When Pol Pot ruled, the Communists killed all priests, many monks and destroyed many religious statues, or threw them into rivers. They dynamited Phnom Penh Cathedral. In 2008, a Cham Muslim found a heavy chunk of metal at the bottom of the Mekong, and since it was too heavy for him to pull up, he sold its location to eight Vietnamese Buddhists for $7.50.
After two days of hard work, the Buddhists recovered a statue of a woman on April 16th, 2008. On shore, it was recognized by a Vietnamese Catholic as the Virgin Mary, so he advised them to neither break it up nor take it anywhere. Alerted, the dirt-poor Vietnamese parish of Akreiy Ksatr agreed to buy it for $500.
Before delivery, one of the Buddhists dreamt that the statue flew over his boat three or four times, which he interpreted as a reprimand for their eagerness to cash in on their sacred find. Terrified, the eight Buddhists agreed to take no money, but over the years, the parish has bought them enough rice and instant noodles to make up for the lost amount anyway.
On November 18th, 2012, a Vietnamese Buddhist saw, in a dream, a bronze statue of a man with arms spread out, saying, "You must fish me out from the bottom of the Mekong. I'm lying near where you found the Virgin Mary." With his two sons, he then found a statue of Mary holding a baby Jesus, which he donated to the Akreiy Ksatr church.
Phan Van Hum "When I recovered the Virgin Mary, I didn't feel that it was a statue but a person who was alive, like us. I was both happy and trembling from fear. At that moment, I silently prayed to the Virgin Mary to cure my wife of her illness."
Since the day of its finding happened to be the 21st ASEAN Summit, the ferries weren't running, making the operation easier. This, too, the Vietnamese Catholics of Akreiy Ksatr attribute to providence.
Sitting on a church step, I could see a woman sweeping its yard, then kids in school uniforms entering, so there was also a school there. Before class, a few boys played soccer with a grapefruit-sized plastic ball.
Across the street, there was a cafe' where men were fixated on a Vietnamese movie. I shared a table outside with a small girl doing her homework, and soon, two more kids joined us. Looking at her workbook, I saw that she was writing one simple sentence over and over. Across from her, a boy did the same.
I asked, "Do you study Cambodian also?"
"No, sir," they answered. (It's actually, "Da' º ¡, khà ´ng," which is the deferential form of "yes," then "no," thus untranslatable, but equivalent to "No, sir.")
"Do you have Cambodian friends?"
"No, sir."
Hmmm, I thought, then, "Have you been to Vietnam?"
"No, sir."
"Would you like to go?"
"No, sir!" the boy blurted, nearly laughing, so outlandish was my suggestion. He had probably never been ten miles from home.
After two days of hard work, the Buddhists recovered a statue of a woman on April 16th, 2008. On shore, it was recognized by a Vietnamese Catholic as the Virgin Mary, so he advised them to neither break it up nor take it anywhere. Alerted, the dirt-poor Vietnamese parish of Akreiy Ksatr agreed to buy it for $500.
Before delivery, one of the Buddhists dreamt that the statue flew over his boat three or four times, which he interpreted as a reprimand for their eagerness to cash in on their sacred find. Terrified, the eight Buddhists agreed to take no money, but over the years, the parish has bought them enough rice and instant noodles to make up for the lost amount anyway.
On November 18th, 2012, a Vietnamese Buddhist saw, in a dream, a bronze statue of a man with arms spread out, saying, "You must fish me out from the bottom of the Mekong. I'm lying near where you found the Virgin Mary." With his two sons, he then found a statue of Mary holding a baby Jesus, which he donated to the Akreiy Ksatr church.
Since the day of its finding happened to be the 21st ASEAN Summit, the ferries weren't running, making the operation easier. This, too, the Vietnamese Catholics of Akreiy Ksatr attribute to providence.
Sitting on a church step, I could see a woman sweeping its yard, then kids in school uniforms entering, so there was also a school there. Before class, a few boys played soccer with a grapefruit-sized plastic ball.
Across the street, there was a cafe' where men were fixated on a Vietnamese movie. I shared a table outside with a small girl doing her homework, and soon, two more kids joined us. Looking at her workbook, I saw that she was writing one simple sentence over and over. Across from her, a boy did the same.
I asked, "Do you study Cambodian also?"
"No, sir," they answered. (It's actually, "Da' º ¡, khà ´ng," which is the deferential form of "yes," then "no," thus untranslatable, but equivalent to "No, sir.")
"Do you have Cambodian friends?"
"No, sir."
Hmmm, I thought, then, "Have you been to Vietnam?"
"No, sir."
"Would you like to go?"
"No, sir!" the boy blurted, nearly laughing, so outlandish was my suggestion. He had probably never been ten miles from home.
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