Santi e Beati
Saint Vincent Liem de Pax( Ex Ossibus)
Vincent Liem was born in 1732 in the village of Thon Dong, village of Tra Lu, Catholic parish of Phu Nhai. This place is referred to by the historical documents of Viet Nam as the area where the preaching of Christianity first took place in Viet Nam, in the year 1533 during the dynasty of King Le Trang Ton.
Liem's father, Mr. Anthony Doan, was a dignitary of his rural region; his mother, Mrs. Mary Doan, was like his Father in the sense that both of them were pious, virtuous Christians who were always dedicated to educating their good children and fulfilling their duties.
GOING ABROAD FOR STUDYING
Upon turning twelve years old, Vincent Liem was admitted into the House of God in Luc Thuy. He was a bright, wise and religious seminarian. Three years later he was chosen and sent to Manila (Capital of the Philippines) to continue his studies in the high school of St. John and college of St. Thomas, which were administered by the Dominican Fathers. While studying suứects concerning temporal matters and secular life, Vincent Liem prepared himself to join the Order of St. Dominic. He was accepted to wear the habit of that Order on September 8, 1753 when he was 21 years of age.
After one year in the novitiate, he pronounced three vows and accepted a religious name "Vincent of Peace". After that, Brother Liem tried very hard to study philosophy, theology and other specialized suứects for his priesthood preparation.
RETURNING TO HIS HOMELAND
In 1758, a year full of unforgettable memories for Vincent of Peace, he was ordained a priest, and prepared to go back to his homeland. On January 20, 1759, he came back to Annam and shed copious tears of joy upon seeing his relatives, loved ones and dear Christians. They welcomed him with the respect reserved for an elite priest who came back home from a foreign country after finishing his specialized studies there.
After a period of time teaching at the seminary of Trung Linh, Father Vincent Liem was sent to preach the Gospel in the areas of Quat Lam, Trung Lao, Luc Thuy, Trung Le. He was appreciated by all the people, for he served them with all his capabilities without minding about the dangers and difficulties.
His two letters during that period are still kept in the archives. In them, Father Vincent related one of the remarkable victories of the Christian Church of Vietnam: The sixth Prince, a young brother of the Lord Trinh Doanh (1740-1767) of Tonkin (North Vietnam) had converted to the Catholic faith and received Baptism before dying peacefully and happily.
Father Liem also reported much information concerning the Church of Tonkin, particularly the persecution that our Christians had to cope with their trial to maintain their holy faith, as well as the perils he himself had to confront during the course of his preaching.
By 1767, in the dynasty of King Canh Hung, Lord Trinh Sam had put to death a Buddhist monk for having committed a minor offense against the laws of that kingdom. Therefore, in order to avoid the wide-spread rumors among the people that he had protected Christianity and persecuted Buddhists, the Lord immediately ordered that all the priests and believers of Christianity be imprisoned. However, that persecution could not discourage brave Christian apostles.
On October 2, 1733, Father Vincent Liem was arrested while he was preaching the Gospel in Luong Dong. He was taken to the province of Hung Yen and kept prisoner there. In the penitentiary he met a Spanish priest who was called Father Hyacinth Gia, who had been confined there several months prior.
THE CONFERENCE OF FOUR RELIGIONS
At that time, a famous conference called the "Conference of Four Religions" took place in the capital and made a remarkable mark in the history of the religions of Vietnam. Its purpose was written in a booklet which was entitled "The Conference of the Great Masters of Four Religions" and was re-edited many times in Tonkin and Cochichina.
The booklet recounted that in the time of the dynasty of King Canh Hung, Lord Trinh Sam had captured two priests of the Christian religion, one of whom was a European and the other a native. At that time there was an important and high-ranked mandarin in the royal court who was the uncle of the Lord and had a Christian mother who was called "Great Lady Tram", even though he himself was a pagan. This Great Lady Tram was born in the province of Hai Duong. She was very pious and used to advise her son, that high ranked mandarin, to convert to the Christian faith. However, the mandarin was in a dilemma and did not know whether or not he should accept the advice of his mother or implement the order of persecution of Lord Trinh Sam. He got an idea to summon the representatives of four religions for a conference: Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Christianity.
In order to act out his plan, he invited a Confucian, a Buddhist monk, a Taoist witch and two Christian priests, who were being imprisoned in the capital city, to his palace.
The debate between religions occurred in his presence.
He declared the opening of the conference and expressed the ideas of his heart and mind. He said that he had heard of several religions very often and did not know which one he should choose and believe in; therefore, he had those religious leaders summoned for a conference and debate on the suứects of the laws, purposes, doctrines and philosophy of each religion so that he could make up his mind and decide.
After presenting their primary opinions, the two representatives of Christianity suggested some topics for the debate as follows: Who created human beings? For what purpose are we, as human beings, living this life and what must we do? Where will we be after death? All the representatives of the other religions accepted this suggestion. The high mandarin determined that each of those questions should be discussed with full details for a whole day, so that he could understand the plain truth and learn which religion was right. The conference lasted for three consecutive days.
The booklet "The Conference of the Masters of Four Religions" does not refer to the names of the two Christian priests, but they were believed to be Father Gia (Casteneda) and Father Vincent Liem, according to tradition and the opinion of many other authors.
THE GLORIOUS REWARDS
The mandarin mentioned above appreciated highly the reasons and truths that the two representatives of Christianity pointed out to him and to all present. However, his nephew, Lord Trinh Sam, was very different from him, and decided to terminate the fates and lives of the two Christian priests. Being urged by his mother, who was an iniquitous woman, hostile to the Christians, Lord Trinh Sam wrote a death sentence for both of the Catholic preachers.
On October 7, 1773 Father Vincent Liem, along with Father Casteneda, shed his blood for the cause of God after fifteen years of service in the priesthood.
Saint Vincent Liem de Pax( Ex Ossibus)
Vincent Liem was born in 1732 in the village of Thon Dong, village of Tra Lu, Catholic parish of Phu Nhai. This place is referred to by the historical documents of Viet Nam as the area where the preaching of Christianity first took place in Viet Nam, in the year 1533 during the dynasty of King Le Trang Ton.
Liem's father, Mr. Anthony Doan, was a dignitary of his rural region; his mother, Mrs. Mary Doan, was like his Father in the sense that both of them were pious, virtuous Christians who were always dedicated to educating their good children and fulfilling their duties.
GOING ABROAD FOR STUDYING
Upon turning twelve years old, Vincent Liem was admitted into the House of God in Luc Thuy. He was a bright, wise and religious seminarian. Three years later he was chosen and sent to Manila (Capital of the Philippines) to continue his studies in the high school of St. John and college of St. Thomas, which were administered by the Dominican Fathers. While studying suứects concerning temporal matters and secular life, Vincent Liem prepared himself to join the Order of St. Dominic. He was accepted to wear the habit of that Order on September 8, 1753 when he was 21 years of age.
After one year in the novitiate, he pronounced three vows and accepted a religious name "Vincent of Peace". After that, Brother Liem tried very hard to study philosophy, theology and other specialized suứects for his priesthood preparation.
RETURNING TO HIS HOMELAND
In 1758, a year full of unforgettable memories for Vincent of Peace, he was ordained a priest, and prepared to go back to his homeland. On January 20, 1759, he came back to Annam and shed copious tears of joy upon seeing his relatives, loved ones and dear Christians. They welcomed him with the respect reserved for an elite priest who came back home from a foreign country after finishing his specialized studies there.
After a period of time teaching at the seminary of Trung Linh, Father Vincent Liem was sent to preach the Gospel in the areas of Quat Lam, Trung Lao, Luc Thuy, Trung Le. He was appreciated by all the people, for he served them with all his capabilities without minding about the dangers and difficulties.
His two letters during that period are still kept in the archives. In them, Father Vincent related one of the remarkable victories of the Christian Church of Vietnam: The sixth Prince, a young brother of the Lord Trinh Doanh (1740-1767) of Tonkin (North Vietnam) had converted to the Catholic faith and received Baptism before dying peacefully and happily.
Father Liem also reported much information concerning the Church of Tonkin, particularly the persecution that our Christians had to cope with their trial to maintain their holy faith, as well as the perils he himself had to confront during the course of his preaching.
By 1767, in the dynasty of King Canh Hung, Lord Trinh Sam had put to death a Buddhist monk for having committed a minor offense against the laws of that kingdom. Therefore, in order to avoid the wide-spread rumors among the people that he had protected Christianity and persecuted Buddhists, the Lord immediately ordered that all the priests and believers of Christianity be imprisoned. However, that persecution could not discourage brave Christian apostles.
On October 2, 1733, Father Vincent Liem was arrested while he was preaching the Gospel in Luong Dong. He was taken to the province of Hung Yen and kept prisoner there. In the penitentiary he met a Spanish priest who was called Father Hyacinth Gia, who had been confined there several months prior.
THE CONFERENCE OF FOUR RELIGIONS
At that time, a famous conference called the "Conference of Four Religions" took place in the capital and made a remarkable mark in the history of the religions of Vietnam. Its purpose was written in a booklet which was entitled "The Conference of the Great Masters of Four Religions" and was re-edited many times in Tonkin and Cochichina.
The booklet recounted that in the time of the dynasty of King Canh Hung, Lord Trinh Sam had captured two priests of the Christian religion, one of whom was a European and the other a native. At that time there was an important and high-ranked mandarin in the royal court who was the uncle of the Lord and had a Christian mother who was called "Great Lady Tram", even though he himself was a pagan. This Great Lady Tram was born in the province of Hai Duong. She was very pious and used to advise her son, that high ranked mandarin, to convert to the Christian faith. However, the mandarin was in a dilemma and did not know whether or not he should accept the advice of his mother or implement the order of persecution of Lord Trinh Sam. He got an idea to summon the representatives of four religions for a conference: Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Christianity.
In order to act out his plan, he invited a Confucian, a Buddhist monk, a Taoist witch and two Christian priests, who were being imprisoned in the capital city, to his palace.
The debate between religions occurred in his presence.
He declared the opening of the conference and expressed the ideas of his heart and mind. He said that he had heard of several religions very often and did not know which one he should choose and believe in; therefore, he had those religious leaders summoned for a conference and debate on the suứects of the laws, purposes, doctrines and philosophy of each religion so that he could make up his mind and decide.
After presenting their primary opinions, the two representatives of Christianity suggested some topics for the debate as follows: Who created human beings? For what purpose are we, as human beings, living this life and what must we do? Where will we be after death? All the representatives of the other religions accepted this suggestion. The high mandarin determined that each of those questions should be discussed with full details for a whole day, so that he could understand the plain truth and learn which religion was right. The conference lasted for three consecutive days.
The booklet "The Conference of the Masters of Four Religions" does not refer to the names of the two Christian priests, but they were believed to be Father Gia (Casteneda) and Father Vincent Liem, according to tradition and the opinion of many other authors.
THE GLORIOUS REWARDS
The mandarin mentioned above appreciated highly the reasons and truths that the two representatives of Christianity pointed out to him and to all present. However, his nephew, Lord Trinh Sam, was very different from him, and decided to terminate the fates and lives of the two Christian priests. Being urged by his mother, who was an iniquitous woman, hostile to the Christians, Lord Trinh Sam wrote a death sentence for both of the Catholic preachers.
On October 7, 1773 Father Vincent Liem, along with Father Casteneda, shed his blood for the cause of God after fifteen years of service in the priesthood.