Following the two weeks’ psychospiritual renewal programme (February 6-16, 2017) I was facilitating at
Sisters Centre, Sampran, Thailad, I had a weekend free. Through courtesy of the Director
of the Centre, Sr. Bangon LCT, I was able to visit the North East of Thailand
along with a visiting priest from India, Fr. Mathew Chandrankunnel CMI,
currently the director of the Ecumenical Centre at Whitfield, Bangalore.
Our first stop on the 17th February evening was
at Sakon Nakhon, an hour’s flight away from Bangkok, where the Sisters of the Cross
of Tharae have their head-quarters. At the airport we met Archbishop Louis of
Sakon Nakhon archdiocese who was travelling on the same flight as us. He hosted
us a nice dinner at the Airport restaurant.
At the Lovers of the Cross headquarters we were warmly
welcomed by the Superior General, Mother Virginia, and the entire community of
some forty sisters. We said Mass for the community on 18th morning
and enjoyed a sumptuous breakfast.
We then set out for the Shrine of the Seven Blessed Martyrs
of Thailand at SongKhon, on the bank of the river Mekong, running between
Thailand and Laos, very close to the site where they were martyred.
During the Indo-Chinese war the officially Buddhist
Thailand, with a view of achieving unity at the home front, had expelled Christian missionaries and
pressured Christians to apostasy. The persecution was especially strong at
SongKhon, about 650 km northeast of Bangkok. Priests were exiled. The mission
parish at SongKhon was entrusted to one Philip Siphong, a school teacher and
married man with five children. Authorities sought to suppress the parishioners
into submission by executing him. He was shot dead on December 16 1940.
On December 26, 1940 the local policeman went to the convent
of the Lovers of the Cross at SongKhon, and commanded the sisters and the lay
Christians present there (six in all) to renounce their faith. They refused.
They were led out to the local cemetery and shot dead. The youngest was only 14
years old.
We visited the Shrine where the remains of the bodies of the
Blessed are entombed and the cemetery where they were originally buried.
We had time to wander around the banks of the river Mekong
and enjoy a lavish lunch.
In the afternoon we drove along the banks of the Mekong
toward Tat Phanom, visited some Buddhist shrines, a school run by the Sisters
of the Lovers of the Cross and the Church of St. Anne, both on the banks of the
Mekong.
Dinner by the Mekong River concluded our pilgrimage and we
returned to Sakhon Nakon for the night.
The next day, Sunday, we joined the community Mass and after
breakfast drove to Udhon Thani, to another school run by the Sisters Lovers of
the Cross. The sisters hosted us a wonderful Sushi buffet lunch at the Oishi
Japanese Restaurant and took us to the airport. I returned to Bangkok and Fr.
Mathew proceeded to Chiangmai.
It was a delightful weekend pilgrimage that refreshed body
and soul.
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