Novena to Servant of God Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan of Vietnam

Recently Tran, one of our Children's Rosary group leaders in Bien Hoa City Vietnam, asked if we could invite, Servant of God Cardinal Francis Xavier, to be a member of the Children's Rosary. He hoped that we might add him to the list of Saints we have prayed to for our Children's Rosary intention. Cardinal Francis Xavier is well known in Vietnam but possibly less known in other parts of the world. Tran shared some of his background. His life is a beautiful example of love, mercy and sacrifice. Tran also shared that he has a second class relic of Servant of God Cardinal Francis Xavier. 

Tran wanted to invite others to join him in a nine day Novena to begin November first, the Feast of All Saints. He promised to pray before the relic of Cardinal Francis Xavier for the members of the Children's Rosary and also those joining in the Novena.  

This seemed a beautiful invitation from Tran who yet only 16 years old, has tried to both continue the Children's Rosary group in this parish and spread the Children's Rosary. This after the death of his beloved Pastor Fr. Augustine in August. Tran, following in the example of his late Pastor has shared prayers for the members of the Children's Rosary before many relics of saints. As the Children's Rosary grows and more individuals from other parts of the world join, we have the wonderful blessing to know of many saints that otherwise we might be unfamiliar with in our home countries.  How beautiful to have this sharing of faith. It was our hope to invite all the Saints in Heaven to be a part of the Children's Rosary and to intercede for us. Slowly we are trying to move toward that goal.

Background

Cardinal Francis Xavier was born in Vietnam on April 17, 1928. He was brought up in a Catholic home and was introduced the life of St. Therese of Lisieux by his mother when he was a child. He was ordained a priest in 1953. In 1975, on the Feast of the Assumption, he was detained and held in house arrest. Without a trial, he was taken to North Vietnam where he was imprisoned for his Religious beliefs. He spent 13 years in prison and 9 of which were in solitary confinement. He was released on the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lady. Despite the religious persecution he experienced he lived a spirit of forgiveness and preached reconciliation. In the year 2000 he was invited by Pope St. John Paul II to preach a Lenten retreat to the Curia. The Holy Father had a private audience with Cardinal Francis Xavier and gave him a chalice. Cardinal Francis Xavier said, "Twenty-four years ago, I said Mass with three drops of wine and one drop of water in the palm of my hand, I never would have thought that today the Holy Father would give me a gilt chalice. Our Lord is great indeed and so is his love”. Cardinal Francis Xavier died on September 16, 2002 in Rome.

Prayer for Beatification

16 Sep 2007 | The Most Reverend Giampaolo Crepaldi

O mighty and eternal God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit
I offer thanks for giving to the Church
the heroic testimony
of Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyên Van Thuân.

The suffering he experienced in prison,
which he united with the crucified Christ
and commended to the maternal protection of Mary,
is for the Church and the world
a shining witness of unity and forgiveness,
and of justice and peace.

His loving person and his Episcopal ministry
radiate the light of faith,
the enthusiasm of hope and the warmth of love.

Now, my Lord,
through his intercession
and according to your will,
grant me the grace I am imploring
in the hope that he will soon be elevated
to the honour of sainthood.

Amen. (source: Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan Foundation)

Children's Rosary Intention

MAY THE CHILDREN’S ROSARY, THEIR FAMILIES, THOSE ASSOCIATED WITH THE CHILDREN’S ROSARY INCLUDING OUR PRIESTS, OUR BISHOP AND OUR HOLY FATHER THE POPE BE THE EXTENDED HANDS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER AND HER SON.  MAY WE GATHER A GREAT MANY SOULS ESPECIALLY YOUNG PEOPLE FOR THE LORD.  MAY WE EXPERIENCE RENEWAL OF FAMILY PRAYER AND SPREAD IT ACROSS THE GLOBE. IN A SPECIAL WAY WE ASK SERVANT OF GOD CARDINAL FRANCIS XAVIER TO CHOOSE AN INDIVIDUAL, FAMILY OR A PRIEST, ASSOCIATED WITH OUR CHILDREN’S ROSARY GROUP TO LEAD IN THEIR SPIRITUAL JOURNEY. DEAR CARDINAL FRANCIS XAVIER, PRAY FOR OUR EXTENDED GROUP THAT WE MAY EMBODY THE VIRTUES YOU EXEMPLIFIED HERE ON EARTH.

To become a member of the Children's Rosary one only has to tell the Lord in their heart of their desire to be a part of our group.  You will then be included in all the novenas being said and all of the rosaries being prayed daily.

To Join the novena please say the prayer for Beatification above and the intention in bold for nine days. We will be starting the Novena on November 1, 2016 and concluding on November 9, 2016. However, if you are not able to begin with us on this date we still invite you to pray the Novena at a later date.

Other Posts You May Enjoy:
How to Start a Children's Rosary
Honey for the Heart
The Children Reach Out to a Leper Community