MONG SON, Vietnam (UCAN) -- Women in a northern parish who have to work hard to support and care for large families also find time to recite the rosary and pray for the dead every day.

Maria Pham Thi Nhuong (first row, right), and other Catholics pray for their ancestors on Nov. 14 at the Mong Son parish cemetery in Yen Bai province, Vietnam.

"Although we have to work hard in the rice fields or quarries, or catch fish in lakes, we try to spend time reciting the rosary and praying for souls in purgatory," Maria Pham Thi Nhuong told UCA News on Nov. 14.

Nhuong, 46, heads a group in Mong Son parish dedicated to praying for the departed. Mong Son village, in Yen Bai province's Yen Binh district, lies 220 kilometers northwest of Ha Noi.

"We love the departed souls, especially those who have no surviving relatives to pray for them, so we are determined to do something helpful for them so God will soon forgive them and bring them to heaven," she said.

The group leader explained they pray the rosary in teams of five. Each team prays one of the four sets of mysteries of the rosary, each set comprising five significant events or moments in the life of Jesus and Mary. Team members pray one decade of the rosary each -- one Our Father, 10 Hail Marys and one Glory Be -- meditating on one of the group's five mysteries, drawn by lot. The member prays that same mystery every day, at any convenient time.

Nhuong, who helps support her six children by growing rice and loading rocks onto boats or trucks at local quarries, prays the fourth of the Glorious Mysteries -- the Blessed Mother's assumption into heaven. She said she fingers her rosary on her way from home to work in the early morning.

According to her, a local lay catechist started the group in 2002 with 24 local women. Today its 55 members include one man. According to group member Maria Nguyen Thi Soi, none of the members have left since the group was formed.

Soi, a farmer with 10 children, told UCA News they hope the souls they pray for, after entering heaven, will pray for them. Reciting the rosary daily helps them gain peace of mind and live in harmony with neighbors, she added.

Group members also gather on Thursday evenings at one of their houses to share the word of God and their family problems, economic challenges and joys with one another. They also help one another work in the fields, harvesting crops or cleaning houses, Soi elaborated.

Marie Truong Thi Phuc added that if a group member or relative dies, members each donate 1,000 dong (US$0.06) and buy flowers for the deceased and pray for the departed soul for three evenings after the funeral. They also serve as a choir for funeral Masses, she added.

Phuc, 43, who joined the group in 2004, noted that group members and local Catholics pray the Stations of the Cross around the parish cemetery and visit their ancestors every Nov. 2, and on selected other days during the month.

People pray in front of a cross on Nov. 14 at the Mong Son parish cemetery in Yen Bai province, Vietnam.

Members also make a monthly donation of 1,000 dong each to the parish for needy or sick people, and visit and pray for sick people, according to Nhuong.

The group leader added that they would like to buy purple ao dai, traditional Vietnamese woman's attire, for when they sing at funeral Masses and an organ to practice hymns, but they cannot afford it.

Members each earn only 30,000-50,000 dong a day from catching fish in lakes or loading rocks and they live in poverty, she said.

Soi noted that they do not want to invite local Catholic men to join their group since men easily forget to recite the daily rosary. They too work hard but usually gather to drink alcohol in their free time, she explained.

Hai, a local fisherman whose wife belongs to the group, says he supports the women's perseverance in praying for souls, something he agrees the men cannot do. He and his wife have eight children.

Father Michael Nguyen Tien Quang, who was assigned to be Mong Son's first parish priest in 2006, told UCA News he does not know of any other parish in the province with a similar group of women. He chose Saint Monica as the group's patron.

END