Martyr 113 of 117 · Catechist
Saint Dominic Bùi Văn Úy
“Beat me instead”
1812 – 1839 · Feast day December 19
Catechist, from Tiên Môn, Kẻ Rèm village, Thái Bình province · Vietnamese
The soldiers were about to beat Father Tự. Brother Úy, his young disciple, rushed forward: my father did not run away; please do not beat him; beat me instead. A young man of twenty-six offered his own back to take the blows for the teacher who had raised him from childhood.
Growing up beside Father Tự
Dominic Bùi Văn Úy was born in 1812 in Tiên Môn, Kẻ Rèm village, Thái Bình province. As a boy he joined the House of God, where he helped Father Peter Nguyễn Văn Tự and was trained by him as a catechist.
When Father Tự moved to Kẻ Mốt, Brother Úy went with him. Over the years a deep bond grew between them, like that of teacher and disciple, or father and son.
“Beat me instead”
On June 29, 1838, under Emperor Minh Mạng, soldiers surrounded Kẻ Mốt, arrested Father Tự and forced the villagers to step on the cross. Brother Úy would not.
When he saw the soldiers about to beat the priest, he rushed forward:
“My father did not run away; please, mandarins, do not beat him. Beat me instead.”
He was arrested along with the priest and many others and taken to Bắc Ninh.
Two hearts that loved each other
In prison Father Tự worried about his disciple, afraid that Brother Úy, still so young, would not hold out. He asked him:
“Do you want to live? I will speak so that your charge is lighter.”
He meant to tell the mandarin that Brother Úy was only a cook, not a catechist, so he would get a lighter sentence.
But Brother Úy said:
“Father, I want to die with you. Please say whatever will make my charge truly heavy.”
The teacher wanted to save his disciple; the disciple wanted to die with his teacher. There can hardly be a more beautiful bond between teacher and disciple.
In the courtroom
The mandarin ordered Brother Úy to step on the image of the Lord. He answered with a question:
“Would you mandarins dare to step on the face of the king, that you order me to step on the image of the Lord?”
The mandarin had no answer. No one dared tread on the image of the king. How then could a believer dare tread on the image of God?
Then the mandarin tried a trick. He lied that Father Tự had already renounced the faith, so why should Úy keep it? Brother Úy did not believe him:
“Even if my teacher renounced the faith, I would not follow him, but surely my teacher would not do such a thing?”
He trusted his teacher. But he also knew his faith did not hang on anyone, not even the teacher he loved most.
After Father Tự was gone
In September 1838 Father Tự was beheaded at Cổ Mễ. Brother Úy did not get to die with him as he had wished. He stayed in prison more than a year longer, with the catechist Francis Xavier Hà Trọng Mậu and three fellow Catholics, Mới, Đệ and Vinh.
On December 19, 1839, Brother Dominic Úy was strangled at the Cổ Mễ execution ground, where his teacher had shed his blood more than a year before.
He was buried at Đông Tiến. Part of his remains is now kept at the bishop’s house in Bắc Ninh.
He was beatified on May 27, 1900, and canonized on June 19, 1988. His own feast day is December 19.
Following his teacher to heaven
Brother Úy did not die on the same day as Father Tự, but he died in the same place, for the same faith. More than a year later, the disciple followed his teacher home to the Father.
The bond between Father Tự and Brother Úy is one of the most moving stories among the 117 martyr saints. Each wanted the other to suffer less, yet neither would take a smaller share of what he owed to God.
Biography on the website of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Vietnam ↗