Saint John Baptist Cỏn

Saint John the Baptist Cỏn (Vietnamese: Gioan Baotixita Cỏn) (born c. 1805 in Kẻ Báng, Nam Định Province, Vietnam – died November 8, 1840, in Bảy Mẫu, Vietnam) was a martyr and a saint of the Catholic Church. John the Baptist Cỏn was born around 1805. Despite being poor, he was chosen to serve as the village headman. During the persecution of Christians in Vietnam, he assisted priests. In May 1840, after being informed of the presence of Catholic clergy in the village, Governor Trịnh Quang Khanh sent a large group of soldiers there. After two days, they arrested three priests: Joseph Nguyễn Đình Nghi, Paul Nguyễn Ngân, and Martin Tạ Đức Thịnh. John the Baptist Cỏn and his distant relative, Martin Thọ, were imprisoned along with them for assisting the priests. They were taken to Nam Định and subjected to attempts to force them to renounce their faith, including torture, but without success. All five were beheaded in Bảy Mẫu on November 8, 1840. His feast day is November 24, as part of the group of the 117 Vietnamese Martyrs. He was beatified on May 27, 1900, by Leo XIII and canonized by John Paul II on June 19, 1988, as one of the 117 Vietnamese Martyrs.