Chi Hoa Church (Official name: Our Lady of the Rosary Church) is located at 149 Banh Van Tran Street, Ward 7, Tan Binh District. The church was built in 1890, inaugurated on October 7, 1890, and has a Roman architectural style. In the campus, there is the La Vang Mother Square. The church has a Divine Mercy Mass, heard that everyone who comes to pray is accepted by Jesus Christ.
History of Chi Hoa Church
The Chi Hoa Parish started as a branch of Cho Quan Parish, led by Bishop Ba Da Loc. Then it is a branch of Tan Dinh Parish. It officially established on October 10, 1890, with the name Thanh Hoa. The first church was also the church today built by the Bishop Mossard in 1890 and inaugurated on October 7, 1890, on the land offered by Mr. Huyen Sy (Official name: Le Phat Dat), one of the richest landlords in South Vietnam at that time.
Source: giaoxugiaohovietnam.
Story about Chi Hoa Church
According to the Archbishop’s Document Hue – 1998, under the reign of King Canh Thinh (ascended in 1792), with the forbidding decree on August 17, 1798, some parishioners near Dinh Cat hill (now Quang Tri town) must find hiding places. They came to flee in the mountains of La Vang. In the strict circumstances, the lack of food, the sick, the fear of the army, the fear of evil animals, they only knew a trust, entrusted to God and Our Lady. They often gathered together under an ancient tree, prayed together, comforted and helped each other.
One day, when being praying, they saw a beautiful woman, dressed in a large robe, standing next to the Child Jesus, with two angels holding lamps in two sides. They immediately recognized Maria’s Mother. Mother expressed the love and comforted the people. She taught to pick up a kind of leaf that is available around and cooked and drank to heal diseases. Mother gave a promise, “Mommy accepted your words. From now on, whoever comes to invoke Mommy in this place, Mommy will accept according to the will.
The event took place on the grass near the ancient tree where the parishioners were praying. After that, Mother also appeared many times to support and comfort her children in the affliction. Since then the event in which Our Lady appeared in the forest mountain of La Vang spread through generations and everywhere. Many people have sincerely believed and prayed to Our Lady. Our Lady of La Vang is often symbolized with a Vietnamese woman wearing a Vietnamese ao dai standing next to Child Jesus.
Architecture
Source: Wikimapia.
The Church of Chí Hòa consists of 3 main works: Church gate, La Vang Mother Square and temple. The church gate is of the three-entrance gate kind. The pillars have large square cubes, made of solid bricks. The upper part is not tile roofs like East Asian temples. It is the arcs made of reinforced concrete. On the arc of the main entrance has the name of the church: NHA THO CHI HOA. In general, the church gate looks simple, steady, but gentle. The architectural style of Chi Hoa Church is a unique one in Ho Chi Minh City.
La Vang Our Lady Square is a large space, having statues describing Jesus Christ’s life around. In the middle, there are many rows of stone benches for parishioners. The mother’s monument is placed on the platform made of green stones. The monument shows the Mother standing beside the Child Jesus with a benevolent face.
The temple, generally, is designed according to Roman architecture style. The temple is made of bricks and reinforced cement. The columns are square, big and solid. The crests connecting the columns, windows, and dome have a semicircular shape. The walls are very thick. The difference with ancient Roman architecture is the doors, windows are quite wide and airy. In the Saint palace, the statue of Jesus is placed in the middle. The statue of Saint Mary is placed on the right and Saint Joseph is placed on the left side of the Holy Palace front.
Read more about
