BRIGHTON -- Father Joseph Thuy Van Nguyen knows that priests are role models of the faith.

Father Nguyen, 36, a seminarian at St. John's Seminary in Brighton and transitional deacon at St. Bridget Parish in Abington and Holy Ghost Parish in Whitman, wants to be a holy priest for his flock when he is ordained this May.

"I feel very excited to become a priest to serve the people," he told The Pilot on Feb. 13.

Father Nguyen was born and raised in a small town in northern Vietnam, an hour outside of Hanoi, in a devout Catholic family.

"My parents, they are the model for me for the faith," he said. "Every day in the morning prayer, we pray together, and before we go to sleep, we pray together."

He grew up playing games at home and at church with his younger brother and two older sisters. His father was a rice farmer and carpenter who did odd jobs around his village. Father Nguyen would help his family on the farm.

"It's hard work for the people," he said, adding, "Very hard work on the farm."

He was an altar boy and loved going to church.

"Every day I want to come to church to serve the Mass," he said.

He decided he wanted to become a priest in high school. After studying history at a university in Hanoi, he spent a year in a "pre-seminary" program before becoming a seminarian. In 2016, his bishop asked him if he wanted to study and become a priest in the Archdiocese of Boston. He declined because he knew his family wanted him to stay in Vietnam. That was the first time he said no to his bishop. A few weeks later, his bishop asked him again, and he said yes. He wanted to serve the church, no matter where it took him. When he came to Boston and entered St. John's Seminary, he had to adjust to a new language, culture, and cuisine.

"The first year here was a challenge for me," he said. "But after the first year, and until now, I can adapt with the life here. And so I can say, I am very happy for my life."

His faith has been strengthened in the seminary and as a transitional deacon.

"I love my assignment," he said. "A lot of experience for me in my assignment now. At St. Bridget's and Holy Ghost Parish, I can involve all of the activities in the parish. Or I can participate in some activities in the parish with the people there, and a lot of experience for me in the future."



This article originally appeared in the April 11 issue of The Pilot.



Father Joseph Thuy Van Nguyen

An alumnus of St. John Seminary, Brighton, Father Nguyen was born on Nov. 4, 1987, in Y Yen, Nam Dinh, Vietnam. He is the second youngest of the six children of Thuoc and Sen (Hoang) Nguyen. He was born and raised in a small countryside in Nam Dinh Province, under the Archdiocese of Hanoi. Growing up in a family with a tradition of Catholic faith, from a young age, he was taken to church by his grandparents, parents, and siblings to attend Mass, pray, or participate in prayer hours, so his vocation was nurtured right in his family. When he was in high school, his spiritual director encouraged and motivated him to pursue a religious life.

All his education prior to entering St. John Seminary, Brighton, was in his native Vietnam. Yen Tho elementary and middle school; My Tho secondary school; the College of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ha Noi; and St. Joseph Seminary, Ha Noi, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy in 2016.

After graduating from college in 2012, he registered to join the candidate class of the Archdiocese of Hanoi, and in 2014, he passed the entrance exam to St. Joseph Seminary in Hanoi and studied philosophy there for three years. At the end of 2016, the Archbishop of Hanoi sent him to St. John Seminary in Boston to study and serve the Archdiocese of Boston. After arriving at St. John Seminary, he studied both philosophy and theology there. On May 14, Father Joseph Thuy will graduate from St. John Seminary

During his deacon internship, he has been serving at Holy Ghost Parish in Whitman, and it is there that he will celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving on May 18 at 4:00 p.m., with the parish's pastor, Father Adrian Milik, as the homilist.