BUI CHU, Vietnam (UCAN) -- Traditional chants relating the suffering of Jesus and a funeral procession for Jesus on Good Friday have helped Catholics in northern Vietnam deepen their faith.

Joseph Bui Van Chinh of Trung Linh parish told UCA News Good Friday is "a great day for our parish" because no matter how far away Catholic villagers live, they return on that day to be "in communion with the Passion of Jesus."

During Holy Week, the 60-year-old parishioner said, his church is crowded more than usual, with people attending various liturgies and services such as Eucharistic adoration and the Stations of the Cross. But the highlight is the procession of "the coffin of Jesus" around the village on Good Friday night.

This year, about 1,000 Catholics joined in the April 9 procession that went around Xuan Ngoc village, where the church is located. The village is in Nam Dinh province, about 120 kilometers southeast of Ha Noi.

When the Stations of the Cross began at 5 p.m., Catholics followed three statues placed on a cart that four young men pushed around the church: a 1.8-meter-tall wooden statue of a red-cloaked Jesus carrying a cross, a statue of Mary cloaked in black and a statue of Saint John the Apostle. They prayed, meditated on God's word and sang hymns at each station before entering the church. There, they joined in "ngam," an inculturated meditative chant that relates Jesus' Passion. The chant was adapted from folk traditions.

The chanters, all dressed in black, presented "15 Su Thuong Kho" (15 sufferings of Jesus) that Bishop John Baptist Nguyen Ba Tong, Vietnam's first native bishop, compiled in 1911. Afterward, the churchgoers prayed the rosary.

Dominique Dao Cong Minh explained to UCA News that while meditating on the death of Jesus, the people would wear white mourning bands around their heads and beat drums rapidly to express sorrow.

Two men then placed the Jesus statue into the coffin, adorned with flowers, candles and lamps. Accompanied by drums and trumpets, the people took the coffin in a two-kilometer procession around the village. Holding torches or candles, they kept reciting prayers and singing hymns until 11 p.m.

Joseph Nguyen Van Thanh, one of those who carried the coffin, told UCA News, "I was happy to carry the body of the Lord. This helps me to live my faith better and to overcome difficulties and challenges in life." He pointed out that the area's parishes and sub-parishes, only 500 meters to a few kilometers apart, carry out similar funeral processions, with some people cycling around to watch a dozen or more such "funerals."

Tran Van Nguyen, 70, who is not a Catholic, told UCA News that he watches the crowded procession every year. He admitted that when he saw it the first time, he thought it was the "funeral of a real person."

Many elderly Catholics in the diocese say that these traditional religious practices have helped them preserve their own faith and help many other Catholics in their own churches to pray and reflect on the Passion of Jesus.

Father Joseph Nguyen Duc Dung, pastor of Lien Phu parish, told UCA News the traditions helped Catholics maintain their faith through times of war and especially after 1954, when the country was divided following communist victories in northern Vietnam and the exodus of many Catholics from North Vietnam to South Vietnam left the diocese severely short of priests.

Not all the traditions are equally welcome. According to one Church source, Bishop Joseph Hoang Van Tiem of Bui Chu told parishes not to launch chanting contests and to avoid using drums and gongs in meditative sessions during Lent except during Holy Week, lest the loud noise distract churchgoers.

On Good Friday in the past, laypeople also told UCA News, children kissed the feet of the Jesus statue and then took and ate grilled rice from a basket placed next to the coffin, believing it is good for health. However, Bishop Tiem urged people this year instead to donate money for the poor.

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