Saint Theophane Vernard 9th Century Frech Missionary to Indochina. He was a member of the Paris Missions Society and was martyred was born on November 21, 1829, and he died on February 2, 1861. He was born in France and died in Vietnam. Saint Theophane Venard was a French Catholic missionary to Indochina. He was a member of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. He was a martyr. He was canonized by Pope John Paul II along with fifty-three other martyrs. He is fairly obscure. Have you ever heard of him?
Saint Theophane Vernard Biography
Saint Theophane Vernard was born one of six children born to the local schoolmaster and his wife. It is often the case that a child of an educator is quite intelligent. One of his brothers later became cure of the parish of Assai, a small village not far from Saint Loup. His sister Melanie entered a religious community at Amiens. As a young boy, he read of the martyrdom of Jean-Charles Cornay and was inspired to become a missionary.
Having learned the basics of Latin from the local parish priest, in 1841 Saint Theophane Vernard began studies in college. When he was eighteen he began seminary, and he followed this by theological studies at the major seminary in Poitiers. He was ordained a priest on June 5, 1852.
Saint Theophane Vernard went to Indochina on September 19th of that year. Their trip was delayed by a storm and he arrived at Singapore on New Year’s Day, 1853. He was sent to Hong-Kong, where he remained fifteen months studying the Chinese language. A change in plans resulted in his being sent to Vietnam. Shortly after Saint Theophane Venard’s arrival a new royal edict was issued against Christians, and bishops and priests were obliged to seek refuge in caves, dense woods, and elsewhere.
Saint Theophane Vernard headed for the mountains, where he continued to exercise his ministry, mostly at night. On November 30, 1860, he was captured and sent to jail. He was tried before a mandarin, he refused to apostatize and was sentenced to be beheaded. He remained a captive until 2 February, and during this interval lived in a cage, from which he wrote to his family beautiful and consoling letters, joyful of the crown he would receive in heaven.
Saint Theophane Vernard was beheaded February 2, 1861. On the way to his martyrdom Saint Theophane Vernard chanted psalms and hymns. To his executioner, who coveted his clothing and asked what he would give to be killed promptly, he answered: “The longer it lasts the better it will be”. His head, after exposure at the top of a pole, was secured by the Christians and is now venerated in Tonkin. The body rests in the crypt at the motherhouse of the Paris Foreign Mission Society in Paris, France.
Saint Theophane Vernard Veneration
The cause of Saint Theophane Vernard’s beatification was introduced at Rome in 1879, and he was declared Blessed, 2 May 1909. He was canonized on 19 June 1988, by Pope John Paul II. In Roman Martyrology: “In Hanoi, Tonkin, now Vietnam, he priest of the Paris Society for Foreign Missions and martyr, who, after six years of being locked in a cage and condemned to death under Emperor Tự Đức, went peacefully to his martyrdom.”
Conclusion
Saint Theophane Vernard live in a cage before he suffered martyerdom by beheading. He was consoled in this time because he knew his reward would be great in heaven. This is an important lesson to us, as we should properly view this life as transitory on the way to our permanent home in heaven. It is amazing that all maryters, including this one, are so happy.
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