Today is the feast day of Saint Chrysogonus who was a martyr, and this is the memorial of Saint Andrew Dung-Lac and his companions who were also martyrs. Born in Vietnam in the late 18th century, Andrew converted to Christianity as a young man and became a priest, which was a dangerous proposition. In 1615, Portuguese Jesuits brought the faith to Vietnam when they arrived in Da Nang. Among the first they served were Japanese who had been forced to flee to Vietnam after being persecuted in Japan. But Christianity was not welcomed by those who ruled Vietnam either, and persecutions began almost immediately, lasting through the 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. Between 1901, on 4 occasions, the martyrs of Vietnam were beatified and all received canonization by Saint Pope John Paul II. Father Andrew was beheaded in 1639 in the midst of one of the more intense persecutions of those Christians in Vietnam. Between 1820 and 1880, up to 300,000 Catholics were killed or tortured.
In 1862, a treaty with France granted religious freedom in Vietnam, but Catholics continued to be persecuted well into the 20th century. In the 1950s and 60s, nearly 700,000 were forced to flee their homes in North Vietnam for South Vietnam.
Saint Andrew Dung-Loc and Companions, please pray for us.