Saint Joseph Phạm Trọng Tả was born in 1800 in Quần Cống village, Trà Lũ commune, Xuân Trường district, Nam Định province (now part of Quần Cống parish, Bùi Chu diocese). He was a devout Christian and a member of the Dominican Laity (Huynh đoàn Đa Minh). Because he had served as chánh tổng (village chief), he was called Cai Tả. Together with Mr. Án Khảm and Mr. Cai Thìn, he was one of three saints from the same family in Quần Cống.
The family genealogy records: “His servants were very numerous. Before Tết, he would visit every house and give very generous lucky money. That amount was usually double the value of the gifts they had given him during the year. For rice and money that household servants borrowed from him, he would reduce the debt by half; if they were too destitute, he would forgive it entirely. The debts of the villagers were handled with the same leniency. When his wife (bà cai) complained, he calmly replied: ‘Forget others’ debts, and God will forget your sins.’”
In 1858, the persecution became severe. Bishop Sampedro – Xuyên entrusted Cai Tả and Cai Thìn to go meet the tổng đốc (provincial governor) of Nam Định to ask for leniency toward the faithful. However, because riots broke out, the governor ordered an all-out hunt and arrest. The three men – Án Khảm, Cai Tả, Cai Thìn – along with several faithful from Quần Cống were captured and taken to Nam Định.
After four months of imprisonment and torture, knowing they would be executed by xử giảo (death by strangulation), they appeared joyful and prepared their souls to await the day of receiving the grace of martyrdom. For them, dying for the name of Christ was a great blessing.
On January 13, 1859, Án Khảm, Cai Tả, and Cai Thìn, together with seven other faithful, were brought to the Bảy Mẫu execution ground in Nam Định. Along the way and at the execution ground, they prayed together and loudly called upon the name of Jesus. Soldiers pushed them onto their backs, tied them to stakes, and carried out the xử giảo (death by strangulation). The faithful of Quần Cống processed the bodies back to their home village and held a solemn funeral.
The former chánh tổng Joseph Phạm Trọng Tả was declared Blessed on April 29, 1951, and was canonized as 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.