Saint Nicholas Bùi Đức Thể

Saint Nicholas Bùi Đức Thể (Vietnamese: Nicôla Bùi Đức Thể) (born c. 1792 in Kiên Trung, Nam Định Province, Vietnam – died June 13, 1839, in Thừa Thiên, Vietnam) was a martyr and a saint of the Catholic Church. The exact date of Nicholas Bùi Đức Thể's birth is unknown. He served as a soldier for approximately one month. According to a 1838 census ordered by the King of Vietnam, there were 500 Christian soldiers in Nam Định Province. The authorities disapproved of this and attempted to force them to renounce their faith through torture. In some cases, this method was effective. Ultimately, only three soldiers refused to trample the cross: Nicholas Bùi Đức Thể, Augustine Phan Viết Huy, and Dominic Đinh Đạt. Nicholas Bùi Đức Thể was executed alongside Augustine Phan Viết Huy on June 13, 1839. His feast day is November 24, as part of the group of the 117 Vietnamese Martyrs. He was beatified on May 27, 1900, by Pope Leo XIII and canonized by Pope John Paul II on June 19, 1988, as one of the 117 Vietnamese Martyrs.