HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam (UCAN) -- Mentally challenged Catholic patients of a state-run center in southern Vietnam attended liturgical services, shared hearty meals and played games led by Franciscans marking their patron's feast.

Marie Hong Bich Nhat smiled as she sang Me Vo Nhiem Nguyen Toi (Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception) and other hymns, and danced modern hip-hop with other patients. The music and games comprised some of the activities at the Franciscan abbey on Dec. 8 for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, patron of the Franciscans' Vietnamese province. The abbey is in Thu Duc district of Ho Chi Minh City, 1,710 kilometers south of Ha Noi.

The patients earlier went to confession and attended Mass at the abbey. One of them, Nhat, 47, told UCA News, "I had not been to confession, attended Mass and received communion since I was sent to the center in 2005." The mother of two said she had a nervous breakdown following her husband's death that year.

Apart from her spiritual rejuvenation, Nhat added, she feasted on a big lunch, played games and took some food back to her non-Catholic friends at the Center for Mental Patients, seven kilometers from the abbey.

Nhat, a former migrant worker from Thai Binh province in the north, was one of 104 Catholic patients who enjoyed a day's break from the center at the abbey. The center, built in 1991, now serves 1,033 patients, including some HIV/AIDS patients and alcohol abusers.

Franciscan Brother John Dau Tien Dung, 29, an organizer of the event, told UCA News the Franciscans received permission from center officials to take the Catholic patients to their abbey on a bus the Franciscans rented for the day.

The second-year theology student, who has a bachelor's degree in social work, said the patron feast is a holiday for sharing joy with people in distress. In the past, they also took patients to the abbey to celebrate Christmas and Easter. Fellow Franciscans, he added, heard the confessions, celebrated Mass, provided food, and organized games and cultural performances.

It is dangerous to take patients from the center since some might escape and not return, he admitted, but the patients caused no problems since they were attended by 86 Religious, benefactors and volunteers, which included 16 Franciscans.

Marie Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong, 52, a secular Franciscan, told UCA News her family prepared nutritious food for the patients -- meat, bread, milk, fruit, vegetables, beans -- because they rarely had a chance to be so well nourished. The patients also took home fruit, cake and sweets, Phuong added.

John Tran Van Thanh, another patient at the center, told UCA News the event gave him a chance to confess his sins. He said he regrets that "I kick and hit others whenever I get angry or am in a disordered state." Now 33, Thanh said he was sent to the center from northern Vietnam's Nam Dinh province in 2001 after abusing alcohol and cocaine.

The recent celebration made him happy, he said, because he could compete in football and tug-of-war, and break rubber balloons. "People ignore me because of my violent attitude, but the Franciscans treat me as a friend," he noted.

Anna Mary Phan Thi Kim Anh, a nurse at the center, told UCA News the outing refreshed the patients. They normally stay inside secure buildings at the six-hectare facility where 104 officials and health-care workers care for them.

Anh, 54, pointed out that religious activities are not allowed at the overcrowded center. About 150 patients are crowded into each 220-square-meter house, she said, and some with severe problems defecate on the floor.

Brother Dung emphasized, "We want to bring love, respect and dignity to patients who are undervalued, mistreated and hit by others." This is the third time the Franciscans have brought mental patients to their abbey, he noted.

He pointed out that 12 Franciscans and some lay volunteers visit the center on Sunday mornings to cut the patients' hair, shave them and clip their nails because patients are not allowed sharp metal objects. The visitors also bathe patients who cannot do so, he added.

The Franciscans have baptized 60 patients since 2003. In all, 53 Franciscans studying at the newly-built study house adjacent to the abbey also visit and provide pastoral service to HIV/AIDS patients, lepers, migrant workers, college students, elderly people, disabled children and the terminally ill.

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(Accompanying photos available at here)