Corpus Christi, Year A (2026) - Fr Mannes Tellis, OP

In order to realise the importance of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist one could appeal to the rather in depth theology of the Church. However the full power of what we celebrate at the altars in our Churches comes from the experience of the saints and those holy men and women who realised the true mystery and power of Christ’s abiding presence in his Body and Blood.

One of these holy ones was Cardinal Francis-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan, the heroic former archbishop of Saigon who was imprisoned by the communist forces in Vietnam for 13 years, including nine in solitary confinement.

It was in solitary confinement that he remarkably was able to celebrate Mass right under the nose of his captors.

Cardinal Van Thuan’s priestly vocation was discovered as a young boy participating in the various activities of the Eucharistic Crusade movement in his hometown of Hue, Vietnam. Later, as a seminarian, priest, seminary professor, rector and bishop, his Eucharistic faith and piety grew. But it was during his years of imprisonment that he gave an extraordinary testimony to the power of the Mass, the reality of the Lord’s presence, and the gift of Eucharistic adoration.

When he was arrested in 1975, one of his greatest concerns was, “Will I be able to celebrate the Eucharist?” The day after his arrest, his captors permitted him to write his family for necessities. He asked for the obvious, like clothes and toiletries, but then added, “Please send me a little wine as medicine for my stomachache,” confident that they would understand the code: the raw materials for the celebration of Mass, which he needed to fill his greatest hunger. When they sent the materials, they put wine in a medicine bottle marked “Medicine for Stomach-aches.” They also sent hosts hidden in a flashlight.

Each day during his years of isolation, around 3pm, the time at which Jesus died on the cross, he would celebrate Mass from memory, putting three drops of wine and a drop of water on the palm of his hand together with some crumbs of the hosts. His hand became an altar. His cell became a cathedral. “These were the most beautiful Masses of my life!” he said with great devotion each time he would recount the story.

It was during those Masses that he joined his sufferings to Christ’s on Calvary. He would extend his hands in the form of the cross so as better to become one with the Crucified Jesus. As he lapped up the precious blood consecrated in his hand, he would ask for the grace with Jesus to drink the bitter chalice and to unite himself to Christ’s shedding of blood.

When he was moved to a re-education camp, he was in a crowded room with 50 other prisoners. He would wait until lights were extinguished at 9:30pm and then would bow over his bed to celebrate Mass. Then he would distribute tiny pieces of the hosts to Catholics present under a mosquito net. He would also wrap some tiny consecrated particles in aluminum from cigarette packs to preserve the Blessed Sacrament, so that he and the other prisoners could have the Lord with them always and adore him. One tiny cigarette-paper tabernacle he would keep in his shirt pocket. Others he would pass to faithful Catholic prisoners, who, during indoctrination sessions, would surreptitiously distribute them to Catholics in other groups. At night, in each of the locations, prisoners would take turns for adoration.

These narratives of Eucharistic piety put us to shame. How deep is our faith in Christ’s Presence among us? It would seem that when something so central to our faith life is taken away it becomes all the more important, this is what Cardinal Van Thuan experienced. May we not take our Eucharistic Lord’s presence for granted, but rather let us be aware of his abiding presence in our tabernacles that enables us to speak to our God regularly and without hindrance. Let us speak to him and love him in this sacrament always.

Fr Mannes Tellis, OP is the Parish Priest of Prospect-North Adelaide, South Australia.