Vietnam Catholics Bear Witness to Their First Martyr

UCANews ^ | 3/10/23

[marshmallow]

Blessed Andrew Phu Yen was beheaded in 1644 and beatified by St. Pope John Paul II on Mar. 5, 2000

People attend a special Mass to mark the 23rd anniversary of Blessed Andrew Phu Yen’s beatification on March 5 at Phuoc Kieu subparish in Quang Nam province. (Photo: UCA News)

Simon Duong Quoc Thuan and his wife look after the shrine of Blessed Andrew Phu Yen, take part in its services, recite prayers and receive visitors on a daily basis.

“We are longing for many people to visit the shrine, appeal to our Blessed Andrew Phu Yen, and bear witness to his intercessory powers so that he will be canonized in the future,” Thuan said.

The 16-year-old shrine is based in Phuoc Kieu sub-parish in Quang Nam province.

The 62-year-old Thuan, who wears round-rimmed glasses and sports shoulder-length hair, was diagnosed with a kidney stone 70 millimeters in length at a public hospital in the neighboring city of Da Nang last November. The doctors planned surgery on him.

The expert in casting gongs, trays, incense burners, candle holders, and busts of figures in bronze, prayed fervently to Blessed Andrew Phu Yen to cure him.

He said before the operation, the doctors surprisingly found out that the stone fell into the bladder and floated down the urinary tract.

"I really believe that Blessed Andrew Phu Yen interceded with God to heal me," he said.

The father of three said he will collect all medical documents relating to his case and report to the local Church as a way to testify to the intercession of the Blessed Andrew Phu Yen, the proto-martyr of Vietnam.

Thuan said his near-relative Simon Duong Van Viet, a former communist member who converted to Catholicism in 1984, is believed to have been cured of his stomach.......