Manuscript Borg.tonch.18, “Sách kinh Novena” (A book of novenas), is a manual of Catholic novena devotion translated from Portuguese into Vietnamese by Father Philiphê do Rosario Nguyễn Văn Bỉnh. It is written entirely in chữ Nôm, with several prayers at the end in Latin, and was completed in 1815 in Lisbon. It falls into two main parts across some 560 pages. The first gathers the basic prayers needed in the daily life of the faithful in the Đàng Ngoài parishes under Jesuit care. The second gathers the novenas to which Father Bỉnh was particularly devoted: to St Joseph, to St Anne, and to the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary. An appendix records the indulgences granted to the faithful who visit the churches of Rome, counsel on marriage and the raising of children, a litany of the Holy Name of Jesus in Latin, a litany of St Francis Xavier in chữ Nôm, and closing exhortations. A few short passages in chữ Quốc ngữ follow, on the measurements of the Temple in Jerusalem and on the miracles of the saints. This manuscript offers scholars of Vietnamese studies further material on Father Bỉnh's activity in Portugal after the end of the schism.
The original is held by the Vatican Library (Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana). The images are copyright the Library and are loaded directly from the Vatican Digital Library (DigiVatLib); Digitizing Việt Nam presents this manuscript by permission of the Vatican Digital Library.