I was born and raised in a small town of Vietnam.  I am the tenth of 12 children.  When I was around the age of five or six, my parents sent me to live with my aunt who was a widow. Make no mistake, my parents did not give me up for adoption; it just that there were a dozen of us while my aunt was barren, so I was given the “mission” to keep her company.  Needless to say, I experienced extremely home sickness; I cried at every meal while living with my aunt.  Time either suspended or dragged its feet for it seemed like forever before the Lunar New Year came around. Only then did my dad visited for the first time and to everyone’s surprise, I secretly sneaked into his car and went home without bidding my aunt farewell. 

As an adolescent, I was involved in many church activities.  I joined the church choir, participated in the Eucharistic youth movement, and even volunteered as a catechist. One day, a catechist leader introduced me to the religious vocation.  He said, “If you become a religious, you could pray more for your family.”  That simple phrase captured my heart because I come from a large family. Simple as it seems, that’s how my vocation began.  The catechist mentor then accompanied me on several trips to different religious communities, but we never visited any of the Dominican congregations.  Since Dominicans are more academically driven, it never occurred to him to introduce the Order of Preachers to this simple, yet devout catechist who only had a ninth grade education. I dropped out of school early because young women of my age need not further education; a ninth grade education was sufficient. Further academic pursuits were reserved for the rich pedigree. Hence I began to discern my vocation by praying the only prayer method I knew, the Rosary.  Whenever leisure allows, I prayed the beaded prayer; the Hail Mary was constantly on my lips and in my heart for I have this great desire for the salvation of souls.  

At 18, I contacted the Lovers of the Cross Sisters in my hometown and they were willing to accept me whenever I was ready.  Coincidently in that same year, my family received news that we are eligible to migrate and reunite with my older brother in the United States.  I brought this concern to the sisters and they advised me to seek my parents’ permission to remain in Vietnam and join their community.  Meanwhile, I also shared this matter with my cousin and he said, “Just take this as an opportunity to study abroad.  You can come back later and help the Church in Vietnam.” 

One day I mustered the courage to ask my mom, “May I stay in Vietnam and join a religious community?”  She replied, “If you ask your dad, he would kill you!  Just come with us to the United States, and I will let you follow your vocation.”  My mom’s advice was promising; therefore, I sadly left Vietnam and migrated to the States. 

Eight months later, I entered the Vietnamese Dominican Sisters in Houston Texas.  When I received the Dominican habit, I took the name Sr. Monica Vianney, OP.  Monica was my initial motivation to the religious life to pray for my family, and Vianney, after the Curé of Ars, because of his greater desire to pray for the salvation of the whole world.  I believe this is truly my vocation . In the religious life, I feel most at home and connected to God, others, and myself. The longer I live in religious life, the more I experience great joy and fulfillment.
 
Sr. Monica Vianney Tuyet-Nhung Le, OP has been a religious professed sister since 1994.