“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” (Ps 117)
Saint Vincent Nguyễn Mạnh Tương was born in 1814 at họ Phú Yên, Ngọc Cục village, Nam Định province (now part of Ngọc Tiên parish, Bùi Chu Diocese). His parents were Đaminh Tiên (chánh trương – village head) and Maria Gương.
He married and lived an exemplary, virtuous Catholic life. When arrested, ông Tương was serving as chánh tổng (district chief) and was loved and respected by the villagers.
Only one month after the issuance of Emperor Tự Đức’s phân sáp (consolidation) decree, on September 14, 1861, the quan phủ (provincial mandarin) of Xuân Trường applied the regulations of the chiếu chỉ (royal edict), demanding that the heroes of the faith – Nguyễn Mạnh Tương, Nguyễn Mạnh Tường, Nguyễn Đức Mạo, Nguyễn Huy Nguyên, and Nguyễn Đức Nhì – trample on holy images and declare their renunciation of the faith.
However, all the prisoners steadfastly accepted beatings, tortures, hunger, shackles, chains, etc., to profess their faith in Christ. The angry quan phủ (provincial mandarin) exiled the five prisoners of faith to Bạch Cốc village, Vũ Bản district, Nam Định province.
Finally, on June 15, 1862, the mandarin ordered ông Tương to trample on the Holy Cross, but the former chánh tổng (district chief) remained single-hearted and faithful to the Lord. He received the death sentence by beheading on June 16, 1862, at the Bạch Cốc execution ground, during the reign of Emperor Tự Đức.
Ông Chánh tổng (Mr. District Chief) Vincent Nguyễn Mạnh Tương was beatified on April 29, 1951, 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.