MISSIONARIES OF CHRIST’S CHARITY – MCC

MISSIONARIES OF CHRIST’S CHARITY – MCC

Our Congregation as the Missionaries of Christ's Charity is a Religious Family belong to Archdiocese of Saigon in Viet Nam, we live the spirituality of Mother Teresa Calcutta with perpetual, public vows of charity, poverty, obedience and whole hearted and free service to the poorest of the poor.

Mission of our Congeration:

The Spirit: The Spirit of the Missionaries of Christ's Charity is one of Total Surrender, Loving Trust and Cheerfulness, as lived by Jesus and Mary in the Gospel.

General Aim:

Our Aim is to quench the infinite thirst of Jesus Christ on the Cross for love of souls by the profession of the Evangelical counsels and whole-hearted and free service to the poorest of the poor according to the Constitutions.

Community Life:

That the Church may shine forth as a people made one with the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, we live in Community

- trying to love each other as Christ loves us,

- witnessing to the reality of the brotherhood of mankind, so that through it the human race might be helped to become the Family of God in which the fulness of the law is love.

Particular Mission:

Our particular mission is to labour at the salvation and sanctification of the poorest of the poor not only in the slums but also all over the world wherever they may be, by:

- living the love of God in prayer and action in a life marked by the simplicity and humility of the Gospel,

- loving Jesus under the appearance of Bread, and:

- loving and serving Him in the distressing disguise of the poorest of the poor, both materially and spiritually recognizing them in likeness of God.

- nursing the sick and the dying destitutes,

- gathering and teaching little street chidren and orphans,

- giving shelter to the abandoned elderly and homeless,

- Mother's Love Home for pregnant teenagers,

- going out to the spiritually poorest of the poor to proclaim the Word of God by our presence and spirittually works of mercy, and by:

- Adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

 Introduction From the Late Archbishop Paul Nguyen Van Binh of Archdiocese Saigon

 Mother Teresa Calcutta has come to Viet Nam.

Mother Teresa asked Archbishop Paul Binh to wait until she could come to Vietnam. It wasn’t until 1991 that Mother Teresa was granted a visa to come to Vietnam. However, she could not visit Saigon but only Hanoi (Capital of North Vietnam). Her trip proved productive for the North Vietnamese Government met with her and allowed her and her sisters to come to minister to the  poor in the North of Vietnam. Two years went by before Mother Teresa could return to Vietnam. On the 5th of November of 1993, Mother Teresa came to Vietnam for a second time. Similar to the time when she went to China without fanfare, Mother Teresa came to Vietnam in secret. This time she was allowed to come to Saigon. Accompanying her were Sister Nirmala (present day Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity) and Dr. Janette. Since she came in secret, nobody was there to greet her at the airport except for a Consulate from India whose office is located in HCM City.

Mother Teresa who is founded the Misionaries of Charity

The Consulate then informed his vietnamese secretary whose name is Nguyen Thi Thanh Nga to go to the airport with him. They took Mother Teresa to Doc Lap Hotel. Once she arrived at the Hotel, Mother Teresa handed him a note containing the name and address of Sister Mary Frances Ha Thi Thanh Tinh. She asked the consulate’s secretary Nguyen Thi Thanh Nga to find Sister Mary Frances Tinh and Sister Edward Hao to come and meet her at the hotel. Once sisters Mary Frances and Mary Edouard arrived, Mother Teresa had a long conversation with them and told them how she wanted to come to Vietnam but could not because of the instability within the country. The reason that the indian consulate was the only one there because no one else knew of Mother Teresa’s arrival to Vietnam except for his wife who told him about it.

Welcome Mother Teresa at 428 Huỳnh Văn Bánh for the first time

November 05, 1993

 

After the adoration, Mother Teresa presided over the ceremony of giving the Constitution of the Missionaries of Charity, prayer books and rosaries to the 20 Vietnamese sisters. All 20 Vietnamese sisters were accepted into the Missionaries of Charity. Mother Teresa also announced the good news about how the immigration office had granted permission to eight sisters of the Missionaries of Charity to work among the handicapped and orphans in Vietnam. During their visit to Vietnam, Mother Teresa and Sister Nirmala spent most of their time with the 20 Vietnamese sisters to visit and dinner with them.

 

The eight sisters of the Missionaries of Charity from India were divided into two groups. One group ministered in Hanoi and the other in Saigon. The four sisters in Saigon assisted at the orphanage at 38 Tu Xuong street, District 3, Saigon. These sisters’ names were: Srs. Joya, Mary Lourdes, Brenda and Gloriana. They would come by and visit the 20 Vietnamese sisters at 428 Huynh Van Banh every Thursday to socialize with them. The Vietnamese sisters treated them to Vietnamese food as it was the only food available. The sisters from India seemed to like it; at least they did not complain.

The other fours sisters from India worked with the handicapped children at Thuy An, Ba Vi District, Hanoi. The sisters’ names were: Srs. Collete, Lee Foong, Desiree and Homini. In accordance with the agreement, Mother Teresa requested the Vietnamese Government to provide a priest to offer daily Eucharist at least four times a week. But due to the shortage of priests, the government could not find any priest to offer daily mass for the sisters. The government, however, would try to accommodate the sisters by having a driver to take the sisters to Hung Hoa Parish but it was far in between. Mother Teresa expressed concerns about the lack of spiritual sustenance for the sisters.

She proceeded to ask the government for permission to open a house at 428 Huynh Van Banh, Ward 14, Phu Nhuan District, Hochiminh City by sending a letter to the Secretary of Religious Affairs in Hanoi. Mother Teresa also requested the government to recognize the 20 Vietnamese sisters as aspirants of her congregation. She asked permission for 7 Vietnamese sisters to leave for India where they could further participate in the formation of the Missionaries of Charity.

 

Surprisingly, the government which once receptive not only did they refuse Mother Teresa’s request to move the house at 428 Huynh Van Banh but also demanded Mother Teresa and the sisters of the Missionaries of Charity to leave Vietnam immediately. Without any sign or explanation given, the Vietnamese government expelled Mother Teresa and her sisters from Vietnam. Having served the poorest of the poor in Vietnam for 20 months, Mother Teresa did not want to give up without a fight. On December 20, 1995, Mother Teresa and Sister Nirmala flew to Hanoi to meet with government officials and request permission to stay. But the government did not sway from their previous decision. With a broken heart, Mother Teresa had to leave Vietnam.

 

 

She and her sisters departed from Vietnam to India on December 23, 1995. A month  prior, the government in China also refused to extend the visas for the Missionaries of Chariry to remain and minister in China. Perhaps, it was a mere coincidence that the government of Vietnam also did the same. Before leaving, Mother Teresa consoled the 20 Vietnamese sisters that perhaps it was God’s will. She added, “The seeds have been sown and one day you will reap the fruits.”  In May, 1996 Mother Teresa sent a letter to the Bishop Nicolas Huynh Van Nghi (Apostolic Administrator) soliciting him to form a congregation for the Vietnamese sisters which was to belong to the Archdiocese of Sai Gon. Bishop Nicolas Huynh Van Nghi along with Mother Teresa gave the Vietnamese sisters a new name. They were to be called the Missionaries of Christ’s Charity.

Bishop Nicolas Huynh Van Nghi
Adminitrators of Saigon Diocese

( 1993 – 1998 )

 

May 31, 1996 Bishop Nicolas Huynh Van Nghi Administrator of the Archdiocese of Saigon presided at the mass profession of perpetual vow for two founding Sisters:

Sr. Mary Frances Ha Thi Thanh Tinh and Sr. Mary Edward Doan Thi Bach Hao

in the chaple of Bishop House)

 

Hand in the hand of Superior General, the Sister says the vows

General Superior is blessing for Sister.

Archbishop is blessing for Sisters...

Welcome Mother Nirmala, Sister Lyza and Sister Leon on June 08, 2006

In the chaple at Hoc Mon district

Mother Nirmala, Sister Lyza, Sister Leon and Father Peter Cao Van Dat

in the chaple at 428 Huynh Van Banh, Phu Nhuan District

Sister Mary Frances, Superior general, is saying thank you...

Mother Nirmala and two Sisters visited  the orphanchildren at Mother ' s Love Home

on June 09, 2006

Mother Nirmala and two Siters visited the Love's Home

Bishop Sankle and Sisters in Nice, France

The Sisters is working at St. Philip Church of Corpus Christi Diocese, USA

Sister Mary Frances superior General.

Noviciate 2012

The Council of Mcc (in 2009)

  CONCLUSION

Responding to the calling of Jesus in the Gospel to spread the good news to the ends of the world, Mother Teresa and her Missionaries of Charity saw Calcutta as their Jerusalem from where their ministry would flourish. From Calcutta, the Missionaries of Charity branched out to Venezuela, North America, Rome, Middle East, and Asia. Although, not all of her dreams were realized, the seeds of her ministry to serve the poorest of the poor were sown and awaiting the rain of grace to sprout up at the proper time. Vietnam was one of the many countries which benefited from Mother Teresa’s presence and ministry. Not wanting to leave the 20 Vietnamese sisters orphaned, Mother Teresa asked Bishop Nicolas Huynh Van Nghi (administrator of the Archdiocese of Saigon) to give them her blessing to live according to her spirit. The Bishop Nicolas and Mother Teresa gave the Vietnamese sisters a new name which is known today as the Missionaries of Christ’s Charity. Renewed in the spirit of Mother Teresa, the 20 Vietnamese sisters proudly bore the name as Missionaries of Christ’s Charity. They went about searching and serving the poorest of the poor wherever they are found.

LETTER AND DECREE

DECREE OF THE FOUNDATION OF THE CONGREGATION
FROM THE ARCHBISHOP OF HOCHIMNH CITY ARCHDIOCESE

THE TRANSLATED DECREE