From Vietnam, with gratitude
News
An encounter with Sr Hieu Tran is instantly smile-inducing. The liturgy coordinator and Vietnamese liaison officer at St Dominic’s Priory College is diminutive in size but emanates the kind of positivity that fills a room.
Member of the Dominican Sisters of North Adelaide and the liturgy coordinator and Vietnamese liaison officer at St Dominic’s Priory College she is diminutive in size but emanates the kind of positivity that fills a room.
“Most people call me Hieu, but my full given name is Thanh Hieu,” Sr Hieu says.
In Vietnamese, Thanh suggests purity, grace and integrity, while Hieu expresses filial love, respect and gratitude towards parents and all those who have nurtured us.
“Together, ‘Thanh Hieu’ reflects my parents’ hope that I would live with goodness, gratitude and respect for others.”
On Saturday 15 August the Dominican Sisters and St. Dominic’s Priory College helped Sr Hieu celebrate 25 years since entering religious life.
On the morning of her silver jubilee, Dominican Sisters, staff, students, friends, and members of the Vietnamese community gathered in the Priory Chapel to join the liturgy celebrated by Fr Anthony Walsh OP.
“I always thought that if I celebrated my jubilee, it would be a very quiet and very simple occasion. Just a meal with the community and a Eucharist celebrated with the Sisters,” Sr Hieu says. “I thought that would be enough.”
However, God and the St Dominic’s community and College had other plans.
The chapel was full to overflowing and the liturgy was beautiful. Following the Liturgy the College venue was used to provide lunch. Visitors were welcomed and waited on by the College leadership and staff.
Sr Hieu was overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity. “I feel gratitude with all my heart.”
Gratitude is the golden thread running through her jubilee reflections. In the week leading up to the celebration, Sr Hieu requested time away from school; not to organise decorations or seating plans, but to reflect on her relationship with God.
“I wanted that week to spend more time to reflect and to talk to God.”
Sr Hieu was born in South Vietnam and is the youngest of 10 children in a devout Catholic family; five boys, five girls. Her older brother is a Carmelite Priest working in America.
The children’s childhood was set against a village backdrop made up of residents from a patchwork of diverse beliefs, all united by the challenge of war.
After the War families from all over the country converged on her village: Catholic, Buddhist, and non‑religious background alike.
“In our village we didn’t care about background, or whether a person was religious or not religious, we really cared for each other. I grew up in that culture and ever since I can remember, I was always involved in the community. I joined in youth movements, school activities, and was a member of the choir.”
For the 25th anniversary of her religious profession, Hieu chose mostly English hymns for the Mass but for communion, she sang a treasured piece in her mother tongue.
This hymn expresses gratitude and surrender and mirrors her own life experience.
The words and the lessons gleaned from the song are important to Sr Hieu.
“We lost one of my sisters after the war. She left Vietnam in 1980, [part of] the big wave of Vietnamese people leaving Vietnam on boats. My sister left with her husband and her one‑year‑old boy. We never heard from them again.”
Sr Hieu’s religious/Dominican motto is: “Give Thanks” (1Thess 5:18)
When she works with Vietnamese Australian families, whether they are successful or struggling, she listens to their story with compassion. Many experience language difficulties and often do not understand Australia’s education system.
“They work hard and very long hours to provide an education for their children. Sometimes, the most important thing we can do is simply listen,” Sr Hieu says. “Listen to the stories of families. Listen to the student who wants to share their success, the student who needs help, or the student who sits quietly and may simply need our presence and comfort. Listening may seem like a small thing, but sometimes it is exactly what a person needs.”
Sr Hieu has the unique empathy that comes from lived experience. When she arrived in Australia in 2009, sponsored by the Dominican Sisters, she didn’t speak English.
“I already had a teaching degree in Vietnam,” she says. “I loved teaching. The Dominican Sisters generously offered me the opportunity to study further. I studied English, and then I entered the University of South Australia to do my teaching degree. Having successfully gained my BA in Education I continued to complete my Master of Education.”
Study, for her, is another form of gratitude and is an important part of the Dominican Charism.
Sr Hieu has a love of nature.
“I love writing about nature and whatever is in my mind,” she says. “Whether it’s a prayer, a poem, or a flower.”
In the weeks after her celebration, Sr Hieu returned from a short break to find two handwritten cards waiting for her. They were from students.
“One message said, ‘Thank you for being here, Sr Hieu, and don’t leave. Stay here forever,’” she says, eyes crinkling with joy.
After living with the Dominican Sisters of North Adelaide and walking St Dominic Priory College corridors for a decade.
“This is my home,” she says. “Everyone in the community is my family in many different ways…whether we pray together, laugh together or we struggle together; that is my blessing.”
