St. Augustine was a martyr of Vietnam. He was born in 1822, at Mittelbron, in Lorraine, France. Joining the Paris Foreign Missions Society, he went to Vietnam, and there he suffered martyrdom by beheading. His Feast Day is May 1.

The work of evangelization, undertaken at the beginning of the 16th century, then established in the first Apostolic Vicariates of the North (Dàng-Ngoài) and the South (Dàng-Trong) in 1659, has seen an admirable development over the centuries.

From the earliest years, the seed of Faith has been mixed in the Vietnamese land with the abundant blood of the Martyrs, both of the missionary clergy and of the local clergy and of the Christian people of Vietnam. All together they have endured the hardships of apostolic work, as in common agreement they have also faced death to bear witness to the evangelical truth.

From 1645 to 1886 there were 53 edicts against Christians, signed by Lords Trinh and Nguyen or by the Kings who, for almost three centuries, XVII, XVIII, XIX (exactly 261 years: 1625-1886), decreed persecutions against Christians, one more violent than the other. There are approximately 130,000 victims fallen a bit everywhere in the national territory. During the reign of Minh Mang (king from 1821), the persecution became merciless: even those who dared to hide Christians were condemned to death.

Emperor Tu Duc (who reigned from 1847 to 1883) also hated everything European, making no distinction between politics and religion. He decreed that anyone who helped capture a missionary should receive 300 ounces of silver. The missionary, however, should have his skull smashed and be thrown into the river.

Local priests and foreign catechists were slaughtered, while local catechists had the words “Ta dao,” meaning “False religion,” branded on their cheeks with a red-hot iron, thus marking them as objects of public contempt. Ordinary Christian believers, on the other hand, could save their lives if they trampled on the cross before the judge.

Faced with the Christians' steadfast faith, the sovereign ordered their dispersion and the confiscation of their property: husbands went to their wives and children to their parents; many were exiled to distant regions, among non-Christian populations.

Of this myriad of heroes of faith, the Church has selected those whose lives have been reconstructed and whose martyrdom has been ascertained.

Local priests and foreign catechists were slaughtered, while local catechists had the words “Ta dao,” meaning “False religion,” branded on their cheeks with a red-hot iron, thus marking them as objects of public contempt. Ordinary Christian believers, on the other hand, could save their lives if they trampled on the cross before the judge.

Faced with the Christians' steadfast faith, the sovereign ordered their dispersion and the confiscation of their property: husbands went to their wives and children to their parents; many were exiled to distant regions, among non-Christian populations.

Of this myriad of heroes of faith, the Church has selected those whose lives have been reconstructed and whose martyrdom has been ascertained.