The Catechism in Eight Days for Those Who Wish to Embrace the Religion of God; The Life of Saint Joseph

Manuscript Borg.tonch.12 — “Cathechismus pro iis qui volunt suscipere Baptismum in octo dies dies diulus” (An eight-day catechism for those who wish to receive the faith of God) and “Vida de São José” (The Life of St Joseph) — is a composite volume containing two shorter works: Father Alexandre de Rhodes's “Phép giảng tám ngày” and a life of St Joseph originally in Portuguese, copied by Father Philiphê do Rosario Nguyễn Văn Bỉnh, CO. It is written mainly in Vietnamese and Portuguese, with some passages in Latin. It runs to 317 pages; the catechism is divided into eight sections, while the life of St Joseph is unsectioned and told chronologically, from his childhood to his death in old age. The volume opens with several Portuguese pages from the life of St Joseph bound in error at the front, followed by tables of contents for both works. Before the catechism there is a Portuguese hymn of St Francis Xavier in honour of Jesus. The catechism is the 1651 text, here in Vietnamese only, without the Latin of the original. After it come a long act of contrition; accounts of the miracles of St Elizabeth, Queen of Portugal, and of other saints; the visit of the Magi; the three shepherds at the manger; and an account of the Society of Jesus, its Superiors General and its saints. Between the two works sits a Portuguese piece entitled “Milagros no Livro Luz, e Calor de espiritual pello Padre Manuel Bernadez, da Congregacao do Oratorios Lisboa Anno 1696”, an account of spiritual miracles recorded by Father Manuel Bernardes (1644–1710) of the Congregation of the Oratory of St Philip Neri. The volume then continues with the life of St Joseph in Portuguese. This manuscript offers scholars of Vietnamese studies further material on the importance of the “Phép giảng tám ngày” among Vietnamese Catholics of the period.