New Chapter – New Life: General Chapter Meeting of the Congregation of the Lovers of the Holy Cross of Hanoi, Vietnam
By Ngoc Nguyen, LHC
The Congregation of the Lovers of the Holy Cross (LHC) was founded in 1670 by Bishop Lambert de la Motte, a French missionary. Through 353 years of existence in Vietnam, the congregation has faced many difficulties because of the social situation and persecution by the government. However, with God’s grace and the faithfulness and bravery of the sisters, the congregation continued to develop and flourishes today.
The Congregation did not hold a General Chapter meeting until October 2007. The first General Chapter remarked an important milestone in the history and development of the congregation. Since then, the Congregation has held a General Chapter every four years to reflect, update, and adjust the mission, charism, spirituality and communal life to fit with the demands of the evolving Church and society.
The Fifth General Chapter of the Congregation of the Lovers of the Holy Cross of Hanoi was held at the Mother House of the Congregation in Hanoi, Vietnam from September 04 – 14, 2023. The meeting was accompanied and guided by Rev. Anselm Minh Hai Nguyen, OFM. According to Father Anselm, “the General Chapter is the time in which memory and hope encounter. Memory makes us become stronger people because we are aware that we have the same historical roots and we will never walk alone on this journey because we walk with other sisters. And hope helps us trust in God toward a new horizon. Therefore, do not lose the memory, do not live in hopeless but have courage to walk together in the grace of God.”
In the opening of the General Chapter, there is a rite of remembrance to the Founder-Bishop Lambert de la Motte.
The rite of remembrance for Bishop Lambert de la Motte, the Founder of the Congregation of the Lovers of the Holy Cross (Courtesy of the LHC).
In this General Chapter meeting, the outgoing Superior General gave a presentation to describe the many areas of development as well as issues which could not be done in her term. Then the various group representatives reported on their work during the 2019-2023 term. There were fifty sisters present to serve as representatives for the 465 sisters in the Congregation. The Chapter meeting was highlighted with an election of the new Superior General and Counselor team.
The representatives who participated in the General Chapter (Courtesy of the LHC)
The rite of ending the term of the current Superior General Teresa Nu T. Tran followed the reports and preceded the election. With this rite, she returned the Congregational Seal to Rev. Anthony Thang V. Nguyen who is the general representative of the Archbishop Joseph Thien V. Vu, Archbishop of Hanoi.
The Former Superior General Sr. Nu T. Tran returns the Congregation’s Seal (Courtesy of the LHC)
Before the election, the new Chapter’s representatives and sisters Mary Le T. Tran and Anna Thu T. Nguyen (pictured), who helped to count the ballots, placed their hands on the Holy Gospel while making an oath to maintain the secrecy of the election. (Courtesy of the LHC)
The fifty participating sisters used the secret ballot to vote for the new Superior General, the Vice Superior General and six Counselors. However, before the representatives came to vote they and the members of the congregation spent time before the Eucharist to pray and ask for the Holy Spirit to enlighten and guide each of them to know how to discern and vote according to God’s will.
The representatives voting (Courtesy of the LHC)
As a result, Sister Mary Nhu Hoa T. Do was elected to the position of Superior General, for the term 2023-2027. Sister Mary Trang T. Pham was elected as Vice Superior General. Six new Counselors were also elected, including Mary Mui T. Truong, Mary Hang T. Nguyen, Mary Mung T. Nguyen, Mary Anh N. Do, Mary In T. Nguyen, and Teresa Duong H. Pham.
The new general leadership team. From the left, Sr. Hang T. Nguyen, Sr. In T. Nguyen, Sr. Mung T. Nguyen, Sr. Nhu Hoa T. Do (Superior General), Sr. Anh N. Do, Sr. Duong H. Pham, and Ar. Trang T. Pham (Courtesy of the LHC).
After the election of the new Superior and Counselors team on September 7, 2023, the General Chapter’s representatives and sisters gathered during vespers in the Congregation Chapel at the Mother House to give thanks to God and perform the rite of promising obedience to the newly elected Superior General. The rite of promising obedience began with the new Superior General placing her hand on the Holy Bible and making an oath that she will use all her talents, energies, and love to serve the congregation according to the Cannon Law and the Congregation’s constitution. Then, the Vice Superior General and the newly elected Counselors expressed their oath of obedience to the Superior General and promised that they will positively cooperate with her in managing the Congregation according to the spirit of the Founder. Finally, the other participating representatives at the General Chapter and representatives of each group in the Mother House came forward to give their sign of obedience.
Sister Trang T. Pham, the Vice Superior General, representative the new Counselors promises obedience to Sr. Nhu Hoa T. Do, the newly elected Superior General (Courtesy of the LHC)
Before the rite of the promise of obedience, Sister Mary Nhu Hoa T. Do expressed gratitude to the former Superior General Sister Teresa Nu T. Tran, the Vice Superior General Anna Ngoan T. Nguyen, and the Counselors who served from 2019-2023 for their sacrifices and commitment to the development of the congregation.
The newly elected Superior General then took over the meeting of the General Chapter under the guidance of the Rev. Minh Hai Nguyen, OFM. The Chapter continued to discuss matters regarding communal life such as the role of the community leaders, spirituality, spiritual life, evangelization, formation, financial management, health care, and education.
The representatives also made contributions to edit some articles in the Directory of the congregation. The Chapter established the goals and directions for the next four years.
Sr. Duong H. Pham, a new Counselor contributes to editing the Directory (Courtesy of the LHC)
The General Chapter of the Congregation of the Lovers of the Holy Cross of Hanoi, Vietnam closed successfully with a solemn mass on September 14, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The Feast Day also is the name day of the LHC. The mass took place in the chapel of the Congregation, where the Most Rev. Joseph Thien V. Nguyen, Archbishop of Hanoi, was the presider. Concelebrating with him were the Auxiliary Bishop Laurent Minh V. Chu, the Hanoi Archbishop’s representative Rev. Anthony Thang V. Nguyen, Rev. Thomas Aquinas Thuy X. Thuy, the Congregation’s chaplain, priests, deacons, and
seminarians. In the introduction of the mass, the archbishop congratulated the Congregation for electing a new leader team for the term 2023-2027 and expressed his hope that with a new leadership team, the Congregation will be successful in its new chapter. This mass was also a joyful day for the Congregation because there were seven sisters who celebrated their jubilees of 25 years and 50 years. In this mass, the archbishop said that the jubilee celebration is a “time to remark the important journey and it is an opportunity for the jubilarians to look back at their whole life, the life in which they are absorbed in the love of God.”
Bishop Joseph Thien V. Nguyen, Archbishop of Hanoi, celebrates the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross mass with the congregation at the LHC chapel (Courtesy of the LHC).
The jubilarians renew their vows in the mass (Courtesy of the LHC)
With joy, each member of the congregation gives thanks to God for the many blessings showered upon our congregation over 353 years and especially in these last few days of the General Chapter. At the end of the mass, Sister Nhu Hoa T. Do, the Superior General, gave thanks to the Archbishop, the Auxiliary Bishop, the priests, deacons, seminarians, and all people who were present at the mass and accompanied the sisters through their prayers for a successful General Chapter. She said “with success of the General Chapter, now we, members of the LHC mingle ourselves into the proud history of the Congregation, each member desires to “marinate” one’s life in the permanent “Fiat,” put our foot on the footprint of Jesus and put our hand into Jesus’ hand so He continues to lead us and guide us and walk with us in the spirit of the Lovers of the Holy Cross.”
Sister Nhu Hoa T. Do, the Superior General gives thanks after the Exultation of the Holy Cross (Courtesy of the LHC)
We hope that with God’s grace, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and with the youthful dynamics of the new leadership team, the congregation will develop in both the spiritual life and communal life. We hope that the congregation’s mission, charism, and the spirituality of the founder will be positively lived and acted by the members of the congregation. We are optimistic that we can cooperate with the Church in Vietnam to build a strong church with a deep faith in God and love of people to create a just society in which there is a priority of caring for the poor.