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Several
months later, the Vicar of Bui Chu and of
Lang Son withdrew their novices and postulants
from the Mother House in Ho Nai. A third
congregation was formed at Lang Son that
was independent of the previous two congregations.
Efforts to unite the three congregations
of Lang Son, Bui Chu and Ho Nai were unsuccessful.
On January 1, 1973, three groups of sisters
from the Hai Phong, Thai Binh and Bac Ninh
Dioceses decided to form their own congregations
with the intention of observing and preserving
their own traditions, origins, and carrying
out their missionary endeavors without hindrance.
These three groups of sisters became known
as the Dominican Sisters of St. Rose of
Lima at Thu Duc.
The
fall of Saigon in 1975 resulted in the seizure
of schools, centers for social services
and the formation houses of the Vietnamese
Dominican Sisters by the communist authorities.
The Sisters survived by working on local
farms and their religious lifestyle had
to be adjusted to the harsh living conditions.
Many sisters lost their lives under such
conditions, while others returned to their
families. Improved conditions in the 1990s
allowed the Sisters to rebuild their communities
and gain new members. By the year 2000,
there were twelve convents in the Dong Nai,
Ba Ria and Ho Chi Minh City Province totalling
142 sisters with perpetual vows, 41 with
temporal vows, 23 novices, and 80 postulants.
The postulancy and the novitiate house were
reopened at the Mother House in Ho Nai.
The sisters have established mission centers
in Dong Lach (Dong Nai), Bao Ham (Dong Nai),
Hon Dat (An Giang), and Ca Mau (Can Tho).
Barred from running schools, the Sisters
have turned to the parishes where they are
engaged in catechetical, missionary, social,
healthcare and other pastoral activities.
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