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Also known as: Jean-Théophane
Vénard
Profile
Raised in a pious family; one brother became a priest, and was later
curator for Theophane's writings, and another was the bishop of Poitiers,
France. Studied at the College of Doue-la-Fontaine, Montmorillon, Poitiers,
and the Paris Seminary for Foreign Missions. Ordained on 5 June 1852.
Missionary to southeast Asia, leaving on 19 September 1852. Worked fifteen
months at Hong Kong, then transferred to West Tonkin, Vietnam.
Christians in the area were being persecuted by order of the ruler
Minh-Menh. Just before Theophan's arrival, new anti-Christian orders had
forced priests and bishops to go into hiding in forests and caves. Father
Venard, whose health had never been good, suffered terribly, ministering
to his flock by night and, when he could find a secure location, by day
for nearly four years. Betrayed by an ostensible parishioner, he was
arrested on 30 November 1860. Tried for his faith, he was given ample
opportunity to save himself by denying Christ; he declined. He was kept in
a cage for several weeks prior to his execution, during which he wrote a
series of joyful, consoling letters to his family. One of the Martyrs of
Vietnam.
Born: 1829 at Saint-Loup, diocese of Poitiers, France
Died: beheaded on 2 February 1861 at Tonkin, Vietnam; his head was
stuck on a pole as a warning to other, but was later recovered and
preserved as a relic in Tonkin; the rest of his body was sent back to his
family, and is interred in the crypt of the Missions Etrangères in Paris
Beatified: 2 May 1909
Canonized: 19 June 1988 by Pope John Paul II
Readings
A slight saber-cut will separate my head from my body, like the spring
flower which the Master of the garden gathers for His pleasure. We are all
flowers planted on this earth, which God plucks in His own good time: some
a little sooner, some a little later . . . Father and son may we meet in
Paradise. I, poor little moth, go first. Adieu.
- Saint Theophane in a letter to his father just before his martyrdom
source:
http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintt66.htm
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