Saint Agnes Lê Thị Thành, commonly known as Mrs. Đê, was an exemplary laywoman of the Diocese of Thanh Hóa. Born in 1781 in Bái Điền village (Yên Định district, Thanh Hóa province), she came from a well-off, devout family. Since her parents had no son to continue the ancestral line, her father took a second wife. Consequently, her mother took young Thành (age 12) and her sister Thuộc (age 10) to leave their hometown and establish a new life in Đông hamlet, Phúc Nhạc commune, Ninh Bình province.
At the age of 17, Mrs. Thành married Mr. Nguyễn Văn Nhất. The couple had two sons and four daughters. Following local custom, parents were addressed by the name of their eldest son; thus, she became known as Mrs. Đê. Her family was renowned for its piety, placing special emphasis on educating their children in the faith. They deeply respected and always welcomed priests and missionaries into their home during times of persecution.
Tragedy struck on the morning of Easter Sunday, April 14, 1841. Đễ, a helper to the parish priest, betrayed the hiding place of the Western missionaries to Governor Trịnh Quang Khanh in exchange for a monetary reward. Father Jean Paul Galy Carles (Lý) was hiding in a dry ditch near a bamboo grove in Mrs. Đê’s garden when soldiers discovered and arrested him. Mrs. Đê was also arrested for harboring a priest. Along with Mr. Cơ (the parish headman) and eight others, she was placed in a heavy cangue and marched to the prison in Nam Định. The weight of the cangue caused her to collapse repeatedly along the way.
At the tribunal, Governor Trịnh Quang Khanh attempted to sway her with sweet promises. When that failed, he subjected her to brutal torture, including beatings that shattered her body and placing poisonous snakes into her trouser legs. Despite this, Mrs. Đê remained steadfast in her faith.
When her daughter, Nguyễn Thị Nụ, visited and wept upon seeing her mother’s blood-stained clothes, Mrs. Đê tenderly comforted her: “Do not cry, my child. I am wearing a rose-colored robe. I am happy to suffer for Jesus Christ, so why do you cry?” On another visit, she instructed her children to return home, take care of household affairs, practice their faith fervently, pray morning and evening, attend Mass, and pray for her to carry her Cross to the end. She promised that they would soon be reunited in Heaven.
Weakened by torture, harsh imprisonment conditions, and dysentery, Mrs. Đê passed away in the Lord on the night of July 12, 1841, in prison, during the reign of King Thiệu Trị. Guards burned her toes to confirm her death. Her body was buried at the Năm Mẫu execution ground. Six months later, the faithful exhumed her remains and reinterred them at the Phúc Nhạc church.
Saint Agnes Lê Thị Thành was beatified on May 2, 1909, and canonized on June 19, 1988.
The content about the saint in this post is summarized and paraphrased from the book “Hạnh Các Thánh Tử Đạo Việt Nam” - Lives of the Vietnamese Martyrs (Vietnamese Bishops’ Conference, edited by Bishop Peter Nguyễn Văn Khảm, Tôn Giáo Publishing House, 2018). This post is not a verbatim copy but a re‑presentation based on the original source.