ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST
Saints celebrated on the 21st August
SAINT JOSEPH DANG VAN VIEN, PRIEST AND MARTYR
Saint Joseph was born in 1787 in Tien-Chu, Tonkin. The son of a Christian family, he studied at the Luc-Thuy seminary. He was ordained a priest in 1821.
His first assignment was the Christian community of Dong-Bai, where he carried out his ministry with righteousness and holiness.
HE CARRIED OUT HIS MINISTRY WITH RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HOLINESS
The letters he sent to a catechist who was in Au-Lien were intercepted and it was the cause of the warrant for his arrest, that a reward was offered to whomever turned on him.
He had to flee from one place to another without feeling safe anywhere because of apostates turned informers; It was two of his relatives who betrayed him.
THEY FOUND NO CRIME OTHER THAN THAT OF HIM BEING A CHRISTIAN
They took him to the city of Hung-Yen, capital of the northern province, who put him in chains. He was ordered to translate the intercepted letters into Vietnamese, and they found no crime other than that of him being a Christian.
He was encouraged to denounce the whereabouts of Bishop Jeronimo Hermosilla, but he remained silent despite the beating he suffered for it.
He was offered freedom if he trampled on the cross, and he refused.
HE WAS CONDEMNED
The judges condemned him for writing in a language other than that of the country, and for being a Christian, he was sentenced to beheading.
On August 21, 1838 he was taken to Ba-Toa. His informing relatives asked him for forgiveness, and he replied that it was God from whom they had to ask forgiveness and embraced them emotionally. He knelt, prayed, and was beheaded. St Joseph is also commemorated on November 24 as one of the martyrs of Vietnam.
⬅️ Saint Andrew Dung-Lac and Companions - Martyrs of Vietnam
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