St. Andrew Dũng-Lạc and Companions
A Vietnamese diocesan priest remembered with 116 companions whose witness helped sustain the Catholic Church in Vietnam.
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Feast: November 24
Patronage and associations: Vietnamese Catholics, Catechists, Persecuted Christians
Historical period: Vietnamese persecutions (c. 1795–1839; companions martyred 1820–1862)
The Memorial of St. Andrew Dũng-Lạc and Companions is celebrated on November 24 in the General Roman Calendar.
Quick facts
- Born
- Northern Vietnam, around 1795
- Vocation
- Diocesan priest and missionary
- Died
- Vietnam, 1839
- Canonized
- With 116 companions in 1988
Who Was St. Andrew Dũng-Lạc and Companions?
Andrew was born Dũng An-Trần in northern Vietnam to a poor family. As a boy he met a Christian catechist who taught him about Jesus. Andrew was baptized, studied for the priesthood, and was ordained in 1823. He served as a priest during a period when public practice of Christianity could bring arrest and death.
Andrew was arrested more than once. Fellow Catholics helped ransom him after an earlier arrest, and he changed his family name to Lạc while moving to another region. He was eventually captured again and executed in 1839. His story is remembered alongside 116 other Catholics—96 Vietnamese and 21 Spanish or French missionaries—who were canonized together by Pope John Paul II in 1988.
The feast honors a diverse group: bishops, priests, catechists, laypeople, a mother, and a child. Andrew gives the group its familiar name, but the Church remembers all 117. Their witness is not a call to seek danger; it honors people who remained faithful when authorities demanded that they renounce Christ.
What St. Andrew Dũng-Lạc and Companions Teaches Us Today
1. Faith is passed on person to person
A catechist’s care changed Andrew’s life. Ordinary teaching and welcome can shape a Church across generations.
2. Laypeople belong in the story
The Vietnamese martyrs included many lay witnesses. Holiness is not limited to clergy or religious.
3. Remember the whole community
Andrew’s name points to 116 companions whose different lives formed one witness of faith.
A Prayer Asking for St. Andrew Dũng-Lạc and His Companions’ Intercession
God of every nation, you strengthened St. Andrew Dũng-Lạc and his companions to remain faithful to Christ. Through their intercession, support Christians who face persecution, protect catechists and families, and give me courage to live the Gospel with humility and charity. May their witness lead me not to seek conflict, but to love Christ and neighbor faithfully in the circumstances before me. St. Andrew Dũng-Lạc and companions, pray for us. Amen.
Original prayer written by Catholic Explained.