HUE, Vietnam (UCAN) -- Catholics of a parish celebrating the 100th anniversary of its church introduced their faith and their church's history to visitors they invited to cultural activities marking the jubilee.

An Van parish held special programs Oct. 5-7 to celebrate its history and the feast of its patron, Our Lady of the Rosary. Oct. 7 is the feast day.

A black wood altar decorated with flowers, candles and a set of censers was put near the main door of the church. Relics of a Vietnamese martyr were placed on it.

Nguyen Duong, 93, wearing blue traditional clothes and a turban on his head, struck a 200-kilogram Vietnamese-style bronze bell by the altar three times. Then the elder, who is not a Catholic, prayed in front of the altar.

"I struck (the bell) in honor of heaven and our ancestors, and for my health and the community's welfare," the eldest An Van resident told UCA News afterward.

Duong was among 500 non-Catholic villagers invited by parish priest Father Pierre Phan Xuan Thanh to the centenary celebration of Our Lady of the Rosary Church. They came from An Van, eight kilometers from the ancient capital city of Hue, and four neighboring villages. Hue is 660 kilometers south of Ha Noi.

About 2,000 people gathered at the church, where Father Thanh told them about its history. The church's wood frame originally belonged to a house in the imperial palace compound. A storm destroyed the house in 1904. Bishop Marie Antoine Gaspar of Hue bought the frame from the royal family and gave it to the parish as a gift, in gratitude for parishioners having protected foreign missioners from persecution in the past, Father Thanh recalled.

The church was built in 1907. Above its main door, on the outside, are four Chinese characters for "One God, three persons" and a round mirror five centimeters in diameter.

According to Vietnamese tradition, the 60-year-old parish priest explained, small mirrors are hung above main entrances to ward off evil. He noted that 300 meters from the church stands a cemetery, traditionally believed to be home to evil.

Andrew Dang Ba, 83, head of the parish council, told UCA News that some years ago, Luu Bao villagers gave part of their cemetery to Catholics, since the parish cemetery was full.

During the three-day ceremony, people visited the old church's sanctuary, touched glittering wood pillars and looked at 14 photos of the Stations of the Cross that date to 1956.

Father Thanh also explained to visitors the meaning of the roses and words of a Marian prayer that appear in chu nom (traditional Vietnamese script) on the bronze bell, which Father Thanh had cast on May 27.

In the church's compound, full of banana and areca nut trees, three thatched stalls were erected, where women in traditional clothes provided traditional ethnic foods.

People watched cultural performances and examined ancient rice containers, wood shoes, fans, stone grinders and tools for making palm-leaf conical hats, all given to the parish by local people.

Le Truc, from Bon Pho village, sat on a bamboo bench, drinking wine and eating with Father Thanh. Truc, 70, who has grown bonsai plants around the church for 10 years, told UCA News his villagers are friendly with Catholics, whom they find to be honest with others.

Nguyen Thi Lien, a Buddhist from An Hoa Thuong village, entered a Catholic church for the first time on Oct. 5. She knelt and prayed in front of the altar. Lien, 80, whose children live away from her, told UCA News she is grateful to local Catholics who visit and give her 10 kilograms of rice a month.

Father Thanh invited non-Catholic neighbors to the anniversary to express thanks to those whose ancestors kept Catholics from religious persecution.

"We live together in harmony. They also allow their children to embrace our religion and marry Catholics," he noted.

Archbishop Etienne Nguyen Nhu The of Hue led the thanksgiving Mass for 650 Catholics at the church on Oct. 6. About 50 priests concelebrated.

Founded in the late 18th century, An Van parish has produced 20 priests and 40 Religious. Today it is home to 400 Catholics.

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(Accompanying photos available at here)