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28-01-2006, 12:59 PM
January 30
Saint Thomas KHUÔNG
Priest and Dominican Tertiary
(1780-1860)
* Rejecting Riches for God.
Reading the Church’s history, we are not alien to accounts of Saint Francis of Assisi or of Saint Thomas d’Aquina who had left the aristocracy to follow God’s call and Christ’s example, the Most Holy Teacher, God of all things, who willingly became poor and homeless to propagate the Good News of Salvation. Similarly, Saint Thomas Khuông forgot his aristocratic background to answer God’s call and to become witness to Christ as well ass witness to a religion which was new to the Vietnamese people, was disdained and persecuted severely. In fact, only God had the ability to cause him to make those sacrifices. And his graceful and willing answer to that call that led to his sacrifice of his life to God’s love.
* Opposition to Violence.
Thomas Khuông was born around 1780 (during the Trịnh-Nguyễn reigns) in Nam Hoà village, Tiên Chu parish, Hưng Yên province. The road to fame had been opened for this intelligent boy because his father once had been the prefecture mandarin of Hưng Yên. But the boy had answered the divine call and joined the religious preparatory. He then entered the seminary and became a priest.
In his responsibility of nourishing souls, Fr. Thomas Khuông was well known as a wise and saintly priest who had great interpersonal skills and dedicated to his mission of evangelization. Working in a vicariate shepherded by the Dominican Order, Fr. Thomas Khuông wanted to establish a deeper relationship with the religious order, so he joined he Dominican Tertiary and encouraged Christians to join it as well to sanctify their daily life.
Through the persecutions of kings Minh Mạng, Thiệu Trị, and Tự Đức, Fr. Thomas Khuông wisely cultivated amicable relationships with the local authorities to facilitate his ministry. Many times he was apprehended but later freed due to these relationships. However, King Tự Đức’s persecution started to grow more violent in 1858. Pressure exerted by the French army angered the king who began to brutalize Catholics out of his assumption that Catholics were corroborating with the French. A few Catholic communities organized armed units made up of young men to defend themselves against the king’s soldiers. Almost 80 years old, Fr. Thomas Khuông completely opposed this direction. In 1859, unable to prevent the formation of armed defense in Cao Xá village, he decided to relocate to the east vicariate of Tonkin (Hải Phòng). Unfortunately this decision led to his arrest and martyrdom.
As he stepped on the bridge leading to Trần Xá village, he encountered a crucifix placed there by soldiers forcing all travelers to step over. As Christ’s priest, he decided to turn around looking for another path. His decisive attitude alarmed soldiers who stopped him. When he refused to walk over the cross, soldiers tied him up along with an accompanying Christian.
After 15 days in jail, Fr. Thomas Khuông and 4 other lay Catholic leaders were escorted to the governor who forced them be witnesses falsely testifying to the conspiracy of Cao Xá Christians colluding with the French-Spanish naval ships still anchoring at sea to rebel against the king. Fr. Thomas Khuông affirmed the Church’s viewpoint: “The Catholic faith not only forbids its faithful to oppose the government, but also encourages them to pray for and to contribute to the security and prosperity of their country.”
Following that answer, the mandarin stopped that line of questioning, he only wanted the priest to reject his faith, to walk over the cross, and to urge other Christians to do the same to be released. God’s loyal servant replied:
“I am now 80 years old and, as a Catholic priest, I always remind Christians to be faithful to God. I will be unworthy and unfit to be a priest if I ask them now to abandon the Catholic faith. My friends and I do not thirst for any thing more than to sacrifice our lives for God’s religion.”.
* The Crucifix and Glory.
The thirst of the heroes of faith was finally quenched. The execution petition by the governor was approved by King Tự Đức. And on 1/30/1860 Fr. Thomas Khuông was escorted to the execution site in Hưng Yên. On the road to his own Mount of Calvary, the well-respected and elderly priest walked slowly with the help of a cane that he had carefully tied a tree branch on top to make into a crucifix. He cheerfully said goodbye to those who came to see him out.
Through the simple cross, the symbol that he trusted and extolled all his life, that he never stepped on even under torments and death, he wanted to tell: To the end of his life, the cross was forever the consolation and the truested support for all Christians. At the execution site, Fr. Thomas Khuông knelt and prayed in front of the cross, then bowed his head to receive the sabre blade giving him the everlasting happiness.
On 4/29/1951 together with 24 other Vietnamese martyrs, Fr. Thomas Khuông was elevated by Pope Pius XII to the rank of blessed.
Hoàng Tôn Thất chuyển ngữ
Saint Thomas KHUÔNG
Priest and Dominican Tertiary
(1780-1860)
* Rejecting Riches for God.
Reading the Church’s history, we are not alien to accounts of Saint Francis of Assisi or of Saint Thomas d’Aquina who had left the aristocracy to follow God’s call and Christ’s example, the Most Holy Teacher, God of all things, who willingly became poor and homeless to propagate the Good News of Salvation. Similarly, Saint Thomas Khuông forgot his aristocratic background to answer God’s call and to become witness to Christ as well ass witness to a religion which was new to the Vietnamese people, was disdained and persecuted severely. In fact, only God had the ability to cause him to make those sacrifices. And his graceful and willing answer to that call that led to his sacrifice of his life to God’s love.
* Opposition to Violence.
Thomas Khuông was born around 1780 (during the Trịnh-Nguyễn reigns) in Nam Hoà village, Tiên Chu parish, Hưng Yên province. The road to fame had been opened for this intelligent boy because his father once had been the prefecture mandarin of Hưng Yên. But the boy had answered the divine call and joined the religious preparatory. He then entered the seminary and became a priest.
In his responsibility of nourishing souls, Fr. Thomas Khuông was well known as a wise and saintly priest who had great interpersonal skills and dedicated to his mission of evangelization. Working in a vicariate shepherded by the Dominican Order, Fr. Thomas Khuông wanted to establish a deeper relationship with the religious order, so he joined he Dominican Tertiary and encouraged Christians to join it as well to sanctify their daily life.
Through the persecutions of kings Minh Mạng, Thiệu Trị, and Tự Đức, Fr. Thomas Khuông wisely cultivated amicable relationships with the local authorities to facilitate his ministry. Many times he was apprehended but later freed due to these relationships. However, King Tự Đức’s persecution started to grow more violent in 1858. Pressure exerted by the French army angered the king who began to brutalize Catholics out of his assumption that Catholics were corroborating with the French. A few Catholic communities organized armed units made up of young men to defend themselves against the king’s soldiers. Almost 80 years old, Fr. Thomas Khuông completely opposed this direction. In 1859, unable to prevent the formation of armed defense in Cao Xá village, he decided to relocate to the east vicariate of Tonkin (Hải Phòng). Unfortunately this decision led to his arrest and martyrdom.
As he stepped on the bridge leading to Trần Xá village, he encountered a crucifix placed there by soldiers forcing all travelers to step over. As Christ’s priest, he decided to turn around looking for another path. His decisive attitude alarmed soldiers who stopped him. When he refused to walk over the cross, soldiers tied him up along with an accompanying Christian.
After 15 days in jail, Fr. Thomas Khuông and 4 other lay Catholic leaders were escorted to the governor who forced them be witnesses falsely testifying to the conspiracy of Cao Xá Christians colluding with the French-Spanish naval ships still anchoring at sea to rebel against the king. Fr. Thomas Khuông affirmed the Church’s viewpoint: “The Catholic faith not only forbids its faithful to oppose the government, but also encourages them to pray for and to contribute to the security and prosperity of their country.”
Following that answer, the mandarin stopped that line of questioning, he only wanted the priest to reject his faith, to walk over the cross, and to urge other Christians to do the same to be released. God’s loyal servant replied:
“I am now 80 years old and, as a Catholic priest, I always remind Christians to be faithful to God. I will be unworthy and unfit to be a priest if I ask them now to abandon the Catholic faith. My friends and I do not thirst for any thing more than to sacrifice our lives for God’s religion.”.
* The Crucifix and Glory.
The thirst of the heroes of faith was finally quenched. The execution petition by the governor was approved by King Tự Đức. And on 1/30/1860 Fr. Thomas Khuông was escorted to the execution site in Hưng Yên. On the road to his own Mount of Calvary, the well-respected and elderly priest walked slowly with the help of a cane that he had carefully tied a tree branch on top to make into a crucifix. He cheerfully said goodbye to those who came to see him out.
Through the simple cross, the symbol that he trusted and extolled all his life, that he never stepped on even under torments and death, he wanted to tell: To the end of his life, the cross was forever the consolation and the truested support for all Christians. At the execution site, Fr. Thomas Khuông knelt and prayed in front of the cross, then bowed his head to receive the sabre blade giving him the everlasting happiness.
On 4/29/1951 together with 24 other Vietnamese martyrs, Fr. Thomas Khuông was elevated by Pope Pius XII to the rank of blessed.
Hoàng Tôn Thất chuyển ngữ