Saint Agnes Le Thi Thanh
1781-1841
Feast Day: November 24
Saint Agnes Le Thi Thanh was the only non-clergy Vietnamese of the 117 Vietnamese martyrs canonized by Pope St. John Paul II in 1988. She was a married Catholic, mother of 6, who helped hide priests to avoid persecution during Emperor Minh Mang’s rule. In a raid to capture priests, she was arrested, savagely beaten, and tortured both physically and psychologically. Her aggressors once even put poisonous snakes in her clothes. St. Agnes stayed calm crediting Our Lady’s help and the snakes did not bite her. Her family begged her to relent and renounce her faith, but she refused and died of her wounds in prison.
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Saint Andrew Dung-Lac
1795-1839
Feastday: November 24
Saint Andrew Dung-Lac, a Catholic priest and missionary in Vietnam, was one of the 117 martyrs who gave their life for the faith in the 19th century. In 1832, Emperor Minh-Mang banned all foreign missionaries and tried to wipe out Christianity. Churches were destroyed, instructions forbidden, villages and families were obliterated. The tortures of these Christians is considered the worst in Church history. St Andrew was tortured, then beheaded in 1839 for the offense of being a Catholic priest.
Prints, plaques & holy cards available for purchase here: (website)