By T.K. Wilson
Today (December 19th), the church commemorates Stephen Nguyen Van Vinh and his companions, who were martyred for their faith on this date in 1839.
Stephen was born in 1813 to a poor family in Vietnam. He attended catechism classes, as they were the only school he could afford to attend. Though his learning was small, his faith grew great, and he was loved by all for his simplicity, honesty, and good work ethic; in fact the worst that anyone could say about him was he was unmarried at the time of his arrest!
Stephan, still only a catechumen and not baptized (for reasons that remain unclear), was taken into custody with his priest, Father Tu, and several other Christians and members of the Dominican order. They were delivered to the Mandarin, who, on behalf of the king, granted them clemency of a sort: they had a year to recant. In prison, Stephen chose his Christian name, determined to follow Jesus to the end as the Protomartyr was. He was also provisionally accepted into the Dominicans, because of course, no formal ceremony could happen in jail.
After Father Tu was executed, Stephen and the brothers worked harder than ever in the prison, converting at least 44 souls and leading services. Once their year of “reconsideration” was up, they were dragged before the Mandarin three times, each time commanded to recant. The brothers stood steadfastly for their faith, unmoved by the Mandarin’s threats. In the end, Stephen and his brothers were all executed, and their bodies were rescued by the faithful for a proper burial.
With Stephen as an example, let our faith and trust be large, even if our knowledge is small!
LogoSophia Magazine 