During his papacy, Pope John Paul II canonized a group of 117 martyrs who died for the Roman Catholic Faith in Vietnam during the nineteenth century. The group was made up of ninety-six Vietnamese, eleven Spaniards, and ten French. Eight of the group were bishops, fifty were priests and fifty-nine were lay Catholics including a 9-year-old child. Some of the priests were Dominicans, others were diocesan priests who belonged to the Paris Mission Society.
This feast day, and the witnesses of the lives of the martyrs, give testament to the sufferings inflicted on the Vietnamese Church, which are among the most terrible in the long history of Christian martyrdom.
Collect
O God, source and origin of all fatherhood,
who kept the Martyrs Saint Andrew Dung-Lac and his companions
faithful to the Cross of your Son,
even to the shedding of their blood,
grant, through their intercession,
that, spreading your love among our brothers and sisters,
we may be your children both in name and in truth.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Amen.
Here is the traditional Prayer to the Holy Martyrs of Vietnam (used in Vietnamese parishes worldwide on November 24 and in many homes)
English version
O God, source and origin of all fatherhood, you kept Saint Andrew Dũng-Lạc and his 116 companions faithful to the Cross of Christ even to the shedding of their blood.
Through their martyrdom they glorified your Name and sowed the seeds of faith in our land of Vietnam.
Grant us, through their intercession, the grace to love you above all things and to be steadfast in faith and charity, so that, by spreading your love among our brothers and sisters, we may truly be called your children and become worthy heirs of your eternal kingdom. We ask this 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.
Vietnamese version (the one most Vietnamese Catholics know by heart)
Lạy Chúa là nguồn mạch và cùng đích mọi tổ phụ, Chúa đã ban cho thánh Anrê Dũng-Lạc và các bạn tử đạo trung thành với Thập Giá Đức Kitô đến nỗi đổ máu mình ra.
Nhờ máu các ngài đổ ra, Chúa đã làm rạng danh Chúa và gieo hạt giống đức tin trên quê hương Việt Nam chúng con.
Xin nhận lời các ngài chuyển cầu, cho chúng con biết yêu mến Chúa trên hết mọi sự và luôn kiên vững trong đức tin cùng đức ái, để khi loan truyền tình thương của Chúa cho anh em, chúng con thật sự trở nên con cái Chúa và đáng hưởng hạnh phúc muôn đời.
Chúng con cầu xin nhờ Đức Kitô, Chúa chúng con. Amen.
Short invocation (often said before the final blessing at Mass in Vietnam)
Các thánh tử đạo Việt Nam, cầu cho chúng con! (Holy Martyrs of Vietnam, pray for us!)
Here is the Litany of the Holy Vietnamese Martyrs (the full version used in many Vietnamese parishes and communities on November 24)
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father in heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, Queen of Martyrs, pray for us.
Holy Mother of God, pray for us.
Saint Andrew Dũng-Lạc and your 116 companions, pray for us.
Saint Michael Hồ Đình Hy, high official faithful unto death, pray for us.
Saint Paul Lê Bảo Tịnh, who wrote from prison, pray for us.
Saint Agnes Lê Thị Thành, mother tortured for Christ, pray for us.
Saint Vincent Lê Quang Liêm, first Vietnamese Dominican martyr, pray for us.
Saint Andrew Trần An Trông, priest at twenty years old, pray for us.
Saint Emmanuel Lê Văn Phụng, merchant of Thái Bình, pray for us.
Saint Peter Thi, young catechist, pray for us.
Saint Dominic Hạnh, slowly sliced for three days, pray for us.
Saint Thomas Đinh Viết Dụ, beheaded with Andrew Dũng-Lạc, pray for us.
Saint Augustine Schoeffler and Saint Théophane Vénard, French apostles of Vietnam, pray for us.
All you holy bishops, priests, and deacons of Vietnam, pray for us.
All you holy Dominican, MEP, and Vietnamese priests, pray for us.
All you holy catechists and teachers, pray for us.
All you holy mothers, fathers, and children, pray for us.
All you holy soldiers and public servants, pray for us.
All you who were beheaded, strangled, or torn apart, pray for us.
All you who preferred death to trampling the Cross, pray for us.
All you unknown martyrs whose names only God knows, pray for us.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Let us pray O God, author and lover of innocence, you glorified your Church in Vietnam by the blood of Saint Andrew Dũng-Lạc and his companions. Grant that, through their example and intercession, we may remain faithful to you until death and courageously confess Christ before the world. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
Final invocation (often sung or shouted joyfully in Vietnamese churches):
Các thánh tử đạo Việt Nam! Cầu cho chúng con! (Holy Martyrs of Vietnam — Pray for us!)
This litany is commonly prayed during the November 24 evening Mass, at pilgrimage sites (especially at the Basilica of Our Lady of La Vang and the Martyrs’ Shrine in Sở Kiện), and in Vietnamese homes around the world.
May the 117 Martyrs of Vietnam bless and protect you always!
Here is a concise guide to the most prominent and beloved Vietnamese Catholic Martyrs (beyond St. Andrew Dũng-Lạc), all canonized together on June 19, 1988 as the 117 Martyrs of Vietnam.
The 117 Martyrs by Nationality
- 96 Vietnamese (8 bishops, 50 priests, 1 seminarian, 37 laypeople including catechists, soldiers, mothers, a child)
- 11 Spanish (Dominican bishops and priests)
- 10 French (6 priests from Paris Foreign Missions – MEP, 4 Dominican priests)
Notable Vietnamese Martyrs
- St. Andrew Trần An Trông (priest, 1815–1835) Beheaded at age 20; one of the youngest priests ever martyred in Vietnam.
- St. Paul Lê Bảo Tịnh (priest, 1793–1857) Wrote a famous letter from prison describing the horrors of torture; endured 11 years in chains before beheading.
- St. Michael Hồ Đình Hy (layman, magistrate, 1808–1857) The highest-ranking Vietnamese official ever martyred. Refused imperial orders to renounce Christianity; beheaded with his two sons-in-law.
- St. Agnes Lê Thị Thành (Đê) (laywoman, mother of 6, 1781–1841) Tortured for months (whipped, hung upside-down, branded with hot tongs); died in prison still professing faith.
- St. Vincent Lê Quang Liêm (Dominican priest, 1732–1773) First Vietnamese Dominican martyr; strangled and then beheaded.
- St. Augustine Schoeffler (French MEP priest, 1822–1851) Beheaded after only two years in Vietnam; his death triggered the 1851–1862 persecutions.
- St. Théophane Vénard (French MEP priest, 1829–1861) Caged for months, then beheaded; his letters inspired St. Thérèse of Lisieux to become a missionary.
- St. Dominic Henares (Spanish Dominican bishop, 1765–1838) Beheaded together with his Vietnamese catechist St. Francis Chiểu.
- St. Joseph Marchand (French MEP priest, 1803–1835) Executed by the horrific “hundred wounds” torture (pieces of flesh torn off with red-hot tongs).
- St. Peter Đoàn Công Quí (lay catechist, 1826–1859) Refused to trample the crucifix; had his fingers and toes cut off one by one before beheading.
- St. Andrew Nguyễn Kim Thông (Nam Thuong) (lay catechist, 1790–1855) Strangled with ropes; famous for saying, “I prefer to die rather than sin.”
- St. Thomas Đinh Viết Dụ (lay farmer, 1783–1839) Beheaded with St. Andrew Dũng-Lạc on the same day (Dec 21, 1839).
- St. Dominic Nguyễn Văn Hạnh (Đaminh Hạnh) (layman, 1772–1838) Had his arms and legs broken, then was slowly sliced to death over three days.
- The Five Holy Martyrs of Thái Bình (all laypeople, 1838)
- St. Emmanuel Lê Văn Phụng (merchant)
- St. John Đạt
- St. Peter Thi
- St. Vincent Tường
- St. Clement Thành Executed together; their relics are venerated in Thái Bình cathedral.
Martyrs Especially Venerated Today in Vietnam
- St. Michael Hồ Đình Hy – patron of Vietnamese public servants and professionals
- St. Agnes Lê Thị Thành – patron of mothers and victims of torture
- St. Paul Lê Bảo Tịnh – invoked by prisoners and those suffering injustice
- St. Andrew Dũng-Lạc – principal patron of Vietnam and the Vietnamese Church
- St. Vincent Liêm – patron of Vietnamese Dominicans
Quick Facts
- Time period of martyrdom: 1745–1862
- Total estimated Vietnamese martyrs: 130,000–300,000 (only 117 canonized)
- Feast day of the 117 Martyrs: November 24 (together with St. Andrew Dũng-Lạc)
- Some dioceses in Vietnam also celebrate local groups on other dates (e.g., July 12 for the martyrs of Nam Định).
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