Tag Archives: Vietnam

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Thomas De and Companions, Feast Day December 19




Japanese Martyrs

 

The feast day of St. Thomas De and Companions is celebrated on December 19.

St. Thomas was a tailor in Vietnam who entered the Dominican Order as a tertiary.  He was arrested and charged with giving aid and shelter to foreign missionaries.  He was strangled at the age of 26.

The companions of St. Thomas De were Dominic Uy, Augustine Moi, Xavier May and Francis Man.

Augustine was also a Dominican tertiary.  He was a day laborer.  He refused to trample a crucifix when he was ordered to do so.  He was strangled.

Francis Xavier was a native catechist and was also strangled.

Francis Man was a Dominican Tertiary working as a catechist when arrested.

St. Thomas De and Companions were among the 117 Vietnamese martyrs canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1988.

“Faith lifts the staggering soul on one side;

Hope supports it on the other;

Experience says it must be

and Love says…Let it be.

Quote of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton;  Feast Day January 4

 

December is the Month of the Divine Infancy

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Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Andrew Dung, Feast Day Nov. 24




St. Andrew Dung
St. Andrew Dung

 

The feast day of St. Andrew Dung and companions is celebrated on November 24.  St. Andrew Dung was a priest and martyr of Vietnam.

 

St. Andrew Dung represents the 117 martyrs of Vietnam; 97 of the martyrs were Vietnamese and 21 were foreign missionaries. The missionaries included 11 Spaniards and, 10 French; 8 were bishops, 50 were priests and 59 were lay people. They were martyred during a period of persecution between 1625 and 1886.

St. Andrew was the born in 1795 to a poor pagan family in North Vietnam. He moved to Hanoi when he was twelve. He was educated by a Christian and after three years was baptized. He became a catechist and continued to study theology.

In 1823, he was ordained a priest.  He was imprisoned under Emperor Minh Mang. His congregation made donations to free him. He changed his name to Andrew Lac to avoid persecution and changed locations. He was arrested a second time along with Father Peter Thi another Vietnamese Priest. Again his freedom was bought. They were soon arrested a third time and beheaded after being brutally tortured.

The 117 martyrs were beatified by Pope John Paul II on May 27, 1900. The memorial celebrates all the Vietnamese Martyrs of the 17th, 18th and 9th centuries.

 

The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who,

in a period of moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.

Quote by Dante Alighieri

 

November is the Month of the Holy Souls

 

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Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Theophane Venard, Feast Day Nov. 6




St. Theophane Venard
St. Theophane Venard

 

St. Theophane was born in France in 1829. He entered the Foreign Mission of Paris.   He was ordained a priest in 1852 and became a missionary.  He worked for 15 months at Hong Kong before going to West Tonkin which is now Vietnam.

In Vietnam, he taught seminary and ministered to the people of Tonkin for four years.  He was arrested on Nov. 30, 1860 and tried for being a Christian.

During his trial he refused to renounce his faith. St. Theophane was caged for several months before he was beheaded in 1861. While being caged he was allowed to write many letters. Some of them survived. In a letter to his father he wrote,

“We are all flowers planted on this earth, which God plucks in His own good time; some a little sooner, some a little later…Father and son may we meet in Paradise. I, poor little moth, go first. Adieu.”

He was an inspiration to St. Thérèse of Lisieux who is known as the Little Flower.

On June 19, 1988 St. Theophane Venard was canonized by Pope St. John Paul II.  He is considered one of the martyrs of Vietnam.

 

Guide your ship well.

Let prudence take the helm,

let humility be the rudder,

God your compass,

Mary, your anchor of hope.

Quote of St. Theophane Venard

 

November is the Month of the Holy Souls

 

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