St. Jean-Théophane Vénard is one of the Martyrs of Vietnam. He was born in 1829 France and was raised in a pious family. He was ordained for the missions in 1852 and worked for 15 months in Hong Kong, before being transferred to Vietnam.

Christians in the area were being persecuted by the ruler Minh-Menh, and just before Fr. Jean-Théophane’s arrival, clergy were forced into hiding. For four years, Fr. Jean-Théophane took great risks by hiding during the daytime and ministering to the people by night. He was eventually betrayed by a parishioner and arrested on Nov. 20, 1860.

He was tried and told his life would be saved if he renounced his faith, but he refused. He was kept in a cage for several weeks, during which he wrote joyful letters to his family.

“We are all flowers planted on this earth, which God plucks in His own good time: some a little sooner, some a little later,” he wrote to his father in France. “Father and son may we meet in Paradise. I, poor little moth, go first. Adieu.”

St. Jean-Théophane Vénard was beheaded Feb. 2, 1861. The Vietnamese authorities stuck his head on a pole to serve as a warning to others. Later, his severed head was recovered and is preserved as a relic in Vietnam. The rest of his body rests in the crypt of the Missions Etrangères in Paris.

He was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1988.

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