town with more than 70,000 travelers from all over the country - hence the term "invasion." Carthage’s population on any other weekend is just more than 12,000.
The pilgrims camp out on the lawn of the seminary - like a veritable "Godstock" - and book hotels and motels to capacity throughout the region. Church groups from cities with large Vietnamese populations, such as Houston and Kansas City, set up food tents in the festival area.
Festivities include daily Masses, penance ceremonies, benedictions and religious lectures. The peak of the celebration takes place on Saturday during a parade for the Virgin Mary and a fireworks and balloon ceremony. The closing-night Mass is recited in Vietnamese and translated into English as well.
Normally, I zone out during the sermon after the gospel during the Saturday night Mass because my comprehension of the Vietnamese language is minimal. But this year, the sermon began in English, so I listened to the presiding cleric discuss this year’s theme: "The Future."
I looked around at the thousands of people surrounding me and thought how much the festival has changed in just a matter of decades. More than attendance size, the variety of people in attendance has also increased. It was once strange to see a non-Vietnamese person in attendance, which made the workers at the Knights of Columbus food tent seem like outsiders.
But as the families have assimilated into American culture, so has the festival - offering as much boba as bao, and as many fried Twinkies as pho. The concerts, which once featured mostly folk and traditional Vietnamese performances, are dominated by Vietnamese pop acts like Trish Thuy Trang, a Vietnamese Christina Aguilera of sorts.
And there are just as many, if not more, break-dancing circles that form as there are scheduled benedictions. In years past, the clerics have tried offering "holy raves" as part of their youth outreach programs. This year’s effort was an "inTune with Jesus Christ" podcast campaign.
But the balance between social and spiritual isn’t a problem. After all, the entire festival - and religion - is built upon the premise of keeping communities connected. As the years pass, it’s becoming more and more apparent that the festival serves as a way for families to stay connected as well.
My family began attending 28 years ago. As one unit, we traveled more easily from our hometown of Kansas City. But as my siblings and I have grown up, traveling as a family is more difficult. We still manage to come together from St. Louis, Columbia and even Houston for our annual family tradition. Even when we can’t all be there, we know how important it is to have at least four of the six children present with our parents for the event.
As I listened to the sermon, it dawned on me how important this festival is for me and my family as well as the thousands of families surrounding me. I understood how my parents - who at my age were embarking on a whole new life - have found a bridge between Vietnam and America in this event. For four days, they are one.
And for our family, and my fellow first-generation siblings and peers, this event will become one of many new traditions that our parents or grandparents have established for us to build upon.
This celebration for Mary isn’t just about reflecting upon the past. It has changed to focusing on the future in such a way that she is not simply a symbol of salvation but also a matriarchal figure for a growing community of Vietnamese-Americans hoping to find a place they can call home again.
: )
Funny. Carthage. Missouri certainly doesn’t bring Vietnam to mind. Will wonders never cease?
“’Asian invasion’ of faith (in MO) - Vietnamese Catholics celebrate Virgin Mary”
I’m not Catholic...but this works for me.
As I said after 9-11, I’m relatively more happy the USA is being
invaded by Catholics/Christians from south of the USA border...
not by Islamic hordes.
But at least in MO, there seems to be a desire to get an Islamic flod.
Hence the 40,000 to 50,000 Bosnian Muslims settled
by our guvmint in Greater St. Louis.
Heck, they even get their own Bosnian drivers manual
http://www.dor.mo.gov/mvdl/drivers/forms/
http://www.dor.mo.gov/mvdl/drivers/forms/bosguide.pdf
I have found that the local Viernamese and Korean Masses (as well as their faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ and the Mother of God, Mary) are alive and well. All very orthodox.
How nice! Carthage, MO, is also the site of an occasional Civil War reenactment. It’s a convenient stop as you turn north up the west side of Missouri, towards Kansas City.
My pastor said we have the national convention of “Couples for Christ,” the Philippine pro-family organization, going on in Charlotte this weekend. He said Mass for them yesterday.
.
Behold from whence the Freedom-loving Vietnamese came,
...after a post-WATERGATE Democrat Congress cut-off all our funding for them to fight for their own Freedom with during the Vietnam War,
just like another Democrat Congress is pushing hard to do again the now Free Iraqi people in a new time of war with our own Freedom directly at stake right here at home:
Pictures of vietnamese Re-Education (SLAVE LABOR) Camp
http://www.Freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1308949/posts
http://www.Freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1806248/posts
.
Nearly 100 years ago OUR LADY OF FATIMA appeared to warn us of a
coming world wide evil of Communism.
NEVER FORGET those who backed a Communist takeover of a then Free South Vietnam long ago:
HILLARY CLINTON
WILLIAM RODHAM
JOHN KERRY
TED KENNEDY
RAMSEY CLARK
JANE FONDA
TOM HAYDEN
JESSE JACKSON
..and all.
Do these names and their M.O. sound a bit familiar to you now..?
.
Yes but keep in mind that some of those now crossing the southern borders of the US are Chaldean Catholics fleeing persecution in Iraq. The Catholic Church has asked the US government to open their borders more freely to these christians, the majority of whom have left everything behind and paid an exhorbitant sum of money to Muslim authorities in order to obtain an exit visa from their homeland. It is just a matter of time before the Holy Land falls completely into Muslim hands. May God have mercy on us all!
Yes but keep in mind that some of those now crossing the southern borders of the US are Chaldean Catholics fleeing persecution in Iraq. The Catholic Church has asked the US government to open their borders more freely to these christians, the majority of whom have left everything behind and paid an exhorbitant sum of money to Muslim authorities in order to obtain an exit visa from their homeland. It is just a matter of time before the Holy Land falls completely into Muslim hands. May God have mercy on us all!
Thank you for posting the list! These are names that will live in infamy.
Another thing I will NEVER FORGET are the images of the last flights out of Vietnam, packed with orphans. Those images will remain to my death bed. Their parents sought a better life for these children and, according to this article, it seems they found it here in the US.
It seems to me that the Chaldeans go to Michigan (why?), while the Coptic Egyptians prefer New Jersey.
As Christians the Chaldeans and Copts do not share the Moslem intent to convert, enslave, or kill the rest of humanity. As Christians they are not intent on skewing our own culture. As fervent believers, as most of them are, they will not sag onto the welfare rolls or change the ehnicity of the prison population, at least not the first generation or two, not until they become Americanized.
This year several families went from my parish. I will try to go again next year. It helps that the celebration was moved to a week/10 days earlier because the schools here start in the middle of August now in the ongoing attempt of the NEA to get our kids away from us the whole year and families couldn't go for a couple of years.
For more than 100 years, Michigan has been home to a large group of Arabic speaking immigrants, drawn there to work in the auto factories. There you will find not only the Chaldean Catholics, but also the Maronite Catholics and more than likely the Syrian Orthodox. Maronites like Tony Shaloub (Monk), Danny Thomas (and family) and Chaldeans like Joe Bidawid (world class professional sports boarder), all come from this community. Here is a photo frrom this year's Chaldean Catholic festival in MI. These Catholics are strong in their faith and proud of their heritage. Like many immigrants, they are intent on keeping their heritage alive.
Interesting point. This is an issue not just for Middle Eastern or Viet Christians, but for any Christian immigrants. The Hmong communities, both Catholic and Protestant, are having problems with "assimilation" (the bad kind!) of their young people after a generation or two in the United States.
I have seen reports there may be more than 200 million Christians in China, many practicing their faith undergroud. Is this number realistic? More? Less?
I did a Google on “China Christians Number,” and after looking at a few sites, came up with 100 million as an estimate. However, those were not all current sources, and it’s generally conceded that the number is growing rapidly. I would *guess* that 200 million is a little high ... but wait a few days :-).
This is how communities are built. It means the monks are doing an excellent job of holding families together. My Maronite pastor just returned from a mandatory clergy conference and retreat in VA. He told us about a parish in PA where, many years ago, the pastor built up the new community with a parish hall, outdoor sports facilities, etc. Today, the community numbers 150 children, all descended from that first group of parishioners.
In small immigrant parishes, it takes innovative methods such as those cited above, to keep the community together and grow it over the course of decades.
According to Catholic News Service, the Vatican estimates there are currently between 8 million and 12 million Catholics in China, a number that continues to grow. I do not have statistics for the non-Catholic denominations.
My small parish-Vietnamese language- has always had crowds of kids for the 23 years I have been a member
.
When the President of Communist Vietnam recently came to Orange County CA, where he had no business being in the first place,
...the Freedom loving Vietnamese-Americans living there had something very important to say to him:
‘Making their voices heard’
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1741241.php
(See - ‘MORE PHOTOS’ & ‘VIDEO’)
.
.
I have been very blessed to attend a Vietnamese-American Catholic Mass in Little Saigon, witnessing just how seriously they take their Catholicism. Fully committed, many Holy Communions.
.
onedoug -
You’ve posted the photo of the cathedral in Ha Noi, not Sai Gon.
At this link, http://www.mindspring.com/~jrpaulson/VN%20Photo%20Gallery/FrameSet.htm, is the Notre Dame Basilica in Sai Gon.
I have my own photo in a shutterfly account, with no idea how to share it with you.
Although in Saigon a short time in APR 2000, I didn't see the cathedral there. I did see Hanoi's though admittedly from some distance.
However, we also saw a Christian church as bold as you please between Tam Ky and Danang in the central part of the country.
It seems Christianity there is flourishing despite totalitarian setbacks that occassionally issue from the aging communist government in Hanoi.
I'm hopeful.
This is my wife’s home town. I’ve never been there during Marian days, but avoiding it was one of the deciding factors in setting our wedding date. I never realized how big a deal it was until I was talking to Vietnamese co-worker (in San Jose, CA) who mentioned going to a Vietnamese Catholic festival in small town Missouri... this one.
Con gai Trish Thuy Trang dep nhieu lam!
ThanhPhero, not to be blasphemous, but... it’s interesting that next to this August, 4-day celebration of the Virgin Mary, is the May/June, 4-day Buddhist celebration of Ba Chua Xu (of Chau Doc).
Lots of Buddhist VN refugees visited Ba Chua Xu immediately before embarking on their ramshackle boats in the 70’s, and it’s the first place they visited (or will visit) on their return to VN. Also I know that some folks are trying to replicate the VN annual festival here in the U.S.
Anyway the similarity seems interesting in some ways. Also right after wifey got her immigration visa we I paid our thanks at the Chau Doc temple with offerings of a 30kg heo quay, flowers, incense, and plenty of ruou (I guess Ba like a nip). The place was very crowded, lots of VK doing the same as us.
http://www.tuanlinhtravel.com/Vietnam/BaChuaXuTemple.htm
Great story, thanks for posting.
onedoug, where is the cathedral you posted?
Hanoi. See #28. The west side of Hoan Kiem lake. We were on the east.
I wish I could speak Viet. Can you translate for me?
Saigon Cathedral in Hanoi?
Who’d a thunk it.
I should have recognized all of that Hanoi mildew on the walls :)
“Con gai Trish Thuy Trang dep nhieu lam!”
Literally:
The girl (con gai) Trish Thuy Trang is pretty (dep) very (nhieu) much (lam)!
Actually the construction of “nhieu lam” is not quite literal.
dep = pretty
dep nhieu = very pretty
dep nhieu lam = extremely very pretty!
I always think of “nhieu lam” with an exclamation point at the end.
I said goodbye this time because I will not likely be able to go back and that was a hard realization. I had to do something ceremonial, do something to lessen the weight on my heart, to take formal leave. I went up to the temples at Po Nagar with a Buddhist ba cu of my acquaintance shortly before I had to ve My. The tourists were entirely too thick in the middle of the day. They were stepping over and sometimes on the prostrates and kneelers and elbowing each other in the temples as they tried to get better camera angles. I am happy to say they were mostly NOT Americans. We came back at dusk when the foreigners had departed. We entered the smallest of the temples and I said goodbye to Viet Nam in as proper a way as I could. I had to discuss this with my priest when I got back here but for me Ba Huyen and the temple represent Viet Nam. I also left some money with the monks at Den Son Thanh in Khanh Hoa. I had been there 4 years ago with no money and was immensely impressed with what they were doing with a large bunch of orphans. They have more orphans now and are building new dorms and a refectory.
The government finally lifted the last social and political disabilities from Catholics last year and the seminaries are full with waiting lists. There was some pretty heavy US pressure but it had become politically advisable domestically. Catholics had not been not allowed to work for the government or government related entities but had been allowed to go to university because the government made money from that. The Buddhists graduated from University and went to work for the government directly and indirectly. The Catholics graduated and hađ to start businesses and consulting firms. The changes also brought the benefits of a building boom to Khanh Hoa province a large part of which had been designated as Catholic and thus off limits to development. Now if the government can figure out that the Protestants are not space aliens and get off of their backs, too...
Co Trish la thieu nu Kinh vi vay chac la mot lo day bang nhan sac!
bttt
bttt
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.