Saint Augustin Schoeffler Dong (1822-1851) - Vietnamese Martyr Saint

Augustin Schoeffler Dong, born on November 22, 1822 in Mittelbronn, France, from a young age was virtuous, studious, diligent in prayer and had the intention to become a monk. The local pastor sponsored him and sent him to the Nancy diocesan seminary. In the seminary, he obeyed discipline, was obedient to superiors, harmonious with friends, and excelled in his studies. He was loved by all. Pope Leo XIII beatified him on 05/27/1900 and Pope John Paul II canonized him as a saint on 06/19/1988. His feast day is May 1.

Saint Augustin Schoeffler Dong, a zealous missionary, always longed to spread the Gospel to the Vietnamese people. After studying philosophy and the first year of theology, he felt called to the missionary life. However, his parents strongly opposed this because at that time, the missionary work in Southeast Asia was extremely difficult and dangerous. He hesitated but was still determined to obey God and joined the Paris Missionary Society.

In a letter to a friend, he expressed the hardship of the missionary mission: "Oh, to follow Jesus is so difficult, obstacles here and obstacles there. To be a missionary, one must leave everything behind, overcome so many difficulties and trials, possibly imprisonment and death..." However, he also affirmed his determination: "One must obey God rather than men."

On 10/9/1846, Augustin Schoeffler Dong joined the Paris Missionary Society. On 5/29/1847 he was ordained a priest and was sent to the Western Tonkin diocese as a missionary. When leaving France, he said: "I know I may be beheaded, but I believe a sinner like me does not deserve that grace."

Bishop Retord welcomed him and kept him at the residence to learn Vietnamese language and customs. After that, he accompanied the Bishop on pastoral visits to better understand the situation. He was appointed to oversee Doai parish. In his new post, Fr. Dong actively worked in pastoral ministry and evangelization, with increasing numbers of converts. When King Tu Duc issued the anti-Christian edict in 1848, he said: "This time among us there must be someone beheaded, I wish that person were me." Yet he safely worked for three years.

Bishop Retord wrote about him: "I don't know about Fr. Schoffler's early years, but from how he lives the virtues I firmly believe that in France he had an exemplary life just as now he is a zealous missionary in North Vietnam. He arrived in North Vietnam in 1848. From then until his arrest, he diligently focused on three things: learning Vietnamese, pastoral work, and enduring illnesses. He diligently studied Vietnamese to the point that after six months he could hear confessions and counsel the faithful... Regarding missionary work, I took him with me for a year visiting parishes and administering sacraments. A new missionary without experience, the most important thing is to become familiar with how to interact with local priests and faithful, adapt to missionary methods, and live in harmony with his senior confreres. After accompanying me in pastoral visits in Ke Bang in 1849, around October I appointed Fr. Schoeffler to oversee Doai parish. This parish had about sixteen thousand faithful scattered in four mountain parish centers."

Fr. Schoeffler was enthusiastic in evangelization. In one year, he baptized 200 non-Catholic children, 41 children from Catholic families, and 23 adults, not counting confessions and anointing of the sick.

In 1850, Fr. Schoeffler contracted jungle fever when opening a pastoral visit in Bau No parish. In 1851, Bishop Retord announced a Holy Year and Fr. Schoeffler wanted to go open the Holy Year for the faithful in Yen Tap. On this occasion, a non-Catholic named Khanh reported to the district chief that there were Catholics in Bau No village. The chief set an ambush on the paths. That day, 3/1/1851, instead of traveling at night, Fr. Phuong and two altar boys went first to sound the alarm if anything happened. Fr. Phuong and the two boys were captured in the forest that evening. Fr. Schoeffler and a teacher followed later, unaware because there was no warning sign, and happily proceeded toward Yen Tap. Hearing there were people lying in ambush to capture him, the priest and teacher slipped into the bushes but at that moment the soldiers arrived and surrounded and captured the priest and teacher. The chief ordered the soldiers to beat the priest but he replied: "There is no need to beat me, don't worry, I won't run away."

The district chief was reluctant to hand them over quickly because he wanted to extort money from the Catholics. He said he would release them if he received 100 silver coins. Although the priest said he could not promise that much money, since the chief insisted he devised a ruse: "If you absolutely want money then release that many people to help me here because only they know where the money is kept."

After the chief released Fr. Phuong, the teacher and two altar boys, he was very happy that no one else would suffer because of him. He urged the chief to quickly escort him to Son Tay province. Fr. Phuong honestly went back to the village to appeal for donations from the faithful, but by then there was news the chief wanted to recapture him so he had to flee again. This way no village was implicated.

The next day, the Nho Lam county chief escorted Fr. Schoeffler to the provincial capital, temporarily detaining him in a house near the tribunal. The next day, three senior mandarins brought the missionary before the public tribunal for interrogation. Fr. Schoeffler declared that his name was Augustine, a Frenchman, born in Nancy province, a Catholic priest, 29 years old. He came here to preach the faith and save souls, focusing solely on preaching the truth. He knew the religion was banned in this country and missionaries were executed, but for that very reason he wanted to come to this country more than others. Since arriving, he went to many provinces, stayed in many houses, but could not remember the names and would not reveal them to the mandarins.

The next day, the mandarins continued interrogating Fr. Schoeffler. The priest gave exactly the same replies as the previous day. That day, March 5, 1838, Governor Nguy Khac Tran wrote up the sentence to submit to the royal court. The sentence contained fanciful details. The petition read: "After consulting the opinions of the two ministers and the criminal judge, here is our judgment: ‘The man Aodutinh is a Westerner who dared to enter our country despite the prohibition, sneaking through various places to preach his religion, seducing and deceiving the people. He has openly confessed these deeds. The laws in the king's edict must be applied to him. Therefore, Aodutinh must be beheaded and his head thrown into the sea or river to deter the people. As for those who followed him and gave him shelter, he cared for them so much that he absolutely refused to reveal their names despite our every effort to interrogate him. The person who caught him also could not provide further information on this matter. If we kept pressing to investigate and identify them, countless people would suffer. Therefore, following the secret edict we have ceased further investigation. Regarding the village chief and those who captured the priest, we have heavily rewarded them with three hundred taels of silver according to the king's edict to encourage them. The military commander who led troops to capture him also deserves reward. We await the king's order and promise to obey it. As for the seized religious artifacts, we ask for orders to burn them. The above is our investigation and sentence in this case. With humility we report to His Majesty and bow our heads awaiting the holy edict. Tu Duc reign, year four, the fifth day of the second lunar month.'"

After being sentenced, Fr. Schoeffler was jailed with other prisoners. He was put in shackles and chains but had to endure the vile insults of thieves and criminals and the abuse of the guards. Bishop Retord sent a catechist with bribes for the guards to not mistreat him, and sent letters of consolation. Due to the strict guarding he could only read but not reply to the letters. Because of orders from above forbidding any civilians from approaching, a new convert secretly cooked meals for the priest, and a teacher pretended to be a soldier to visit him two or three times, but they could only look at each other. A priest managed to come near to hear his confession.

In prison, Fr. Schoeffler continued to preach to the inmates, including a soldier named Chi. The priest told Chi that if he wanted true happiness he should look for a place with the religion and believe in it. He always remained cheerful, even when escorted to Hue. After the priest's execution, the soldier Chi married and converted to Catholicism.

On April 11 the court's sentence arrived at the province. It read: "We have read the report on the arrest of the Western missionary in Son Tay province. We officials responsible have re-examined it and send our opinion to the senior mandarin to, with the agreement of the ministers and criminal judge, carry out our order. The laws of the state have been promulgated to educate the people in fear, strictly prohibiting the religion of Jesus, yet the man Aodutinh, a priest of this religion, dared to secretly infiltrate our country to preach his doctrine and seduce the people. When arrested, he fully confessed. Therefore, Aodutinh must be beheaded in public and his head thrown in the river to exterminate such characters. Other matters should follow our prior statutes."

Upon receiving the order, the mandarins had to immediately execute it. However, they removed the shackles, chained his feet, and brought him back home instead of carrying out the order. Previously, the mandarin had used the priest's money to prepare a feast. The mandarin recounted stories, asked questions, and respected the missionary. According to documents and reports, the Governor Nguy Khac Tuan organized a sudden inspection, not to attack any place, but to escort the martyr hero Fr. Dong to the execution ground. This was to prevent resistance from the Catholics. The troops, 100 men divided in two rows, escorted Fr. Schoeffler in the middle with 8 spear-bearing soldiers, preceded by a soldier holding his sentence plaque, and followed by two mandarins on elephants. When the martyr hero knew he had reached the execution ground he threw off his sandals to walk barefoot for ease and speed, showing a joyful and elated face. The priest held his head high, raising the chains while fervently reciting prayers. An enormous crowd followed behind to the execution ground outside the city known as Nam Mau, as if hypnotized by the priest's heroism. They said: "How heroic, he goes to his death as if going to a great celebration. Such courage, no sign of fear. Oh how beautiful, how gentle! Why does the emperor behead such people?" Among the crowd were also hecklers shouting sacrilegious words against the religion.

At the execution site, the martyr knelt to pray, kissing the cross three times. He took off his shirt, baring his neck, ready to die. The executioner tied his hands behind his back and bound them to a stake. The hero urged the executioner to behead him. The mandarin ordered that only after three gong strikes could he behead him. Three rows of soldiers stood around, holding swords, guns and spears. At the third gong strike, the executioner chopped but did not sever the neck, having to hack again to completely sever it. Only non-Catholics in Son Tay witnessed the execution, the Catholics could not be informed in time.

After the martyr’s head fell, the mob surged forward, soaking cloths in his blood instead of fleeing as usual at an execution. The people believed he was not a criminal but a hero and a saint who brought happiness. They divided his relics and chains among themselves, an officer took away his fine silk shirt to soak up the martyr’s blood but was beaten for it. The executioner took away the body to bury in the river, causing the faithful to be unable to find it because lay people had already taken it earlier to await a high ransom. The martyr’s body was later stolen by Catholics and buried in the house of a Catholic village chief Ly Ngoc in Bach Loc.