Saint Francis Trần Văn Trung

Francis Trần Văn Trung (some documents give Nguyễn Văn Trung) was born in 1825 in the village of Phan Xá, Quảng Trị province. He lost his father early and was raised by his mother alone.

When he grew up he married and had four children. He brought up his children in the faith, as his mother had brought him up. He was a squad leader in the royal army.

The army held a selection examination. Many squad leaders serving with him bribed the examining mandarins. Trung refused.

Then a quarrel over the bribe money came to light and was reported all the way to Emperor Tự Đức. Twelve squad leaders were imprisoned. Trung, though not involved, was imprisoned with them.

How ironic: an upright man had to share the fate of those who had done wrong. But Trung did not complain.

When the French attacked Đà Nẵng, the king let the prisoners choose: stay in prison, or go to fight. Trung volunteered to fight. He was a soldier; he wanted to defend his country.

But the court demanded one more thing: Catholic soldiers had to offer incense and step over the cross to prove their loyalty.

Trung was ready to die for his country. But he could not deny God to prove that he loved his country. He refused.

He was sentenced to beheading. On October 6, 1858, he was taken near the An Hòa execution ground. But at the last minute the mandarins, worried about how the sentence would be received, held it back to ask the king’s wishes. He had to wait, not knowing whether he would live or die. In the evening, the order confirming the sentence arrived.

Before he died, he sent a message to his wife:

“If I die, take care of the children! Love the children with all your heart!”

At thirty-three, a father who had grown up without a father himself, he knew better than anyone what it meant for children to grow up fatherless. Now his four children would be the same. All he could do was entrust them to his wife, and to God.

He was beheaded that evening. His body was taken to Dương Sơn on October 8.

He was beatified on May 2, 1909, and canonized on June 19, 1988. His own feast day is October 6.

Trung was no enemy of the court. He did not pay bribes, and he volunteered for battle. He was a good citizen and an honest soldier. But when they made him choose between love of country and faith, he would not accept that false choice.

And through it all, in his final hour, what worried him most was still his four little children at home. A soldier, a father, a child of God: he lived all three to the full.