Spirituality
«The Christian is a light that shines in the darkness,
Cardinal Nguyễn Văn Thuận's spirituality is rooted in the experience of Vietnamese martyrs, including members of his own family, and is permeated at every turn by Sacred Scripture.
Drawing on the witness of the Saints and the teachings of the Second Vatican Council and of the Popes, he places a particular emphasis on hope.
Among his various works, the most noteworthy are the 1001 thoughts he wrote secretly for his faithful during the first months of his imprisonment, collected in the volume entitled, “The Road of Hope: A Gospel from Prison” (originally published in Italian by Città Nuova, 1992, and subsequently in English by New City Press, 2013), as well as the meditations he offered to St. John Paul II and the Roman Curia during the Spiritual Exercises of 2000, published under the title “Testimony of Hope” (Pauline, 2000; originally published in Italian, “Testimoni della speranza”, Città Nuova, 2000).
The following is a musical passage taken from a prayer written by Archbishop Nguyễn Văn Thuận on February 11, 1985, while he was in solitary confinement in Hanoi, and reported in the book “Five Loaves and Two Fish.”
Far from his diocese, the bishop turns to God, heartbroken at the impossibility of continuing the many works he had set up for Him. The Lord replies: “It is me you follow, not my work.” The choir emphasizes this response with the recurring refrain: “Choose only God.”