Monday, August 01, 2005
Flower part 2
Today we had a student join us at Peace Village. Her name is Hoa and she is studying special education. She really energized the room as we went through our daily English practice. I'd gone over the weekend to "toy street" in downtown Ha Noi and bought some leggos and a panda bear for the children. She explained the Panda in Vietnamese and then gave it to each child and had them introduce themselves. Then I took the Panda and taught them the word in English.
In the afternoon I had to make a trip to the bank in preparation for my Vietnamese lessons and trip to Halong Bay. Mr. Quyet stopped and showed me St. Joe's cathedral on the way back. Mr. Quyet, like the Trieus, is Catholic, and we both bought some religious items from a small shop near the church. Bishop Joseph, the head of the Ha Noi diocese was pastor of our local Phung Khoang church, Mr. Quyet proudly told me!
St. Joseph's Cathedral is an imposing Gothic style church. A saint is buried there who was an early martyr during the introduction of Christianity to Viet Nam. His grave has a Vietnamese style portrait and a medieval type of monument with the statue of the person engraved on a raised platform.
The church is full of beautiful stained glass windows, including one of St. Ignatius!
But even more than St. Joe's, I liked a small Catholic church we stopped at on the way home. This is a plain white "mission style" church you might see in the southwest. It didn't have any stained glass, but all the windows were wide open and the background to the altar consisted of a large bronzework depicting the cross with all kinds of people gathered around it. There was a prayer service going on when we visited and you could feel the spiritual energy radiating outward. Vietnamese Catholics are only a small part of the population, but they are very enthusiastic! They have carved out a great identity using both Western traditions and their own rich heritage.
In the afternoon I had to make a trip to the bank in preparation for my Vietnamese lessons and trip to Halong Bay. Mr. Quyet stopped and showed me St. Joe's cathedral on the way back. Mr. Quyet, like the Trieus, is Catholic, and we both bought some religious items from a small shop near the church. Bishop Joseph, the head of the Ha Noi diocese was pastor of our local Phung Khoang church, Mr. Quyet proudly told me!
St. Joseph's Cathedral is an imposing Gothic style church. A saint is buried there who was an early martyr during the introduction of Christianity to Viet Nam. His grave has a Vietnamese style portrait and a medieval type of monument with the statue of the person engraved on a raised platform.
The church is full of beautiful stained glass windows, including one of St. Ignatius!
But even more than St. Joe's, I liked a small Catholic church we stopped at on the way home. This is a plain white "mission style" church you might see in the southwest. It didn't have any stained glass, but all the windows were wide open and the background to the altar consisted of a large bronzework depicting the cross with all kinds of people gathered around it. There was a prayer service going on when we visited and you could feel the spiritual energy radiating outward. Vietnamese Catholics are only a small part of the population, but they are very enthusiastic! They have carved out a great identity using both Western traditions and their own rich heritage.
