Marian Helper • Winter 2022-23 • Marian.org 21 of them became separated from her. To transport their belongings, the entire family shared one suitcase. Inside that suitcase, carefully wrapped in clothing, lay the cherished statue. Dziep remembers sleeping with her siblings, mother, and grandmother in an abandoned bowling alley near the airport while waiting for a flight out of Saigon. In the distance, Dziep could hear explosions. She was not afraid, but her parents were. Dzung worried that if the family did not leave immediately, his eldest son would be conscripted into the army. There was also the fear that, once North Vietnamese forces took over the capital city, Dzung would be sent to a prison camp and never be heard from again. At last, the children and women boarded a plane and made their way slowly west. They stopped along the way at American military bases in the Philippines —where the family was reunited with Dzung, who had fled Vietnam behind them—Hawaii, and California. Dziep’s grandmother had an adopted daughter who had married an American soldier; it was for her home in Arizona that the family’s course was set. “All along,” says Dziep, “the statue of Mary was with us.” On the road When the family moved from California to Arizona, they felt Mary’s presence in a powerful way. Dziep’s older sister, Dzuyen, was driving one of two vehicles that were transporting the family and their possessions; this car had the statue of Mary in the backseat. Dzuyen, a new driver, strayed out of her lane and onto the side of the highway. Panicked, she brought the car quickly back to the road, which was empty. Almost immediately, however, a large truck drove up rapidly behind the car. If Dzuyen’s mishap had occurred just a few moments later, there would have been a terrible collision. To this day, Dzuyen believes Mary protected her and her loved ones in the car. After a few years in Arizona, Dzung and Dzu moved their family once more, this time to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where Dzung’s mother had settled. In 1954, when Vietnam was divided, Dzung’s parents had fled North Vietnam for the South, where they would be able to practice their Catholic faith. Of her paternal grandmother, Dziep laughingly recalls, “She prayed so much, God probably got tired of it. She couldn’t read or write, but she could sure pray.” Dziep remembers her father’s mother as always holding a Rosary in her hand. Today, her own mother is the same way. Dzung Tran died in June 2022 after a long journey through Alzheimer’s disease. Dziep is convinced that her mother significantly prolonged her father’s life by patiently feeding him every day, a process which took at least an hour for each meal. “She almost had to pry his mouth open,” Dziep says, and often he had to be reminded to swallow. “While waiting for the food to come in, she would pray. After feeding him, she would pray.” Chaplet twice daily Dzu Nguyen still lives in Lancaster, and every night, she prays the Rosary before the statue her husband bought 57 years ago in Vietnam. She also prays the Divine Mercy Chaplet twice a day, at 3 p.m. — the Hour of Great Mercy — and at 3 a.m. Dziep and her family continue to turn to Mary for protection, no longer from Communist armies, but from spiritual dangers. The younger generation — Dziep’s children, nieces, and nephews — do not consistently practice the faith that has been passed on to them by the relatives who carried Our Lady with them across the world. But Dziep places her hope in God’s mercy. Once, while listening to a priest preach about the graces available on the Feast of Divine Mercy, she “pictured God opening up Heaven and pouring down His Mercy on us.” After seeking refuge in many places on earth, Dziep and her mother and siblings pray for the safe arrival of their family at their true home, where they believe Dzung already waits, still watching over his children and his children’s children with faithfulness and prayer. The Marian presence in Vietnam began with the arrival of Fr. Bogusław Gil, MIC, to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) in 2015. Today, there are three Marian priests in Vietnam and eight students in our house of formation. Our priests visit parishes throughout the country to preach and introduce the Marian Congregation. Please remember them in your prayers! Dziep and her family continue to turn to Mary for protection, no longer from Communist armies, but from spiritual dangers.
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