Saint Valentino Berrio Ochoa (1827 - 1861) - Vietnamese Martyr Saint

On February 14, 1827, Saint Valentino Berrio Ochoa was born into a poor but moral family in the village of Elorrico, in the diocese of Vich, Spain. At 18, Valentino entered the seminary in Logrono. Later, he asked permission from his superiors to return home to care for his aging parents.

In 1851, Valentino was ordained to the priesthood after receiving the minor orders. After two years of dedicated spiritual direction at the seminary, Father Valentino still harbored a desire for missionary work. Thus, he decided to join the Dominican Order. When leaving his homeland, someone asked: "Where are you going and when will you return?" He replied: "I'm leaving so that our homeland will have one more saint."

In 1854, Father Valentino made his final vows in the Dominican Order. In June 1857, he arrived in Manila, Philippines. On March 30, 1858, he set foot in Vietnam, where a severe religious persecution was taking place. In a letter to his family, Father Valentino - Vinh shared about the missionary field: "There's not a day without struggling to maintain joy, not a day without tears, not a day without seeking ways to help, and there's no shortage of watchful eyes or pursuing soldiers."

Facing the risk of arrest and martyrdom, Bishop José María Díaz Sanjurjo - Xuyên, who was in charge of the Central Diocese, used his special privilege to choose Father Vinh as Auxiliary Bishop. The consecration ceremony was held secretly at dawn on June 26, 1858, at Mr. Chi's house in Ninh Cuong. The bishop's miter was made of cardboard covered with silver paper, and the crosier was a bamboo stick wrapped in straw and also covered with silver paper. Because of this, he was nicknamed the bishop with a bamboo staff and paper miter.

He also referred to himself as a premature bishop, as he had been in Vietnam for only about 3 months and was only 31 years old, but had to care for over 150,000 faithful amid the storm of persecution.

Not long after, Bishop Xuyên was captured in Kiên Lao and executed by dismemberment on July 28, 1858. Bishop Vinh had to hide and seek refuge in many places before finding long-term shelter in a cellar in Brother Thang's garden in Huong La village, Tu Ne parish (Bac Ninh). This became the "episcopal see" of the bishop living in a confined cellar.

Supporting the Bishop in communication and letter copying were 4 seminarians and Mr. Thu from Cao Xa. Admirably, even in these extremely difficult circumstances, Bishop Vinh still prepared for the future, teaching theology to the seminarians, and writing letters to the Holy See requesting theological books by St. Thomas for study.

Bishop Vinh appeared only once in Ke Men (now the parishes of Trung Dong and Dai Dong). Together with Father Gregorio Eusebio Riaño - Hoa, they chose the Immaculate Virgin as the patron saint of the diocese and vowed to build a church in her honor. Later, when Father Riaño - Hoa was appointed Bishop, he fulfilled this vow by building the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Phu Nhai.

In all difficult circumstances, the Bishop always showed an optimistic, trusting attitude, as in the letter sent to his mother in August 1860: "Here people live very strongly and quickly. God comforts us amid hardships. Although I'm an 'old boy,' I still jump over mud puddles as fast as a squirrel. Mother, I used to be the one who jumped around on the hills, so now this bearded face will also make the devils in hell tremble with fear..."

In August 1861, King Tu Duc's anti-Catholic edict swept over the country like a flood. Bishop Vinh described the situation: "In the next few months, my diocese may no longer have missionaries, priests, seminarians, catechists, and perhaps no more faithful."

In this context, Bishop Vinh and Father Almató - Binh had to travel downstream to Hai Duong. They were introduced by the faithful to stay at the house of a non-Christian deputy. However, his nephew reported them, leading to their arrest on October 25. In Hai Duong, they met Bishop Liem, who was already imprisoned in another cage (having been arrested 5 days earlier).

On November 1, 1861, the three missionaries were taken to the execution ground. Bishop Vinh's cage was in the middle; he prayed calmly, his face serene, amazing everyone. At Nam Mau, after a few final moments of prayer, the executioner ordered all three to be beheaded. Their bodies were buried on the spot, later exhumed and moved to Tho Ninh and then Ke Mot. During Bishop Hien's time, Bishop Vinh's remains were taken to Macao and finally brought back to be buried in his homeland.

On May 20, 1906, Bishop Valentino Berrio Ochoa - Vinh was beatified, and finally canonized on June 19, 1988.