Simbang Gabi in Phnom Penh 2

This evening the Filipino Community had a second Simbang Gabi mass at the Philippino Embassy.

This was the second of the three evening services to be held as part of Simbang Gabi. The first two were Catholic masses. The third will be a Christian ecumenical service.
Again the mass goers were treated to Christmas music after the service, this time from the Nine Harmonics (one was missing tonight!). They had an energetic and fun performance.

Persecution: It’s real…

Yesterday one of our Pakistani refugees here in Cambodia was able to go to Japan where he hopes to start a new life. Our St. Vincent de Paul Society in the English parish has been working with ten families who have fled religious persecution in Pakistan, and Saturday night we got two more newly arrived families. There is a limit to what we can do. In the past two weeks I have been asked for $46,000+ for refugee needs. We just don’t have that. The persecution is real, though, and people are fleeing for their lives.

Relics of Modern Saints

St. Theresa of Lisieux is one of the most popular saints in the Catholic Church and her parents are also official saints. The relics of the parents–Louis and ZĂ©lie Martin–were brought to the Saturday evening liturgy of the English community by Bishop Olivier. Click here to see photographs from this visit.

The Martin Relics

The Diocese of Phnom Penh is in the middle of a three-year focus on families and family life and Bishop Olivier connected that theme with the bringing of the relics of the parents of St. Theresa of Lisieux to Cambodia. Today was a family day celebration at which the bishop (behind the yellow table) addressed those attending
The relics are contained in the metal receptacle enclosed under the heavy plastic cover. A photo of Louis and Zelie Martin, Theresa’s parents, is at right.