Religious Crosses by GraceParishioners Mourn the Loss of Friends
Hundreds expected at service tonight
By CLAUDIA FELDMAN and BARBARA KARKABI Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/religion/5932563.htm
Mid-afternoon Friday, the Rev. Dominic Huy The Trinh knew exactly what he wanted to say to the hundreds of mourners who would be filling the pews at Our Lady of Lavang for the 6 p.m. service.
Much earlier in the day, Trinh learned that the chartered bus carrying members of his northwest Harris County church and Vietnamese Martyrs Catholic Church in southeast Houston smashed into a bridge guardrail in North Texas.
While Trinh didn’t know the exact death toll, more than a dozen pilgrims were dead and at least 40 were injured.
“I will tell (my parishioners) we don’t know what happened, but we are not the owners of our lives,” Trinh said. “God created everything. We have to trust in God, accept everything that He has given us and pray for the victims. Those who died went to Heaven, and God will watch those in the hospitals and help them.”
Before the accident, the religious pilgrims were on their way to Carthage, Mo., for the Marian Days festival, which honors the Virgin Mary, patron saint of refugees. Celebrated since 1978, the four-day event is the main religious gathering for Vietnamese-American Roman Catholics.
Four Houston parishes serve roughly 40,000 Vietnamese-American Catholics.
At Vietnamese Martyrs Church here, Theresa Le, red-eyed and distraught, prayed for seven friends who had been on the bus. Her best friend, Vo Ta, died.
“She was a very nice person,” said Le of the friend she’s cherished for 20 years. “Before she left on the trip, she came to my house and brought me cupcakes.”
Le, a post office employee, said the congregation at 10610 Kingspoint is like a family to her. It was established in 1986 and has grown over the years to serve 700 households. The exterior is simple red brick, with a Vietnamese mural decorating both doors. In the sanctuary, a beautiful swath of green material serves as a backdrop to a life-size statue of Jesus.
Our Lady of Lavang, 12311 Old Foltin, was established in 1985 and has grown to serve 730 families. The church is named after a place in Vietnam where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared. The conventional building was replaced in 2001 with a structure with multi-tiered, pagoda-like red roofs.
The dragons perched on the edges of the roof and the 27-foot painted window of the Lady of Lavang are reminders of the homeland that many parishioners abandoned to begin new lives in the United States.
The journey from Vietnam is celebrated in Missouri at Marian Days.
Kim Vu, anchor and program manager for Radio Saigon, Houston 900 AM, attended the celebration seven years ago and described it as a religious event and family reunion.
“The important thing is that it’s a way for people to express their thanks to the Virgin Mary.”
At the Vietnamese Martyrs Church, “they are all in shock,” said Thuy Vu, CEO of Radio Saigon, who is a member. “The pastor of the church, Father Thanh Vu, went early in the morning to Dallas. He just called the station and reported from the hospital. He asked everybody to pray for the deceased and wounded and their families. He assured them that God never means to do bad things to people and to hang on to their faith.”
At 6 p.m. Aug. 8, Radio Saigon had an open airtime so everyone in the community can express their feelings, Vu said.
“The callers say it feels so strange,” she said. “Even the ones who don’t know the victims are so upset and shocked. They want everyone to call in so they don’t feel like they are alone.”
In a written statement, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo offered comfort and support to members.
“We mourn for their families and the spiritual communities from which they came,” DiNardo wrote. “We pray for the intercession of our mother, Mary, that she may grant the families peace in knowing that their loved ones are now with her Son, Jesus.”