Saint Thomas Trần Văn Thiện

Saint Thomas Trần Văn Thiện (born c. 1820 in Trung Quán, Quảng Bình Province, Vietnam – died September 21, 1838, in Nhan Biều, Quảng Trị Province, Vietnam) was a seminarian, martyr, and saint of the Catholic Church. Thomas Trần Văn Thiện was born into a Christian family in 1820 in Trung Quán. He was sent to the seminary in Di Loan, Quảng Trị Province. While en route, he learned that the seminary director had been forced to flee due to persecution and was advised to return home. Two days after Thomas arrived in Di Loan, soldiers searched the town. Frustrated by their failure to capture the director, they arrested many people, including Thomas. The prisoners were taken to the capital of Quảng Trị Province. Authorities attempted to force Thomas to renounce his faith, even offering him marriage to a mandarin's daughter, who had taken a liking to him. Neither this offer nor torture could induce him to apostatize. After some time, he was imprisoned in the same cell as Father François Jaccard. They were executed by strangulation in Nhan Biều on September 21, 1838, and buried at the site of the execution. In 1947, their relics were transferred to the seminary of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. 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.