Saint Dominic Nguyễn Đức Mạo was born in 1818 in Phú Yên hamlet, Ngọc Cục village, Xuân Trường prefecture, Nam Định province – now belonging to Ngọc Tiên parish, Bùi Chu diocese. He held the position of phó lý (also called hương quản), responsible for maintaining security and order in the village. He married and lived a well-ordered, virtuous life.
On September 14, 1861, the mandarin of Xuân Trường prefecture ordered him to trample on the Holy Cross. He courageously refused, so he was exiled to Bạch Cốc village, Vụ Bản district, still within Nam Định province.
For many months of imprisonment, with a cang (wooden collar) around his neck and his hands and feet in chains, enduring many brutal beatings at the public tribunal, he remained faithful to the Holy Lord’s religion. When the king issued the edict of phân sáp (branding), soldiers used red-hot iron awls to carve characters on the witness’s face: on one cheek the words “tả đạo” (false religion), on the other cheek the village name “Ngọc Cục”. Mr. Mạo patiently endured, steadfast in his true faith.
Every day, he prayed the Rosary together with his fellow prisoners of faith. Through those fervent prayers, they found the strength to overcome every hardship and trial. They also helped one another to repent and made the sacrifice of fasting three days a week to await the blessed grace of martyrdom.
On June 15, 1862, the mandarin once again demanded that Mr. Mạo trample on the Holy Cross, and he resolutely refused. The mandarin ordered soldiers to tie him tightly and leave him exposed to the sun the entire day without food or water.
The next day, the mandarin changed his attitude and used sweet words to entice him. Mr. Mạo calmly replied: “Why do you try to entice us like that? If trampling on the Holy Cross would spare us from arrest and beatings, we would have done it right in our own village. Why would we be so foolish as to endure so much suffering here? Now, mandarin, you do as you wish; we will never abandon our faith.”
The witness of faith Nguyễn Đức Mạo was executed by beheading on June 16, 1862, at the execution ground of Bạch Cốc. His body was brought back and buried in Phú Yên church.
Mr. Hương quản Dominic Nguyễn Đức Mạo was raised to the rank of Blessed on April 29, 1951, and was canonized (declared a saint) 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.