Fire at Sunrise by the Thạch Hãn River

Francis Jaccard, a French priest of the Paris Foreign Missions Society, and Thomas Trần Văn Thiện, a Vietnamese seminarian and catechist whose name sometimes appears as Thomas Tran Dien, stand together as a luminous sign of fidelity to Christ. Their witness culminated at Quảng Trị on September 21, 1838, when they were executed for the faith. The Church holds up their lives as a living commentary on The Catechism’s teaching that “martyrdom is the supreme witness given to the truth of the faith.” (CCC 2473). They are honored within the great company of the Vietnamese Martyrs whom the Church celebrates for their steadfastness, their pastoral charity, and their joy under trial.

From Haute Savoie and Trung Quán to a Shared Crown

Francis was born on September 6, 1799, in Onnion, Haute Savoie, in the Alpine world of post revolutionary France. He entered the Missions Étrangères de Paris as a young man with a desire to preach Christ where He was little known. Ordained in 1823, he journeyed by stages through Asia and reached Vietnam, where he learned Vietnamese, taught candidates for the priesthood near Huế, and formed the faithful in hidden communities. He is remembered for a quiet zeal, an attentive love for souls, and a missionary’s patience that persevered when laws grew hostile.
Thomas was born in 1820 at Trung Quán in today’s Quảng Bình province. He grew up in a Christian family and showed early piety, intelligence, and cheerfulness. Drawn to the priesthood, he entered the An Ninh seminary and served as a catechist during a time of intense pressure on the Church. When offered status and comfort if he would renounce Christ, he answered with supernatural clarity: “I desire only the dignities of heaven and not those of earth.” Their paths met in suffering and friendship when Thomas was confined with Father Jaccard. In that unlikely classroom, a priest and a seminarian taught one another to love the Cross.

Hidden Seed and Daily Wonders of Grace

The surviving accounts do not emphasize spectacular wonders. The marvels are those of daily fidelity and pastoral love that quietly transform hearts. Father Jaccard catechized prisoners, reconciled quarrels, and used every hour to prepare souls for Confession and Holy Communion. By his gentleness even a hardened criminal found the courage to repent. He wrote of the officials who guarded him and examined his conscience about attempting an escape that might endanger them, concluding with a delicate charity: “I would have a scruple to cause so much harm to people who do me no wrong.”
Thomas’s holiness is the sanctity of a young disciple whose eyes never left Christ. He studied when he could, prayed when he could not study, and turned chains into a school of trust. He listened to the priest who fathered him in the faith, examined his own heart, and prepared for the priesthood that, in God’s providence, he would complete through the white robe of martyrdom. Their ministry confirms the Lord’s promise in The Gospel of Matthew 13 that the smallest seeds, faithfully sown, become fruitful in ways not immediately seen.

Trials, Sentence, and the Crown of Witness

Imperial edicts hostile to Christianity searched out priests and catechists, cut down seminaries, and demanded acts of apostasy. Francis and Thomas faced interrogations, threats, and the cruel spectacle of incentives that appealed to ambition and fear. They answered with serene firmness. Their judges condemned them to death by strangulation, a method chosen to make their final hours quiet and concealed. At sunrise on September 21, 1838, along the Thạch Hãn River at the Nhan Bieu execution ground, they commended their spirits to the Lord. The Church hears in their witness the echo of the Beatitude, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (The Gospel of Matthew 5:10). The Catechism deepens that echo: “Martyrdom is a testimony of charity as well as of faith.” (CCC 2474).

Memory, Relics, and the Communion of the Church

Christians preserved their bodies with reverence, and their memory took root in the local Church. The faithful venerated their relics both in Vietnam and in places connected with the missions, and they gathered at sites linked to their final witness to ask for courage, healing, and perseverance. When the Church raised them to the altars, their story strengthened the hope of Vietnamese Catholics and inspired missionaries and seminarians far beyond their homeland. Pilgrims who invoke their intercession often speak of moral conversions, reconciliations within families, and a renewed desire to confess the faith openly. The Church invites us to read these graces through the lens of The Catechism: “The blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians.” (CCC 2474). In this communion, the fruits that follow martyrdom are not isolated prodigies but the steady flowering of holiness in the People of God.

A Rule of Life Carved in Charity

The witness of Francis and Thomas is strikingly practical. Charity governed strategy, as seen in Father Jaccard’s reluctance to escape at the cost of others. Hope ordered choices, as seen in Thomas’s youthful preference for the dignities of heaven. Their example offers a rule of life that any Christian can adopt. Seek the good of those who oppose you. Refuse half-truths even when they promise relief. Receive every day as a chance to sow the Word. Ask the Lord to make your prayer and your sacraments fuel for courage. The Catechism challenges every disciple: “The disciple of Christ must not only keep the faith and live on it, but also profess it, confidently bear witness to it, and spread it.” (CCC 1816). If we take their hands, they will lead us along that path with a courage that is gentle and a love that does not fail.

Engage with Us!

We would love to hear how the Lord spoke to you through these martyrs’ lives. Share your thoughts and prayer intentions in the comments.

1. Where is God inviting you to choose the “dignities of heaven” over worldly approval this week?
2. What concrete act of truthfulness or courage can you take today at work, at school, or online?
3. How might you support the missions and the persecuted Church in Vietnam and around the world?
4. Which line or moment from their story most moved you to prayer? Why?

May Saints Francis Jaccard and Thomas Trần Văn Thiện obtain for us courageous hearts, steadfast hope, and a love that does everything with the mercy Jesus taught us.

Saint Francis Jaccard and Thomas Tran Dien, pray for us! 

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