Quiet Spaces
Reflection Cardinal Van Thuan 24 October St Anne’s Church
We had a really special Quiet Spaces at St Anne’s reflected on the story of Cardinal Van Thuan and his story of hope in the light of the harsh imprisonment, torture and solitary confinement he suffered in Vietnam.
Amazingly Cardinal Van Thuan managed to communicate to the outside world.
He wrote messages on scraps of paper from his prison calendar which reached his Catholic friends through sympathetic guards and children playing outside.
Cardinal Van Thuan also found a way to celebrate mass. He was able to obtain small amounts of bread and wine through the help of Catholics outside the prison and also guards who were sympathetic to him – many of whom eventually came to faith. He states:
‘‘I will never be able to express my immense joy every day. With three drops of wine and one drop of water in the palm of my hand I celebrated my mass. In the re-education camp we slept on common beds and everyone had the right to fifty centimetres of space. We arranged it so that there were five Catholics sleeping near me. At 9:30 in the evening I curled up on the bed to celebrate Mass by heart and I distributed Communion under the mosquito nets covering us. We reserved the Blessed Sacrament in small containers from cigarette packets. Jesus in the Eucharist was always with me in my shirt pocket. At night the prisoners took turns for adoration. Jesus was among us to heal all our physical and mental suffering’
With no altar, his hands became the chalice for the wine and paten for the bread. Cardinal Van Thuan’s prison cell became a Cathedral and the darkness of the prison was turned into light.
I wonder, where is your Cathedral?
Quote – Francis Xavier Nguyễn Văn Thuận, ‘The Road of Hope: A Gospel from Prison’
More information www.Quiet-Spaces.co.uk
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