Martyr 115 of 117 · Layperson
Saint Thomas Nguyễn Văn Đệ
The tailor who said goodbye to his wife and children
1811 – 1839 · Feast day December 19
Tailor, from Bồ Trang, Thái Bình province · Vietnamese
Soldiers surrounded the village. Đệ knew there was no avoiding it. He turned back into the house, looked at his wife, looked at his three little children. He told his wife to take the children to her parents’ home. Then he walked out to the village communal hall and presented himself.
His father’s trade
Thomas Nguyễn Văn Đệ was born in 1811 in the village of Bồ Trang, Thái Bình province. His family were tailors, and later moved to Kẻ Mốt.
He followed his father’s trade, sitting day after day with needle and thread, cutting each piece of cloth, sewing each seam. Tailoring takes patience and care, one small stitch after another until a garment takes shape.
He married and had three children. He was also active in the common affairs of the parish. A simple, peaceful life, with enough to live on.
Farewell
On June 29, 1838, in the reign of Emperor Minh Mạng, soldiers surrounded the village of Kẻ Mốt. They arrested Father Peter Nguyễn Văn Tự, called the roll of the villagers, and forced everyone to step over the cross.
Đệ was at home with his wife and children. He knew he could not hide. His name was in the village register. If he did not come out, the soldiers would come into the house.
He said goodbye to his wife. He told her to take the children to her parents’ home. Then he walked out to the village communal hall of his own accord.
We do not know what he said, or how he held his children. We only know it was the last time he was inside his own home.
His wife’s visit
He was taken to Bắc Ninh and sentenced to death by strangling, to be held in prison until the sentence was carried out.
His wife brought the children to visit him. Seeing her husband in the cangue, she wept. Đệ said to her:
“Do not cry, my dear! Go home and raise the children well, teach them to worship God. I have offered you and the children to Him. Remember to pray that God gives me more strength to endure to the end!”
“I have offered you and the children to Him.” He had nothing left to give his family except to place them in God’s hands. And he asked his wife to pray for him, because he knew he too was weak and needed support.
Those visits from his wife and children were both a comfort and a pain. Each time he saw his children, he saw more clearly what he was about to lose.
More than a year in prison
He was in prison with the catechists Francis Xavier Hà Trọng Mậu and Dominic Bùi Văn Úy, and two men from his home village of Bồ Trang, Augustine Nguyễn Văn Mới and Stephen Nguyễn Văn Vinh. The five prayed together, asked together to join the Dominican Third Order, and together helped their fellow prisoners learn the faith.
More than a year of beatings and waiting. The mandarin kept offering the same terms: give up the faith and go home to your wife and children. He would not.
Cổ Mễ, December 19, 1839
On December 19, 1839, Thomas Đệ was strangled at the Cổ Mễ execution ground, together with his four brothers. His body was buried at Phong Cốc. Later, part of his remains were taken to his home village of Bồ Ngọc.
He was beatified on May 27, 1900, and canonized on June 19, 1988. His own feast day is December 19.
The last stitches
The tailor spent his life joining small stitches into garments. Đệ’s life too was sewn from small things: a home, three children, the common affairs of the parish. And the last stitch was his word to his wife: teach the children to worship God.
For fathers today, Đệ’s words still hold: the most precious thing we leave our children is not wealth, but faith.
Biography on the website of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Vietnam ↗