St Andrew Dung Lac

Andrew was named Tran An Dung when he was born.  He was born in Vietnam where people were killed for living out their faith in Jesus.  He came to hear about Jesus because of the work of many missionaries that brought the Gospel to Vietnam.  Tran An Dung was baptized and took the Christian name Andrew. He later became a priest.  It was very dangerous to be a priest in Vietnam so Fr. Andrew had to hide and celebrate Mass in secret.  In order to not be found, Fr. Andrew changed his name to Lac; this is why he is known as St. Andrew Dung Lac.  Eventually he was captured and he was martyred for his new faith in Jesus.  On this day, we remember 117 people from Vietnam, some missionaries and some Vietnamese people, who were martyred for their faith and became Saints.  Even though it was dangerous, these people accepted Jesus as their Lord and continued to share the Gospel with the people of Vietnam.