Saint Joseph Lê Đăng Thị was born in 1825 in Kẻ Văn (Văn Quy village, Quảng Trị province) into a family with a military tradition. Following in his father's footsteps, he served at the court and held the position of cai đội (army captain) in Hà Tĩnh. There, he married a local girl and had three children. After his first wife passed away, Captain Thị remarried.

In 1859, Emperor Tự Đức issued a strict edict prohibiting Christianity. Mr. Thị used illness as a pretext to request discharge from military service. Due to difficult circumstances and unable to bring his wife and children along, he returned alone to his hometown of Kẻ Văn.

In January 1860, the anti-Christian edict was rigorously enforced throughout the country. Following a denunciation, Captain Thị and some of his former comrades were arrested on January 28th and transported to Quảng Trị. Before the mandarins and soldiers, he joyfully admitted to being a cai đội and a Catholic.

Released but required to report regularly, Mr. Thị returned the very next day (January 29, 1860) and was immediately imprisoned along with 31 others in Quảng Trị. In prison, despite being brutally tortured or tempted to renounce his faith and trample on an image of Christ, the captain of the Lê family remained steadfast and loyal.

From within his cell, he sent a message to his wife and children: "Strive to live in a way pleasing to God, fulfill your duties as a mother, and await the day when our entire family can be reunited in the Kingdom of Heaven."

His unwavering faith and joyful acceptance of suffering moved one of the guards, leading this man to secretly request the Sacrament of Baptism. On many nights, the soldiers themselves would remove his shackles and allow Mr. Thị to go to the Cổ Vưu (Trí Bưu) Clan Chapel to receive the Sacrament of Confession and receive Holy Communion.

On October 24, 1860, the death sentence by strangulation was approved by Emperor Tự Đức. On the way to the execution ground at An Hòa market, the condemned prisoner joyfully bid farewell to everyone. At the execution site, after receiving the Sacrament of Confession, he prayed silently, then was tied to a stake and the sentence was carried out.

Just as he had wished, the saint's body was solemnly interred at the Phủ Cam Clan Chapel. Today, his relics are still preserved at the Church of the Congregation of the Redeemer (Chúa Cứu Thế), in the Archdiocese of Huế. On May 2, 1909, Captain Joseph Lê Đăng Thị was beatified, and on June 19, 1988, he was canonized.