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30-06-2006, 08:36 AM
August 21
Saint Joseph ĐẶNG ĐÌNH VIÊN
Priest
(1785-1838)
* Following the Example of the Good Shepherd.
“Jesus, Mary! Please save me.” Hiding in a sugar cane field, Fr. Đặng Đình Viên was startled by the agonizing cries of a child of the homeowner who was providing him sanctuary. Soldiers were questioning the child about the priest’s hiding place.
It was painful to hear the excruciating cry from the innocent voice. Could Fr. Đặng Đình Viên bear that heart-throbbing cry and ignore it to maintain his safety? The shepherd’s duty was to look after the flock. Because of his ministry, he had to avoid the authority; but at this moment, it was also his responsibility to come out to save the child. He stepped out of the secluded sugar cane field and announced: “I am Fr. Viên whom you are looking for. Please stop hurting this child.”
* Youth and Dream.
Joseph Đặng Đình Viên was also known as Lương. He was born in 1785 in the village of Tiên Chu, Tiên Lữ district of Hưng Yên province. When he was young, he lived and studied in the community of Vân in the district of An Thi, his maternal hometown. After the deaths of his parents, he accompanied missionaries to provide assistance, and then entered the seminary.
In 1821, Deacon Đặng Đình Viên was ordained a priest and assigned to Lục Thuỷ parish in Nam Định province. Two years later was sent to proclaim the Gospel in Bắc parish ministering to communities of Đông Bài, Thiết Nham, Như Thiết, and An Mỹ. Throughout a 17-year ministry, Fr. Viên was known for his spirituality, his diligence, and his efforts to glorify God. He was loved by everyone.
On 4/17/1838, Easter Thursday, he sent catechist Vũ Văn Lân to the bishop to pick the holy schism. Catechist Vũ Văn Lân was arrested along with the six letters that Fr. Đặng Đình Viên wrote to the two bishops and 4 other priests. The local mandarins tried to hide the letters; unfortunately Governor Trịnh Quang Khanh took them to King Minh Mạng. The king became enraged that the northern mandarins were covering up for the bad religion and threatened to trip Trịnh Quang Khanh of his governorship if he could not capture the letter writer and addressees. The magistrate of Hưng Yên, Hà Thức Lương, was then ordered to arrest Fr. Đặng Đình Viên at all cost or he would be punished.
No one could foresee that due to a little carelessness Fr. Viên’s letters started a bloody persecution campaign in Nam Định and Hưng Yên. The two bishops Delgado Y and Hernares Minh, Vicar Hiền and numerous others were martyred, not counting damages to facilities and upheavals in parishes’ activities.
* All for the Flock.
In Hưng Yên, the authority searched everywhere without finding Fr. Viên. The mandarins had to resort to trickery: they forged a letter as if it came from his family and bribed two of his Catholic relatives to carry the letter to deliver it to him.
On 8/1.1838 finding out that the priest was hiding in the community of Cầu Chay in the district of Như Thiết, the mandarin sent soldiers to arrest him, but he was able to escape to the dense sugar cane field. Ironically, furious to let him get away, the soldiers arrested a young boy from the family, where he was hiding, for interrogation. It was the boy’s suffering and cry that pained him and made him come out. He had given the boy not a cup of water but his own life. This noble act had to originate from the example shown by the One who sacrificed His life to redeem mankind.
* The Honor of Martyrdom.
In Hưng Yên province, the mandarins forced Fr. Viên to translate his letters intercepted earlier into Vietnamese. Once they realized that the letters did not contain any secret or conspiracy, they urged him to renounce his faith to be released, Fr. Viên emphatically replied: “I rather die than walking over the cross. If a priest such as I walk over the cross, who else is going to believe in Christianity?” On August 3, the mandarins petitioned the royal court for a sentence of death by decapitation. On August 21, the sentence came back. The mandarins attempted to convince him to renounce his faith one last time, but failed; they announced the sentence and carried it out the same day. His sentence tablet was inscribed as followed:
“Fr. Đặng Đình Viên, who believes in perverse religion, had contacts with European priests, assembled Christians, amassed Christian books, did not walk over the cross, violated the country’s laws, must be beheaded.”
On the way to the execution site in Ba Toà, Fr. Viên happily gave thanks to God. The two relatives who had betray his hiding place came to ask for forgiveness. He generously said: “I forgive you...” Just like Jesus, before his last moment on the cross, had forgiven those who betrayed and killed him, Fr. Viên had joyfully forgiven the persons who had given him up to the authority.
After a small meal of rice, Fr. Viên knelt on a cotton blanket and raised his head toward the sky to pray. The moment of execution finally arrived; the executioner swung the saber delivering the Christ’s witness full of dreams to martyrdom. Christians swarmed in to soak the martyr’s blood. Seeing an opportunity to make money, a soldier cut his clothes in to pieces to sell. The date was 8/21/1838 his body was carried in a solemn procession by about 300 Christians for interment at the church of Tiên Chu.
Pope Leo XIII elevated Fr. Joseph Đặng Đình Viên to the rank of blessed on 5/27/1900.
Hoàng Tôn Thất
Saint Joseph ĐẶNG ĐÌNH VIÊN
Priest
(1785-1838)
* Following the Example of the Good Shepherd.
“Jesus, Mary! Please save me.” Hiding in a sugar cane field, Fr. Đặng Đình Viên was startled by the agonizing cries of a child of the homeowner who was providing him sanctuary. Soldiers were questioning the child about the priest’s hiding place.
It was painful to hear the excruciating cry from the innocent voice. Could Fr. Đặng Đình Viên bear that heart-throbbing cry and ignore it to maintain his safety? The shepherd’s duty was to look after the flock. Because of his ministry, he had to avoid the authority; but at this moment, it was also his responsibility to come out to save the child. He stepped out of the secluded sugar cane field and announced: “I am Fr. Viên whom you are looking for. Please stop hurting this child.”
* Youth and Dream.
Joseph Đặng Đình Viên was also known as Lương. He was born in 1785 in the village of Tiên Chu, Tiên Lữ district of Hưng Yên province. When he was young, he lived and studied in the community of Vân in the district of An Thi, his maternal hometown. After the deaths of his parents, he accompanied missionaries to provide assistance, and then entered the seminary.
In 1821, Deacon Đặng Đình Viên was ordained a priest and assigned to Lục Thuỷ parish in Nam Định province. Two years later was sent to proclaim the Gospel in Bắc parish ministering to communities of Đông Bài, Thiết Nham, Như Thiết, and An Mỹ. Throughout a 17-year ministry, Fr. Viên was known for his spirituality, his diligence, and his efforts to glorify God. He was loved by everyone.
On 4/17/1838, Easter Thursday, he sent catechist Vũ Văn Lân to the bishop to pick the holy schism. Catechist Vũ Văn Lân was arrested along with the six letters that Fr. Đặng Đình Viên wrote to the two bishops and 4 other priests. The local mandarins tried to hide the letters; unfortunately Governor Trịnh Quang Khanh took them to King Minh Mạng. The king became enraged that the northern mandarins were covering up for the bad religion and threatened to trip Trịnh Quang Khanh of his governorship if he could not capture the letter writer and addressees. The magistrate of Hưng Yên, Hà Thức Lương, was then ordered to arrest Fr. Đặng Đình Viên at all cost or he would be punished.
No one could foresee that due to a little carelessness Fr. Viên’s letters started a bloody persecution campaign in Nam Định and Hưng Yên. The two bishops Delgado Y and Hernares Minh, Vicar Hiền and numerous others were martyred, not counting damages to facilities and upheavals in parishes’ activities.
* All for the Flock.
In Hưng Yên, the authority searched everywhere without finding Fr. Viên. The mandarins had to resort to trickery: they forged a letter as if it came from his family and bribed two of his Catholic relatives to carry the letter to deliver it to him.
On 8/1.1838 finding out that the priest was hiding in the community of Cầu Chay in the district of Như Thiết, the mandarin sent soldiers to arrest him, but he was able to escape to the dense sugar cane field. Ironically, furious to let him get away, the soldiers arrested a young boy from the family, where he was hiding, for interrogation. It was the boy’s suffering and cry that pained him and made him come out. He had given the boy not a cup of water but his own life. This noble act had to originate from the example shown by the One who sacrificed His life to redeem mankind.
* The Honor of Martyrdom.
In Hưng Yên province, the mandarins forced Fr. Viên to translate his letters intercepted earlier into Vietnamese. Once they realized that the letters did not contain any secret or conspiracy, they urged him to renounce his faith to be released, Fr. Viên emphatically replied: “I rather die than walking over the cross. If a priest such as I walk over the cross, who else is going to believe in Christianity?” On August 3, the mandarins petitioned the royal court for a sentence of death by decapitation. On August 21, the sentence came back. The mandarins attempted to convince him to renounce his faith one last time, but failed; they announced the sentence and carried it out the same day. His sentence tablet was inscribed as followed:
“Fr. Đặng Đình Viên, who believes in perverse religion, had contacts with European priests, assembled Christians, amassed Christian books, did not walk over the cross, violated the country’s laws, must be beheaded.”
On the way to the execution site in Ba Toà, Fr. Viên happily gave thanks to God. The two relatives who had betray his hiding place came to ask for forgiveness. He generously said: “I forgive you...” Just like Jesus, before his last moment on the cross, had forgiven those who betrayed and killed him, Fr. Viên had joyfully forgiven the persons who had given him up to the authority.
After a small meal of rice, Fr. Viên knelt on a cotton blanket and raised his head toward the sky to pray. The moment of execution finally arrived; the executioner swung the saber delivering the Christ’s witness full of dreams to martyrdom. Christians swarmed in to soak the martyr’s blood. Seeing an opportunity to make money, a soldier cut his clothes in to pieces to sell. The date was 8/21/1838 his body was carried in a solemn procession by about 300 Christians for interment at the church of Tiên Chu.
Pope Leo XIII elevated Fr. Joseph Đặng Đình Viên to the rank of blessed on 5/27/1900.
Hoàng Tôn Thất