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By
Sr. Cecilia Thuy Nguyen, OP
The
Vietnamese Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine
of Sienna trace our foundation to the endeavors
of the Dominican Friars of the Most Holy
Rosary Province (the Philippines) in the
18th century. According to Fr. Angelo Walz,
the first Dominican House in Trung Linh,
Bui Chu (in north Vietnam) was founded by
Fr. Bustamante in 1715. This center, called
"Nha Phuoc" (the Blessing House),
indicated that women who lived in this house
practiced virtues and performed charitable
deeds. From 1757 onward, the Dominican Friars
established many "Nha Phuoc's"
in their parishes. These communities of
women were independent organizations who
made private vows and observed the Rule
of the Third Order of Penance of St. Dominic
(Dong Ba Ham Minh-Thanh Daminh).
In
the 20th century, the Holy See directed
all the "Nha Phuoc's"
to be reorganized according to the norms
of the 1917 Code of Canon Law. Bishop Peter
Pham Ngoc Chi of the Diocese of Bui Chu
reorganized the Vietnamese Dominican Sisters
from seven "Nha Phuoc's" into
one religious congregation. On March 21,
1951, by a decree of the Congregation of
the Propagation of the Faith, the first
congregation of the Vietnamese Dominican
Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena was officially
established in Bui Chu. In the years that
followed, several congregations of Vietnamese
Dominican Sisters were established in various
dioceses of northern Vietnam, such as the
dioceses of Hai Phong, Bac Ninh, Lang Son
and Thai Binh.
The
Geneva Conference of July 20, 1954 partitioned
the country into the communist north and
non-communist south; as a result, most communities
of the Sisters joined the massive refugee
trek southward. On April 10, 1956, the Congregation
for the Propagation ofthe Faith granted
permission for the Vietnamese Dominican
Sisters to establish new communities in
the south using the Constitution of the
Congregation of Bui Chu, and to operate
a common noviatite at Ho Nai, Bien Hoa.
The Ordinaries chose Thanh Tam-Ho Nai as
the Center of Formation for the Sisters.
In April of 1956, approximately 83 members
from various "Nha Phuoc's" received
their first Dominican habits as novices
and postulants. On January 21, 1958, the
second Congregation of the Vietnamese Dominican
Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena was erected
through the support of Bishop Simon Hoa
Nguyen Van Hien of Saigon. The Mother House
was constructed at Thanh Tam-Ho Nai, Bien
Hoa under the Bishop Simon Hoa's jurisdiction.
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