Vietnamese Mass in St. Columba's

This is an extra post about a strange experience I had last night. I looked up churches in the area where I am now (halfway between St. Paul ans Minneapolis). I saw that there was a St. Columba's church relativey close-by (about a 30 or 40min walk). St. Columba being an Irish saint, who established a monastery at Iona, I was quite intrigued to find out about its history. I looked up their website and saw that they had Mass  at 7pm each night.

So I left the state fair and went to find this church. It took me a while because I didn;t know exactly where it was and my map was not the best. I walked down a very residential road. I was sure that I must be on the wrong road but just as I was about to give up, I noticed the unusual-looking church (see above). I recognised it from the website.

I then saw people going in the side entrance so I presumed this is where the Mass was on. They went into a little chapel. The Blessed Sacrament was exposed. I noticed that everybody there was Asian, except me. After a while, someone starting chanting something. I soon realised it was the rosary in Vietnamese. I knew that they had Masses in Vietnamese from the website. I felt really awkward being the only non-Vietnamese person there, with everyone in this small chapel praying the rosary in Vietnamese.

I was wondering why the Mass hadn't started yet because it was 7.15pm. So I left because I really wanted to explore the church. The church was very interesting. It was indeed commissioned by an Irish priest. There is a statue of St. Columba and also one of St. Patrick (written Naomh Padraig). I also read that the priest wanted an Irish-looking round tower, even though the architect didn't. He got his wish, though the tower isn't particularly Irish-looking.

From reading the noticeboard, I saw that on this night and the next night, there will be 6-hour vigils in chapel from 7pm to 1am, with Mass at 7.30pm. I returned to the chapel just before the start of Mass. A Vietnamese priest wearing green vestments with a Celtic cross was the celebrant. The whole Mass was in Vietnamese. Luckily the day before I just figured out how to put the Mass readings for each day on my kindle so I took out my kindle. I must have seemed really technologically-advanced or very rude and disrespectful. Nearly all of the Mass is chanted but it is quite a different chant from any Western chant. When it came to the offer of peace, I wasn't sure of the etiquitte. Do they shake hands? Do I shake hands with women? What is 'peace be with you' in Vietnamese? So I observed while they all offered eachother signs of peace. They spoke to me in English. I thought that it was a bit presumptive of them, assuming I couldn't speak Vietnamese. Maybe the red hair gave it away. During communion, again I was wondering what the priest would say to me. He spoke to me in English and everyone else in Vietnamese.

After the Mass, I was going to ask the priest about the history of the church but they had a full schedule of confessions, benediction etc. so I didn't want to disturb him. As I left though, a few things were going through my mind. 1. Where did all the Irish go? Surely the great grandchildren of the Irish community should still be around. 2. How come there are so many Vietnamese Catholics in this area? 3. I was wondering how much of the history of the church does the present community know about. Do they know who St. Columba is? Do they know what a round tower or a Celtic cross is? Do they know what Naomh Padraig means?

It was definately a very strange experience, but a very positive one as well. Here is a church that was built by and for Irish immigrants in St. Paul. Now it is the church of a new group of immigrants. So in a way, the church still fulfills its original purpose. The only priest in the parish and most of the parish are Vietnamese. They are very devout, probably like the Irish that were here over a hundred years ago. So in one way, St. Columba's church may have changed far less than most other churches.