Christmas in Dalat in the past: The hymn resounds in the cold night

First Christmas at Rooster Church

The photo of Nicolas Bari Church (also known as Chicken Church, Dalat Cathedral later) on Christmas 1932 can be considered the earliest photo of Christmas in Dalat preserved in the archives. In the photo, it can be seen that Dalat Cathedral had only just completed the first phase of construction (from July 1931 to March 1932), with the sanctuary, the apse and two wings. The remaining items of this church had to be completed until 1942, to create the architectural whole as we see today.

Christmas at Dalat Cathedral in 1932

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In the photo, the church's entrance gate has a simple decoration of the word "Noel", star lanterns hang at the entrance, and pennants spread out in all directions from a high point in front of the main door of the church... creating a joyful, gentle and peaceful festive atmosphere. The pine trees in the courtyard of the Dalat Cathedral are now ancient trees, but in 1932, they were only moderately tall, reaching the roof level of the two wings of the newly built church, creating a harmonious landscape. From the small courtyard of the church to the front of the road, one can see the parishioners attending the Christmas mass in great numbers. One can recognize them as Westerners wearing "ong hoi dong" hats - a type of white pith helmet popular during the French colonial period, Vietnamese people in traditional ao dai, priests, and, it seems, under the pine trees, there are groups of indigenous parishioners. Right in the photo, we can see that the church yard on Christmas day is the most interesting symbol of the meeting, coexistence and harmony of cultural traditions from the beginning that have shaped the value of Dalat.

“An endless source of love”

This factor was further demonstrated in the atmosphere of the Christmas days later, around the 1950s - 1960s. The Dalat weekly newspaper of the Information Department (initiated by Mr. Pham Gia Trieu, and in charge of content by Mr. Ho Thuong Hien) published from 1957 to 1964, every Christmas it published a special issue with cover paintings of the Bethlehem cave - where Jesus was born - painted and decorated elegantly. The content of the Christmas issue always had many articles reflecting cultural and volunteer activities in churches in the city, especially in remote areas, where there were ethnic minorities in difficulty.

Perhaps randomly, in the special issue of Dalat weekly celebrating Christmas 1957, there was an article about Dalat on Christmas 1957 by author Thien Nhan. The article described the Christmas atmosphere that year, which according to the author was "more bustling than every year". The author of the article wrote: "Late at night, to celebrate the birth of the Savior, all the churches in Dalat city held a more solemn ceremony than previous years. In particular, the Dan-kiơ (Dankia - NVN) church in Ward 5 gathered 1,618 Montagnard parishioners from the Blao, Dran and Lam-vien dioceses to celebrate according to the Montagnard customs in a joyful and bustling manner, then they attended the mass to celebrate the Lord in a very solemn atmosphere throughout the night of December 24 to 25, 1957".

In the article Christmas Eve in Dalat by author Van Son published in the same issue, there are rustic but lyrical, vague but subtle descriptions of a Christmas night in old Dalat: “In the afternoon, the sunset has just disappeared, on the roof of the church, the electric lights are of many colors, thousands of white candles are sparkling. In the distance, the sound of bells ringing, from the streets, crowds of people flock to the church. Children are dressed in new clothes. On everyone's faces, there is a joyful expression welcoming the Lord. People silently listen to the sound of bells falling, gradually fading into space and into the hearts of humanity. Tonight, filled with fragrance and color, the Lord is born, stars are spread on all four sides. The church doors are open wide to welcome the flocks coming from all four directions. People kneel at the feet of the Lord, praying to the Lord for a source of mercy. An endless source of mercy”.

A year after the above notes, in a house halfway up the slope leading to the Dalat Cathedral, there was a 14-year-old boy standing watching a white dress in a misty Christmas afternoon and letting his soul be absorbed in the peaceful melody of Silent Night . A memory of the holy beauty on a cold Christmas Eve afternoon with a light rain and mist took off and became the inspiration for the song Sad Hymn - a song that half a century later, every Christmas, is still heard ringing in the Catholic neighborhoods like a "Christmas jingle". The 14-year-old boy was the musician Nguyen Vu. A sad love story was woven into his song, in the typical cold night space of Dalat: " Resounding in the cold night, the song of God/Softly singing the words "The holy night is infinite " or " The sparkling stars in the sky make your lips and eyes more beautiful/Your white shirt flies like an angel's wings ".

The space of Dalat on Christmas night enters the sensitive soul of the musician, preserved in a holy, nostalgic and pure love song.

And painter Dinh Cuong, who spent wonderful Christmas seasons with his close friends in the mid-1960s in Dalat, recorded beautiful verses like a flashback in the mist: "December is always sad/ remembering Christmas Eve on the streets full of people/ going to church, young couples together/ flying in the green space of Chagall's paintings/ with lots of white roses and candles".

Going through the memories of residents and tourists, we can see that Dalat in the past was a city to live slowly and enjoy wonderful Christmas seasons.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/noel-da-lat-xua-bai-thanh-ca-vang-trong-dem-lanh-1851535082.htm