Martyr 116 of 117 · Priest
Saint Peter Trương (Phạm) Văn Thi
The sisters’ cowherd boy
1763 – 1839 · Feast day December 21
Priest, from Kẻ Sở, Thanh Liêm, Hà Nam province · Vietnamese
As a boy, Thi herded cows for the convent of the Lovers of the Holy Cross at Kẻ Đầm. The sisters saw that the poor boy was bright and helped him go to the presbytery to study. More than sixty years later, the cowherd boy, now an old priest, went to the execution ground with Father Andrew Dũng Lạc.
A poor childhood
Peter Trương Văn Thi (some documents give his family name as Phạm) was born in 1763 in Kẻ Sở, Thanh Liêm district, Hà Nam province. His family was poor, and he had to herd cows for the convent of the Lovers of the Holy Cross at Kẻ Đầm.
The sisters were fond of him and helped him go to the presbytery to study. At about twelve he joined the House of God, and the cowherd boy set out on a new road.
A priest only at forty-three
He was a catechist for many years. Then in 1806, at forty-three, he was finally ordained a priest, after a very long wait.
He served the parish of Sông Chảy for nearly twenty-seven years and then went to Kẻ Sông. His parishioners remembered him as fervent and good, a man who lived in poverty. He usually fasted on Fridays and said Mass with great reverence.
He had a nephew, the catechist Peter Trương Văn Đường, and he helped the boy go to the presbytery to study, just as the sisters had once helped him. That nephew died for the faith in 1838.
“You must still come and fetch me”
When the ban on the faith grew harsh, he told the faithful:
“Whatever happens, when someone is gravely ill and near death, you must still come and fetch me to give the Anointing.”
He was an old man and knew very well that any trip might be his last, but he did not want anyone to die without the sacraments. To him the soul of a dying person mattered more than his own life.
Going to confession
In 1839, when Father Thi was seventy-six, he went to Father Andrew Dũng Lạc to make his confession, and at that very moment both priests were arrested.
The faithful tried to ransom the two priests but failed. When Father Thi was taken to Hà Nội, he was so weak that the faithful had to hire a hammock to carry him.
Two friends in prison
In prison the two priests were questioned many times. Neither would step on the cross. Father Dũng Lạc, the younger, was always comforting his old friend, and another priest found a way to bring Holy Communion into the prison for them both.
In the last stretch of his life Father Thi was carried by many hands: the faithful who found the hammock, the priest friend who comforted him, another priest who brought him Communion. A man who had served others all his life was served in return.
“I am finished now”
On December 21, 1839, Father Thi and Father Dũng Lạc were led to the execution ground at the Cầu Giấy city gate in Hà Nội. Before the sword fell, the seventy-six-year-old priest calmly told the executioner:
“I am finished now; go ahead.”
He spoke like a man who has just finished the day’s last chore and is ready to rest.
He was beatified on May 27, 1900, and canonized on June 19, 1988. His own feast day is December 21.
From the fields to the altar
The cowherd boy never imagined he would become a priest, let alone a saint. But a few sisters saw something in him and opened a door.
Sometimes a small helping hand can change a whole life. The sisters of Kẻ Đầm did that for young Thi, and Father Thi did it for his nephew. That is how kindness is handed down from one generation to the next.
Biography on the website of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Vietnam ↗