“I am French although I was born in Vietnam. I am 53. I came to France in 1978 after the Vietnam War.” These words start Thanh’s testimony, who attended the Pilgrimage of Heaven in 2024. His story is marked by the pain of loss. His parents and his brother have been missing at sea. The ship on which they were sailing never reached the shore.
No grave
His parents and his brothers died at sea. The boat on which they were sailing was never retrieved. “I was told that the boat had been hit by a mine. Their bodies were never found. This is quite painful for my brother and I. There is no grave.”
However,his faith and his memories are encapsulated by his faith. “Every morning, every evening, I think of them. And that gives me immense joy. A joy that gives me the strength to get up in the morning and go to work. I live for them.” In saying this, Thanh confides that every day that passes is a silent offering to their memories.
They are always with me
So why does he come back every year? “I come here every year to pay my respects and to express that they are still with me.” He also recalls his brother, who went back to Vietnam: “We lost our way down that road… I’ve also come for him, to be here, both of us, in communion with our parents and loved ones who have gone to Heaven.”
In this way, prayer becomes a gathering place where the wounded past is transformed into hope. “To be there is to be with them, even if they are gone.”
A spiritual rebirth
Born in the Buddhist tradition, Thanh explains: “I am a Buddhist by heritage but I did not experience Buddhism in my heart.” This inner gap changed into an opening thanks to a Christian woman friend. “Anne-Sophie is the one who really enlightened me. She made me feel like becoming a Catholic. The texts are beautiful; day after day, I feel freer and more at peace with myself. ”
He adds: “With Christians around me, I feel more fulfilled. I try to spread this joy on a daily basis, at work.” His conversion, then, is not a simple change, but a spiritual rebirth which he experiences in gratitude.
I am alive
Thanh recalls how he became an immigrant when he arrived in France as a orphan. “My brother and I were orphans. He and I were in a boarding school. Even if we had money and work, we missed our family an awful lot.” This loss kept echoing painfully until his encounter with Catholic faith gave a new direction to his life.”
“Today, I know I’m lucky to be alive,” he confides. These simple yet powerful words sum up the strength of his testimony. Life, in spite of everything, is a precious gift, to be lived with and for those you hold close to your heart.
Life as an offering
Thanh’s narrative makes it clear that the Pilgrimages of Heaven go far beyond a move in space: they are moments of communion, comfort, conversion and living memory.
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