Andrew of Phú Yên (1625 – 26 July 1644) is known as the "

Protomartyr A protomartyr (Koine Greek, ''prôtos'' 'first' + ''mártus'' 'martyr') is the first Christian martyr in a country or among a particular group, such as a religious order. Similarly, the phrase the Protomartyr (with no other qualification of ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

." Baptized in 1641, he was a dedicated assistant to

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Miss ...

and was thus arrested in the purge of Christians launched in 1644. After refusing to abjure the

faith Faith is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept. In the context of religion, faith is " belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". According to the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, faith has multiple definitions, inc ...

, he was put to death in Kẻ Chàm. Andrew was

beatified Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the ...

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

on March 5, 2000. His feast day is 26 July.

Biography

Andrew came from the province of Trấn Biên ( Phú Yên), today in

. On the insistence of his mother, Jeanne,

Alexandre de Rhodes Alexandre de Rhodes, SJ (; 15 March 1593 – 5 November 1660), also Đắc Lộ was an Avignonese Jesuit missionary and lexicographer who had a lasting impact on Christianity in Vietnam. He wrote the '' Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latin ...

, a French

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

, agreed to include him among his students. Andrew soon surpassed his fellow pupils. Together with his mother, he received

Baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

in 1641. He would have been about 15 years of age, having been born in 1625 or 1626. At the time of his death in 1644, he was 19 or 20. In 1642 Andrew become one of Alexander de Rhodes' closest co-workers and, after a year of further formation, he joined the ''Maison Dieu'' ("House of God")

catechist Catechesis (; from Greek language, Greek: , "instruction by word of mouth", generally "instruction") is basic Christian religious education of children and adults, often from a catechism book. It started as education of Conversion to Christia ...

association which de Rhodes had instituted. Its members made a public promise to spend their entire lives serving the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

by helping

priests A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, ...

and spreading the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

. Before the end of July 1644,

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

Ong Nghe Bo returned to the province which he governed and where Andrew was living. He had orders from the

Nguyễn lord Nguyễn (阮) (sometimes abbreviated as Ng̃) is the most common surname of the Vietnamese people. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as ''Nguyen''. By some estimates 30 to 39 percent of Vietnamese peopl ...

to prevent the expansion of Christianity in his kingdom. De Rhodes, unaware of the Mandarin's intentions, paid him a courtesy visit, but was quickly informed that the Nguyễn lord was angered at the great number of Cochinchina who were following the Christian faith. De Rhodes must therefore leave the country and no longer teach Christian doctrine to the Cochinchina; since the latter were the subjects of the emperor, they would incur the most severe penalties. De Rhodes left the palace and went directly to the prison where an elderly catechist was already incarcerated. Meanwhile, the Mandarin had sent soldiers to Fr. de Rhodes' house in search of another catechist, but he had left on an apostolic mission. They found young Andrew instead. In order not to return empty-handed to Ong Nghe Bo, they beat Andrew, bound him and transferred him to the Governor's palace. On 25 July 1644 Andrew was taken to the Mandarin, who tried in various ways to make Andrew "desist from that foolish opinion of his, and give up the faith". But he replied that he was a Christian and most ready to undergo any suffering rather than abandon the law that he professed. Indignant at Andrew's inflexibility, the Mandarin ordered that he be taken to prison. The young Andrew was so serene and joyous at being able to suffer for Christ that people who came to see him recommended themselves to his prayers. He would not hear of this, but asked them to pray that God might give him the grace to be faithful to the end and to "respond with fullness of love to the infinite love of his Lord, who gave his life for men, by giving his own life". The next day, 26 July, Andrew was taken to the Governor's public audience, where he was sentenced to

death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

. In the afternoon, a captain led Andrew down the streets of Ke Cham to the place of

execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in ...

, a field outside the city. De Rhodes, many Portuguese and Vietnamese Christians, and even pagans followed the procession and witnessed the killing. Andrew exhorted the Christians to remain firm in their faith, not to be saddened by his death, and to help him with their prayers to be faithful to the end. He was executed with some blows of a lance and, finally, when he was about to be beheaded with a scimitar, he cried out the name of Jesus in a loud voice. Andrew accepted the sacrifice of his life for the faith and love of Christ.ST BASIL THE GREAT
/ref>

Beatification

Andrew was

on 5 March 2000. In Andrew’s beatification

homily A homily (from Greek ὁμιλία, ''homilía'') is a commentary that follows a reading of scripture, giving the "public explanation of a sacred doctrine" or text. The works of Origen and John Chrysostom (known as Paschal Homily) are considered ...

, Pope John Paul II preached "The words he repeated as he advanced on the path of

martyrdom A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In colloqui ...

are the expression of what motivated his whole life: ‘Let us return love for love to our God, let us return life for life.’" 26 July, the date of his martyrdom, is Andrew of Phú Yên's feast day.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andrew Of Phu Yen 1624 births 1644 deaths Executed Vietnamese people Vietnamese beatified people Converts to Roman Catholicism 17th-century Christian saints 17th-century Roman Catholic martyrs People executed by Vietnam by decapitation People from Phú Yên province