Saint Tomasz Khuông

Saint Thomas Khuông (Vietnamese: Tôma Khuông) (born c. 1779 or 1789 in Nam Hoà, Hưng Yên province, Vietnam – died January 30, 1860, in Hưng Yên, Vietnam) was a priest, a Dominican tertiary, a martyr, and a saint of the Catholic Church. Thomas Khuông was born into a mandarin family in the village of Nam Hoà in Hưng Yên province. He became a priest and later a Dominican tertiary. During the reign of King Minh Mạng, he was imprisoned for teaching the Christian religion. Because he came from a noble family, he was soon released. During subsequent persecutions, he was arrested again on December 29, 1859, and imprisoned in Hưng Yên. He refused to trample on the cross and was beheaded on January 30, 1860. His feast day is November 24, as part of the group of 117 Vietnamese Martyrs. He was beatified on April 29, 1951, by Pius XII and canonized by John Paul II on June 19, 1988, as one of the 117 Vietnamese Martyrs.