By Fr. Joseph Thinh Phuoc, SDB
Dalat, Vietnam, 24 May 2020 -- In the afternoon of 24 May, the Salesian postnovitiate community and the parish of Don Bosco Dalat celebrated the Feast of the Ascension of The Lord, combining this Feast with its devotion to Mary Help of Christians in a solemn way as the restriction was lifted. Around 4,000 people gathered for the celebration.
Devotion to Mary Help of Christians was expressed with a flower offering, flower dances, rosary recitation and procession led by the local Bishop, a friend of the Salesian community. Indeed in the homily, the Bishop shared his experiences of living with the Salesians and his experiences of Help from Mary: “Thirty years ago, together with other diocesan seminarians who were forced out of the Pontifical Seminary by the police, I lived in this community for one and a half years, witnessed and was somehow imbued with the Salesian devotion to Mary Help of Christians. This moment, as a bishop, I am really in need of Help from our Madonna and that’s why I came for this celebration, together with the Salesians and the parishioners, to pray for special graces.”
