breski1 on Nov 23, 2008 (1795 – 21 December 1839) is a saint and martyr of the Catholic Church, executed by beheading. He was born in 1795, and was ordained a priest on 15 March 1823.[1] His memorial is 24 November; this memorial celebrates all of … [More]

breski1 on Nov 23, 2008 (1795 – 21 December 1839) is a saint and martyr of the Catholic Church, executed by beheading. He was born in 1795, and was ordained a priest on 15 March 1823.[1] His memorial is 24 November; this memorial celebrates all of the Vietnamese Martyrs of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries (1625–1886). Father Ignatius was wanted by the Vietnamese government. Fr. Ignatius was however away on business, and Andrew offered himself in his place. Christianity was brought to Vietnam in 1533 when the first Portuguese missionary arrived, but it didn’t take root very well until the French Jesuits established a permanent mission in Vietnam in 1615. French Jesuit Father Alexandre de Rhodes arrived in 1623. Fr. Rhodes devised the quoc ngu system of writing in roman letters, rather than Chinese characters for the Vietnamese language. At that time, the country was divided into the Trinh lords (Tonkin) in the north, and the Nguyen in the south. Nguyen is of Chinese origin, from ruan, a plucked string instrument. Nguyen is the name of a major Vietnamese royal dynasty. In the 11th and 13th centuries, the Ly family changed their name to Nguyen to avoid persecution. The Nguyen Dynasty sometimes awarded people the name Nguyen for great deeds. Criminals sometimes discretely changed their name to Nguyen to avoid persecution. Nguyen is the most common name in Vietnam and the 7th most common name in Australia.