Sister Marie Euphrasie Nguyen RNDM died on July 18, 2020, at Actionmarguerite-Taché Personal Care Home in Winnipeg. 

When her health took a sudden turn on August 16, her RNDM Sisters got special permission to sit vigil with her, in this time of Covid-19. However, in the end she took her leave of earth alone, at about 4.00 am. Euphrasie was 93 years of age.

Early Life in Vietnam

Marie Euphrasie was born into a profoundly Confucian family in Van Lam town, Hung Yen Province in northern Vietnam on July 2, 1927, and given the name Marie Madeleine Nguyen Thi Duc. She was one of nine children. 

Her father was delegated by the king to preside at temple celebrations, and he was also a governor under the French system. Euphrasie attended public primary and secondary schools in different towns and cities, because her father’s profession moved the family frequently from one place to another. 

Education and Conversion to Catholicism

When she was sixteen years old, Euphrasie’s parents sent her to Hanoi to study. When France bombed Hanoi, the ensuing chaos and danger forced her to return to her family, who had taken refuge in a “Catholic town” where the Bishop was her father’s friend. 

There, after obtaining a qualifying certificate, Euphrasie opened a pharmacy depot, and it was in this way that she met the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions (RNDM), who came to buy medicines for their dispensary.

Although she was not Catholic, Euphrasie was impressed by the zeal, kindness and compassion of the Sisters, and felt inexplicably drawn to join them. Despite her parent’s resistance, the next years of Euphrasie’s life were spent learning about the Catholic faith, and discerning her vocation to religious life.

In March 1949 Euphrasie began attending a boarding school in the Provincial House of Our Lady of the Missions in Thanh Hoa, in the centre of Vietnam. There she primarily studied French, Chemistry, Mathematics –and the Catholic faith. On June 5, 1949, Euphrasie was baptized. 

Joining the RNDMs 

Life in Vietnam became increasingly difficult for the RNDM Sisters. In May of 1954, Ho Chi Minh’s Viet Minh forces decisively defeated the French, signaling the end of French colonial rule in Indochina and clearing the way for the division of Vietnam into North and South.

In the midst of war and political upheaval, Euphrasie had persisted in her desire to become a religious. On January 15, 1954, in a clandestine service, she became an RNDM novice and received the religious habit of the Congregation, all made possible because a priest accredited by the Bishop, came in secret to the convent. 

As North Vietnam became ever more dangerous and desperate, efforts to send the novices to “the free zone” were thwarted. The Sisters had to close their boarding school, and were forbidden to teach. They had no income, no food, and no arable land on which to grow food.

Arrangements were made by the Congregation’s leaders for them to leave the country. Euphrasie and the other Novices disguised themselves as peasants, and traveling surreptitiously on deserted roads were able to walk 160 Km to Hanoi. From there, they boarded a flight to France, to continue their novitiate. 

Life in France

In France, Euphrasie completed her novitiate and made first vows as an RNDM. She also completed a Bachelor of Education degree at the University of Lyon and helped other Sisters prepare for teaching certification.

Return to Vietnam and Education

Returning to Vietnam, Euphrasie made final vows as an RNDM in 1962. She was first put in charge of a school with 800 students in Nha Trang. 

In subsequent years, she taught and/or was principal at schools in Dalat, Thu Duc, Thi Nghe (Saigon). She completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Saigon in 1974. She also took on various leadership responsibilities with the RNDMs. 

Flight from Vietnam

At the beginning of 1975, the political situation in Vietnam grew ever more dangerous and complex for the RNDM Sisters, as well as for Euphrasie and her family. On the evening of April 27, Euphrasie visited her family to say goodbye to them as they were fleeing Saigon by plane that evening. However, rockets bombarded the airport, preventing flights from departing. 

The entire city was put under curfew, phone lines were cut, bombs and rockets were destroying houses and municipal buildings. Euphrasie could not return to the convent. She stayed in a trench with her fearful family overnight. In the morning they learned of a munitions transport barge that would take them all. Euphrasie and her family members became ‘boat people’ and shared the sufferings of millions. 

Arrival in Canada and Further Work

Finally arriving in Canada, Euphrasie was welcomed by RNDM Sisters at Sacred Heart College in Regina, SK. While fluent in French, English was a new language for her. She took some English classes and helped in a school for persons with a learning disability. 

In 1977 Euphrasie passed her English 100 and was hired by the Catholic School Board to teach in St. Pius X. Bilingual School. She simultaneously volunteered to teach catechism to refugees.

Retiring from teaching, Euphrasie spent a year studying theology at St. Paul’s University in Ottawa, where she delighted in a time of renewing her spirit, and deepening her relationship with God.

Later Years and Impact

In 1993, Euphrasie was sent to Winnipeg, where she lived until her death – first living at St. Edward’s convent, and then at Cathedral Manor. At St. Edward’s, she was an active member of St. Edward’s parish, serving as a communion minister to shut-ins and participating in the Catholic Women’s League. She also volunteered with a group, visiting seniors in their homes.

Euphrasie was a remarkable educator. Students she taught in Vietnam many years ago, continued to be in contact with her until her death. 

She read widely about alternate health modalities and practices, studied and practiced reflexology, and could consistently surprise with new facts and methods she had learned. 

She had an artist’s eye for beauty, and enjoyed making hand-crafts. She also had a radiant smile that could “light up the room”. She practiced gratitude on a daily basis, and prayed for the needs of the world.

Euphrasie acknowledged how being born and raised in the Confucian tradition, the two virtues of loyalty and faithfulness were important to her, and guides for her life. 

She believed that her life and all her talents were a gift of God, which she needed to develop and use for service. This she did. And we are all beneficiaries.

Funeral liturgy for M. Euphrasie was held at St. Philip Minh Parish on July 23rd with Rev. Peter Le Van Ngu presiding. 

The liturgy was live-streamed so that her family, former students and RNDMs in Vietnam and around the world could participate from afar during this time of the pandemic. Her interment on August 18th was also live streamed.