November Drinking Companion

The Vietnamese Martyrs.

Despite knowing very little of these lives, compared to the rest of the saints, I wanted to share the influence some of these people have had on me and the Catholic culture they paved for someone like me to enjoy 2 centuries later. Their collective feast day is November 24, and thanks to their sacrifices, people like myself are able to enjoy very fruitful experiences.

I begin by reflecting on some of the great drinking partners I encountered during my visit to Vietnam. Whether it was the green tea that welcomed you at every home’s entrance, or the large coffee culture and coffee stops for Vietnamese Coffee, to the shots of rice wine everyone wanted me to try and most of the all the never ending cup of beer I had during my last nights in Hanoi (a hand would always top off my beer every time it was half full), the people of Vietnam, always welcomed your presence as a drinking companion.

I was fortunate to visit the shines of at least 3 martyrs during my time in Thanh Hoa where I was able to say a prayer before St. James Nam, and St. Paul Tinh Bao Le. If you are interested in learning more about the harsh treatment of Vietnamese Catholics in the 1800’s you can research a bit more here. Everywhere you went you saw the depictions of those who were tortured,. In addition the glory we trust they experienced after death, is also depicted frequently. I was fascinated during my research, that one of my favorite saints who brought me back to the church wanted to go to Hanoi in the late 1800’s when she heard of all the persecution going on there. St. Therese. had desired to go to missions all over the world, but she died at the age of 24 of tuberculosis in France. Providentially her image is everywhere in the Vietnamese Catholic culture today, despite never making it there. We even had a big feast day celebration for her when I was in Hanoi.

Until this day, the Vietnamese people are some of the most devoted people in all of the the Catholic Christianity, despite some of the toughest persecutions. Communism took it’s own tolls a century later, but they never quit. Every day I went to mass at 5 a.m. to a crowd of nearly 200 people. Sometimes that’s a Sunday liturgy in the U.S.A. where we have far greater freedom, but that’s the way of the world, we take for granted our blessings. These companions of ours never once doubted their freedoms however. They knew what they sacrificed now, would gain a far greater reward later, despite temporal and dramatic suffering. May all the Holy Vietnamese Martyrs inspire us to over come our struggles and embrace the crosses in our life’s (pain and suffering) for a greater good that usually follows.

A reliquary in the chapel.