St. Andrew Dūng-Lac

“Here are my two witnesses...then they heard a loud voice from heaven say to them, ‘Come up here’. So they went up to heaven.” 

Revelation 11:4-12

There are many strange happenings in the Book of Revelation. In the 4th chapter John writes about two witnesses who gives testimony, and are slain by the enemy. But they rise from the dead and are called up to heaven. Even today there are many brave martyrs of the faith in China, Africa, and even in the US, who get persecuted for standing up for the Gospel. 

Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Andrew Dūng-Lac and 116 other Vietnamese, Spaniards, and French men and women who were martyred for their Catholic faith from 1820 to 1862 in Vietnam. Thousands more were persecuted, their lands confiscated and their churches destroyed. Beginning in 1832, the Emperor Minh-Mang expelled all foreign missionaries and all the Vietnamese Christians were compelled to renounce their faith by stomping on the crucifix. 

St. Andrew was a Vietnamese Catholic priest. Although he was born to a poor, pagan family, he received a Christian education and was baptized. He was ordained a priest on March 1823. He was a passionate preacher and his congregation loved him. The first time he was imprisoned, his parishioners collected money to buy his freedom. He was arrested again and again, until in December 1839, he along with other Christians were beheaded after severe torture. 

About 130 thousand were martyred for their Catholic faith between 1625 and 1886. The persecution and tortures they experienced included cutting off limbs joint by joint, ripping their bodies apart with red hot tongs, beheading and even being burned alive. 

I can’t help thanking God that we are able to pray, worship Him in our Churches and homes, and even evangelize without fear of being jailed or tortured. But do we have that fervent, burning faith and hope in God? Or are we too complacent and take this gift of faith for granted? If we want God to call us, “Come up here!”, we should  do our part to be His witness and testify to the Gospel.