Saint of the Day: St. Antôn Nguyen Huu Quynh

Martyr (ca. 1768-1840)

His life

+ Antôn was born in My Huong, Quang Bình, Vietnam.

+ A layman and physician, he worked as a catechist alongside missionaries of the Paris Foreign Mission Society.

+ Arrested during the persecutions of the emperor Minh Mang, he spent two years in prison for the crime of aiding foreign missionaries.

+ Although he was repeatedly tortured and abused, he used his medical skills to alleviate the suffering of his fellow prisoners.

+ Saint Antôn Nguyen Huu Quynh was strangled to death on July 10, 1840, and was canonized with other Vietnamese martyrs in 1988. He is among the martyrs celebrated collectively as “Saint Andrew Đung-Lac and Companions” on November 24.

For prayer and reflection

“Although they go forth weeping,
carrying the seed to be sown,
They shall come back rejoicing,
carrying their sheaves.”—Psalm 126:6

Spiritual bonus

On this day, we also remember Saint Canute. As “King Knud IV,” he became king of Denmark around the year 1080. He supported the work of Christian missionaries in his kingdom and built churches for the growing Christian community. After a failed attempt to invade England, he was murdered by his brother and his brother’s followers as he knelt before the altar of St. Alban’s Church on the island of Fünen, Denmark. Honored as a martyr, he was declared a saint in 1101 and is honored as the patron saint of Denmark.

Prayer

Almighty and merciful God, who brought your Martyr blessed Antôn to overcome the torments of his passion, grant that we, who celebrate the day of his triumph, may remain invincible under your protection against the snares of the enemy. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

(from The Roman Missal: Common of Martyrs—For One Marytr)

Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.