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florida80 · 08-25-2019

Black Belt In Faith And Fortitude (Đức Tin Và Sự Kiên Cường Của Một Cao Thủ Võ Thuật Đai Đen) - Người Phương Nam

These days, Fr Quang Hong Pham serves God in freedom, ministering among the Vietnamese Catholic community in Perth. He uses some of the 400 card tricks he learnt while a religious prisoner in Vietnam to delight local children.

I was born in Saigon on January 17, 1949 and had three sisters (one passed away at childbirth) and four brothers.

My whole family was Catholic and I attended a Catholic school taught by the De La Salle brothers. One brother particularly stuck in my mind – Brother Aimee.

That means “beloved”. He was so lovely. He organised youth activities and after school he taught Catechism very gently and very delicately.

That touched every heart. He lived very humbly, like a poor person and loved children.

At the age of 14, I joined the De La Salle Congregation although I must confess I didn’t know anything about vocations.

It was just a natural call to be like that one brother whom I loved the best.

Before entering the priesthood as a late vocation, I had been a De La Salle Brother for 40 years. I joined in 1963 and, on the Feast of the Assumption in 1975, I made my final vow and then I went to prison.

When the Communists took over South Vietnam they tried to take all the monasteries and buildings to do with religion.

In my case, we were put in jail along with the other three big Congregations: Dominican, Redemptorists and Salesians of Don Bosco – we all went together.

They confiscated our monasteries and accused us of attempting a coup against the government. No proof, no evidence was given.

In jail, it was strictly forbidden to learn any foreign language, to talk about religion or to do any services associated with religion. Otherwise, you would be put in the dungeon.

When I first came to jail I had two years in a dark cell completely alone.

My hands were handcuffed behind my back and they put shackles around my ankles.

Until now I don’t know how I survived it other then it was with God’s help. I kept my mind open by remembering every story I had read including Bible stories as well as novels, then praying a little bit and after that I continued to learn and conjugate the verbs in French.

The worst part of that period was the loneliness. The cell was completely dark. Except at midnight when they woke you up for interrogation.

It was terrible. Then I realised I had friends. Rats came and crawled on my chest.

I accepted that and said, “Hello friends, stay here”. And the next day a lot came.

Then I made little friends out of the cockroaches. They were everywhere. Never mind. I wasn’t lonely anymore.

In my first week in prison, the interrogator said to me, “If you say you don’t believe in God, I will release you. Just say it in your mouth. If you still believe, we won’t know”.

I thought I would be like St Peter. Peter denied Jesus and He forgave Him. I tried to say it but after one week I realised that I could not deny Him even in my mouth.

08-25-2019	#2125
florida80 R11 Tuyệt Thế Thiên Hạ Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 113,793 Thanks: 7,446 Thanked 47,181 Times in 13,137 Posts Mentioned: 1 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s) Quoted: 511 Post(s) Rep Power: 162	Black Belt In Faith And Fortitude (Đức Tin Và Sự Kiên Cường Của Một Cao Thủ Võ Thuật Đai Đen) - Người Phương Nam These days, Fr Quang Hong Pham serves God in freedom, ministering among the Vietnamese Catholic community in Perth. He uses some of the 400 card tricks he learnt while a religious prisoner in Vietnam to delight local children. I was born in Saigon on January 17, 1949 and had three sisters (one passed away at childbirth) and four brothers. My whole family was Catholic and I attended a Catholic school taught by the De La Salle brothers. One brother particularly stuck in my mind – Brother Aimee. That means “beloved”. He was so lovely. He organised youth activities and after school he taught Catechism very gently and very delicately. That touched every heart. He lived very humbly, like a poor person and loved children. At the age of 14, I joined the De La Salle Congregation although I must confess I didn’t know anything about vocations. It was just a natural call to be like that one brother whom I loved the best. Before entering the priesthood as a late vocation, I had been a De La Salle Brother for 40 years. I joined in 1963 and, on the Feast of the Assumption in 1975, I made my final vow and then I went to prison. When the Communists took over South Vietnam they tried to take all the monasteries and buildings to do with religion. In my case, we were put in jail along with the other three big Congregations: Dominican, Redemptorists and Salesians of Don Bosco – we all went together. They confiscated our monasteries and accused us of attempting a coup against the government. No proof, no evidence was given. In jail, it was strictly forbidden to learn any foreign language, to talk about religion or to do any services associated with religion. Otherwise, you would be put in the dungeon. When I first came to jail I had two years in a dark cell completely alone. My hands were handcuffed behind my back and they put shackles around my ankles. Until now I don’t know how I survived it other then it was with God’s help. I kept my mind open by remembering every story I had read including Bible stories as well as novels, then praying a little bit and after that I continued to learn and conjugate the verbs in French. The worst part of that period was the loneliness. The cell was completely dark. Except at midnight when they woke you up for interrogation. It was terrible. Then I realised I had friends. Rats came and crawled on my chest. I accepted that and said, “Hello friends, stay here”. And the next day a lot came. Then I made little friends out of the cockroaches. They were everywhere. Never mind. I wasn’t lonely anymore. In my first week in prison, the interrogator said to me, “If you say you don’t believe in God, I will release you. Just say it in your mouth. If you still believe, we won’t know”. I thought I would be like St Peter. Peter denied Jesus and He forgave Him. I tried to say it but after one week I realised that I could not deny Him even in my mouth.