Saint Philipphe Phan Van Minh (1815 - 1853) - Vietnamese Martyr Saint

Saint Philipphe Phan Van Minh was born in 1815 in the parish of Cai Mon, Mo Cay district, Vinh Long province. He was the 12th child in a Catholic family of 14 children.

In 1828, after receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation at age 13, young Minh asked Bishop Jean Taberd-Issan to enter the Latin school. Soon after, he met Bishop Taberd-Issan at Ba Giong parish and then went to the Lay Thieu Seminary.

When the royal troops besieged the Lay Thieu Latin school, Bishop Taberd-Issan sent the seminarians to study at the Penang School. Father Minh was fluent in Latin, French, Vietnamese romanized script, and Chinese characters. In 1838, Bishop Taberd-Issan called fathers Minh and Hoan to Calcutta, India to collaborate on compiling a Latin-Vietnamese dictionary. Unfortunately, the Bishop passed away on 7/17/1840, leaving the two fathers orphaned in a foreign land. A Jesuit priest bought them ship tickets back to Penang, bringing along some newly printed books.

After completing his studies at the Penang Seminary, Father Minh returned home to serve in pastoral ministry with Bishop Cuenot at the Gò Thị Episcopal See in Binh Dinh. By the end of 1846, at age 31, Father Minh was ordained a priest amidst persecution.

He was assigned to care for the flock and administer sacraments to the faithful from Mac Bac parish to Nam Vang. Father Minh was known for his devotion to the Virgin Mary and zeal in fostering vocations.

One day, the mandarin arrested and tortured Mr. and Mrs. Luu to interrogate about the hiding place of the priest. Seeing their two children crying bitterly, Father Minh came out of hiding and surrendered himself. The mandarin arrested the priest and some faithful and jailed them in Vinh Long.

On 7/3/1853, according to the sentence from the capital, Father Minh calmly walked to the execution ground. Before being executed, he prayed: "Lord, have mercy on me, Lord Jesus give me strength to suffer to glorify You, Mother Mary support me." His remains were buried at Cai Mon Church, and later transferred to the Cathedral of Our Lady of Saigon in 1960.

On 5/27/1900, Father Phan Van Minh was beatified and canonized a saint on 6/19/1988.