ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN DECEMBER
Saints celebrated on the 19th of December
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SAINT STEPHEN VINH, MARTYR
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| Encyclopedia of Saints |
Stephanus (December 19), a peasant, suffered death by beheading for the Gospel in Tonkin¹ in 1839.
(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 5, Augsburg, 1882, p. 385)
Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations
PRAYER:
Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that we who know how courageously your holy martyr Stephen confessed the faith, may experience his goodness as he intercedes for us with you. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Sources of these articles (in the original German): books.google.co.uk, de-academic.com, zeno.org, openlibrary.org
¹Saint Stephen Nguyên Van Vinh, born in 1813 in Vietnam ("Tonkin", see above), was a tenant farmer. He frequently attended catechism classes - although, at the time the trouble started, he was neither married nor had he received the Sacrament of Baptism.
His initial motivation for the catechism classes had been to learn how to read and write, but through this, he also memorized the basic prayers.
On June 29, 1839, however, government troops surrounded Kè Môt parish to arrest Saint Peter Tu and force everyone to trample on the Holy Cross. Facing tremendous pressure, this unbaptized young man boldly declared: "I would rather die than ever trample on the Holy Cross, because I know that the religion of Jesus Christ is the true religion."
Noticing his steadfastness, the soldiers assumed he was a Catholic and arrested him, taking him to be imprisoned with Saint Peter Tu and many other believers. It was there in prison that Vinh was blessed to be baptized, officially becoming a Christian. Choosing Saint Stephen as his patron saint, he resolved to follow the example of the Church’s first martyr, ready to give his life until his last breath. He was martyred on December 19, 1839.
Information from: https://vulehuan.com/en/blog/2023/11/stephen-nguyen-van-vinh-vietnamese-martyrs-egJ7Oz8qVMj
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