Flowers for Mary

The first thing the pope did when he returned home to Rome, from the United States was not crash into bed.  He brought flowers to the statue of Mary in a church in Rome.  This must be his favorite statue and favorite church.  It reminded me of Han.  Han is a Vietnamese/American.  She has a story.

Han is one of the Vietnamese boat people.  These people were prey to pirates.  Many of them were robbed and killed, if not just starved to death because no one would pick them up.  Father Anthony Le tells us that if a boat picked you up, then they were responsible for you.  So many boats passed them by.  Father Le was picked up by a Norwegian boat.  Han's story focuses on divine intervention.

Han's grandmother told her to keep praying to Mary, ask her to protect you.  On Han's boat, every single female was raped, except Han.  And Han was a teenager.  It was like she was invisible.

Ever since then, Han constantly thanks our Blessed Mother, particularly in the image of Our Lady of Hope, a/k/a  Our Lady of Pontmain.  This image was prevalent in Vietnam.  There is a traveling statue of Our Lady of Pontmain, which Han manages to procure every once in awhile.  This picture is the statue with Han (on left).

Also, Han brings Our Lady a bouquet of fresh flowers every single week--just like the pope.