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This Friday’s missionary hero is Théophane Vénard, a 19th century French missionary martyr.
Théophane was born on November 21, 1929 in Saint-Loup-sur-Thouet in the Diocese of Poitiers, France.
He attended the College of Doué-la-fontaine, Montmorillon, Pointers and was later a seminarian at the Paris Seminary for Foreign Missions. He was ordained a priest on June 5, 1852 as a priest of the Paris Foreign Mission Society (M.E.P.).
On September 19, 1852, he departed for Asia and spent 15 months in Hong Kong. Then, he went to his mission in West Tonkin, now part of northern Vietnam. At that time, Vietnam had made proselytizing illegal.
To complicate matters, soon after Fr. Théophane arrived, the government issued a ban on Christians. So, Catholic bishops and priests had to go into hiding in the forest, caves, and wherever they could find shelter. Fr. Vénard did his ministry at night and, later, in broad daylight. Unfortunately, someone turned him into the authorities, and on November 30, 1860, he was captured. He remained in a cage until February 2, 1861, during which time he wrote beautiful letters to his family. He told them he was joyful and awaiting a martyr’s crown.
When the day came for him to be beheaded, he chanted psalms and sang hymns on his way to the place of execution. After he was beheaded, the executioners put his head on top of a pole. The Catholic Christians in the area later got the head and now it is in Tonkin. Fr. Théophane Vénard’s body is in the motherhouse of the Paris Foreign Mission Society in Paris, France.
Pope St. John Paul II canonized Théophane Vénard on June 19, 1988 along with 33 other martyrs, most of them Asians. Saint Théophane Vénard’s feast day is November 24.
I have a personal relationship with this particular saint, for he was the patron of the high school seminary I attended, Maryknoll Junior Seminary in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania. The nickname of the seminary was “The Venard.” At the time I was there (1957-1961), Théophane Vénard was a Venerable.
