Saint Dominic Nguyễn Văn Hạnh

Dominic Nguyễn Văn Hạnh was born in 1772 in the village of Năng A, Nghệ An province. As a boy he asked to enter the House of God, then studied in the seminary and became a priest.

In 1826, already past fifty, he also made vows as a Dominican. At an age when many only wish to rest, he began a new stage, committing himself even more deeply. His vocation did not stop at one moment; it kept growing with the years.

He served the faithful for many years, quietly and steadily, like so many other priests of that time.

In 1838, the persecution under Emperor Minh Mạng forced him to keep changing where he lived. At the time he was at Quần Anh Hạ and planned to move to Trung Thành.

Two men promised to guide him there safely. He trusted them. But instead of taking him to a place of refuge, they handed him over to the mandarin.

Think of what the old priest felt then: betrayed by the very people he had trusted with his life. Perhaps he thought of Jesus in the Garden of Olives, when a disciple came to kiss his Master in order to hand Him over.

On May 7, 1838, he was taken to Nam Định. The mandarin demanded that he step over the cross. He refused.

Then the mandarin had an image of Our Lady brought out and ordered him to insult it. Perhaps the mandarin thought: it is only the picture of a woman, surely that will be easier for him.

But Father Hạnh was a Dominican, of an order bound up with the Rosary and with love for Our Lady. He picked up the image, raised it to his lips, and kissed it.

The mandarin was furious and had him beaten very severely.

The holy objects the faithful used every day for prayer, crucifixes and images of Our Lady, had become tools for testing people’s hearts in the courtroom. And Father Hạnh turned that very moment of testing into a gesture of love.

The sentence was sent to the capital, and at the end of June the king approved it. On August 1, 1838, Father Dominic Hạnh was beheaded at the Bảy Mẫu execution ground, Nam Định. On the same day, another old priest, Father Bernard Vũ Văn Duệ, was also executed.

His body was first buried right at the place of execution, and later moved to Lục Thủy.

He was beatified on May 27, 1900, and canonized on June 19, 1988. His own feast day is August 1.

Some gestures say more than any words. Father Hạnh left no recorded homily. But people never forget the old priest picking up the image of Our Lady and kissing it in the middle of the courtroom.

Today, each time we pray the Rosary, each time we look up at an image of Our Lady, we can remember Father Hạnh. And ask ourselves: is my love for our Mother deep enough never to betray her, whatever happens?