Saint Thomas Thien Tran

I was born in 1820 in Trun Quang, in Vietnam. When I was still very young, I discovered that I wanted to become a priest. I entered the seminary of the Paris Foreign Missionary Society in Vietnam. I was just a teenager. But as soon as I arrived there, I was arrested and imprisoned with other Christians. We were taken to court, where I was asked to denounce my faith. I felt horrible and knew I was in a great danger. But I refused doing what they asked me, for I did not want to deny Jesus. As a result, I was beaten forty times with a bamboo. The other Christians thought about giving up, and tried to convince me to give in too. When I refused, I was aggressed by my fellow Christians. I was condemned to death and executed at the age of 18.