Saint Martino Ta Duc Thinh (1760 - 1840) - Vietnamese Martyr Saint

Saint Martino Ta Duc Thinh was born in 1760 in Ke Set village, Thanh Tri district (Hanoi), and was the eighth of nine siblings. At 18 years old, his family wanted him to marry a beautiful and virtuous young lady, but he asked to postpone it. Later, he decided to enter the seminary and was ordained a priest during the reign of King Canh Thinh when Catholicism was prohibited.

Father Thinh served as secretary to Bishop Jacques Longer - Gia. Afterwards, he did pastoral work in the parishes of Ba Lang, Dong Chuoi and served Nam Sang parish for twenty years. Finally, he became the parish priest of Ke Trinh (Trinh Xuyen). Father Thinh lived to 80 years old and strictly observed the Church's laws.

One day, due to illness, a parishioner named Chien brought the elderly Father Thinh to his home to care for him. When the officials heard there were three priests in the village, they surrounded the area to arrest them. Father Thinh pretended to be deaf, lying sick in the house. The soldiers passed by, seeing only a sick elderly villager, so they did not suspect anything. However, when he learned that Fathers Nguyen Ngan and Nguyen Dinh Nghi were arrested, Father Thinh did not want to remain silent.

When the chief passed by and asked him, "Are you the leader of the religion?", Father Thinh solemnly replied, "Yes, I am." He was then arrested and taken to the Ke Bang village communal house on May 30, 1840. Here he met Fathers Ngan and Nghi, along with Messrs. Tran Ngoc Con, Tran Ngoc Tho and twenty other faithful. All were put in chains and taken to the Nam Dinh prison camp.

For 6 months in prison, during the day Father was shackled in chains and at night his feet were bound. Many times he was brought out to be forced to walk on the cross, but these heroes of the faith remained steadfast, trusting and patiently enduring the painful whippings for the name of Jesus.

Due to the iron resolve of the three priests, the mandarins sentenced them to death by beheading, which was sent to the capital and approved by King Minh Mang. The witnesses of faith - Father Ta Duc Thinh, Father Nguyen Dinh Nghi, Father Nguyen Ngan, and Messrs. Tran Ngoc Con and Tran Ngoc Tho - were executed together on November 8, 1840 at the Bay Mau execution grounds. The remains of the elderly Father Martino Ta Duc Thinh were buried by the faithful at the Vu Dien church (Ha Nam).

Father Martino Ta Duc Thinh was beatified on May 27, 1900 and canonized on June 19, 1988.