The Church of Vietnam and
The Lovers of the Holy Cross
The Lovers of the Holy Cross originated in Vietnam, founded by a French Bishop and missionary, Pierre Lambert de la Motte, in 1670. The Congregation is founded particularly for the Vietnamese. Each Congregation is independent in its administration and is under the supervision of the local bishop in whose diocese the Mother House resides. Although each Congregation is autonomous, all Congregations accept Bishop Pierre Lambert de la Motte as their founder, and follow the Lambertian Spirituality, which is summarized and enriched in the Constitutions of the Lovers of the Holy Cross.
For deeper understanding of its origin and development, the researcher would like to invite you to walk through the history of the Lovers of the Holy Cross.
1. Historical Background of the Founder and the Sisters of the Lovers of the Cross
In the 17th century, Bishop Lambert de la Motte, one of first three French missionary bishops was sent to evangelize the Far East as a delegate of the Holy See. Besides ordaining local priests and forming local clergy, he was the founder of the Congregation of the Lovers of the Holy Cross, the first Congregation for women established in Vietnam, for the Vietnamese women religious to serve the Vietnamese people. Together with other missionaries, he planted the seed for the Church of Vietnam with a spiritual foundation focused on the crucified Christ. This spirituality became the source of strength for thousands of Vietnamese faithful during the period of almost 300 years of religious persecution.
2. Bishop Lambert de La Motte
What follows is the life and work of Bishop Lambert de la Motte, shortened from the biography written by the Committee on the Spirituality of the Congregation of the Holy Cross.
Pierre Marie was born on January 16, 1624 at Lisieux of Normandie, Northwest of France. His parents were Mr. Pierre Lambert de la Motte and Mrs. Catherine Heudey de Pommainville et de Bocquencey. Born in a religious family, Pierre Marie often met with the farmers and shared his goods with the poor. He liked to take walks in the forest and pray. He read with interest and reflected on the book “The Imitation of Christ,” a masterpiece that had influenced the life of the Church throughout the last two centuries. At the age of nine (1633), he was inspired by God to gather those who loved the Holy Cross of Jesus. His wish was that they should be formed into a Congregation under the title “Lovers of the Holy Cross”. This was taken from chapter eleven of the second book of the Imitation of Christ.
After graduation from high school, Pierre Marie studied law, and became a lawyer at the age of twenty-three. He was appointed a juridical advisor and remained there for 9 years. He resigned, because he wanted to examine his vocation, how God was calling him to serve Him. Fr. Julien Hayneuve, S.J., was his spiritual director.
– He was ordained a priest on the 27th of December 1655.
– On June 11th of 1660, Lambert de la Motte was ordained Bishop at the Visitation Convent’s chapel in France.
– On November 27th of 1660, the newly ordained Bishop, along with Father Jacques de Bourges and Father Francois Deydier, left the port of Marseille for Thailand, through the Mediterranean Sea.
3. Bishop Lambert de la Motte and the Lovers of the Holy Cross
After leaving Paris for Marseille, to join his companions crossing the Mediterranean sea, on November 27 of 1660, Bishop Lambert received the news reporting that the king of Portugal gave the order to arrest all Vicars Apostolic, and send them to Lisbon.
On August 22 of 1662, Bishop Lambert and his companions arrived at Juthia, capital of Thailand. Terrifying persecutions of Christianity in Vietnam at the time prevented him from reaching the North, therefore, he chose Juthia as the center of the European Missionaries for the Far East.
Because Bishop Pallu was too occupied with his journeys between Europe and Southeast Asia, Bishop Lambert replaced Bishop Pallu, visiting both the North and the South Vietnam. These were his distinguished accomplishments:
– 1664 He convoked the Council of Juthia and formulated instructions for the missionaries.
– 1665 He formed the Apostolate Society (for men with three simple vows, but it was disapproved by the Vatican because of its strict regulations.)
– 1668 Hed secretly ordained the first two priests in South Vietnam (on a ship anchored near Thailand.)
– 1670 He founded the Lovers of the Holy Cross (for women with three simple vows. Approved by Vatican and lasted until the present.)
4. Foundation of the Lovers of the Cross in Vietnam
Bishop Angelo Palmas, who was visiting the LHC Thu Thiem, said: “It is impossible to write the history of Christianity in Vietnam without writing the history of the LHC ”
We can look into some characteristic of the LHC.
Father Ravier Khanh, a Church historian, in 1894, wrote the history of the Church of Vietnam since the year 1640. During the Trinh Trang Dynasty, while the Jesuit missionaries and the Vietnamese Catechists were prosperous, with hundreds of thousand of believers, a hundred churches, a hundred and thirty chapels, there suddenly arose a persecution. Yet, this persecution lasted only three months.
History recorded the origin of the Lovers of the Holy Cross as follows:
“There were three women from the West who vowed to be virgins for life. When hearing that the King ordered persecution, they went to Ke Cho (Ha Noi) to profess their faith in God. On their way, they met so many hardships, but when they arrived at the Market of Ke-Cho, the King had taken back the order. Deciding not to separate from one another, they stayed together to live a virtuous life. Thereafter, many women came to imitate the lifestyle of these women. Words were passed on: that the convent of Bai-Vang in Ha Noi was the first convent in Vietnam, and assumed that these three women formed it. This was the origin of the convent for the sisters.”
On August of 1666, while visiting the North, Father Deydier introduced Bishop Lambert to the group of virgins mentioned above. After carefully looking at the matter, Bishop Lambert decided to officially establish the Lovers of the Holy Cross in Kien Lao (Nam Dinh, Bui Chu Diocese) and Bai-Vang (Ha-Nam, Ha-Noi Diocese).
After that, he handed the Sisters a set of rules, written by himself, and telling them: “You receive this set of rules as coming from God rather than me, and be sure that if you keep this way of perfection, you will reach the ultimate knowledge and love of God.”
a. Five Principal Duties of the Pioneer Lovers of the Holy Cross:
1. Always incorporate tears of repentance, prayers, and sacrifices to the redemption of the Saviour, to pray for the conversion of the three Dioceses of China, South and North Vietnam.
2. Educate young Christian and non-Christian women and teenagers.
3. Care for the sick, regardless of religion.
4. Baptize children in cases of emergency.
5. Help desolute women returning to a dignified life.
b. Begining
On Ash Wednesday of February 2nd of 1670, Bishop Lambert accepted the vows of the first two Sisters, Anna and Paula, at Pho-Hien. This day was documented as the founding date of the Lovers of Holy Cross in Vietnam.
After visiting North Vietnam, Bishop Lambert returned to Thailand. On September of 1671, he arrived for the first time to his appointed Diocese, South Vietnam. At the end of 1671, Bishop Lambert founded the first convent of the Lovers of the Holy Cross in An-Chi, Quang-Ngai. On October 12 of 1670, he reported to Rome the establishment of the LHC.
Having grown, through the many ups and downs of the Church of Vietnam, the LHC continued to endure and was not discouraged by trials. Religious vocations increased each day.
5. The Death of Bishop Lambert de la Motte
Returning to Thailand in the middle of May of 1676, his health had noticeably deteriorated. Colon cancer and kidney stones made him suffer much. He felt a need for silence to pray and to incorporate more his life to that of the crucified Christ. He kept, in his room, a casket to remind him of his death so as to prepare “to enter in it on the very important day of the eternal life.” During his sickness, he often talked to himself: “Be courageous, the hour is near, suffer for God.” And he never ceased to give thanks: “To the end of ages, I will praise the mercy of God.”
We perceive the birth of a Religious Institute, namely the Lovers of the Cross, was rooted in the love of a very special soul, a soul passionate with love reserved for no one else other than Christ crucified. Lambert loved and abandoned everything to attain that love. He heartily proclaimed that Good News to humanity, especially to his spiritual children, the Lovers of the Holy Cross Sisters.
According to the January of 2000 statistics, there are twenty-three Congregations of the Lovers of the Holy Cross in Vietnam founded by Bishop Lambert de la Motte, and following the Lambertian Spirituality.
Philippines, December 26, 2002
Sr Mary
