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St. Vincent Liem Dela Paz
St. Vincent Liem Dela Paz
Vietnamese Version
Vicente Liem de la Paz (Vietnamese: Vinh Sơn Lê Quang Liêm) (1732 – November 7, 1773) was a
Tonkinese
(present day northern Vietnam) Dominican friar venerated as a saint and martyr by the Roman Catholic
Church.St. Vincent Liêm was born 1732 at Thôn Đông, Trà Lũ village, Phú Nhai district, Nam Định
province. His parents were Mr. Antôn and Monica Thiều Đạo. Perhaps due to an unhealthy condition at
his birth, his mother baptized him and named him Vincent. In 1744, at the age of 12, Liêm joined the
seminary in Lục Thủy. Recognizing his gifts of intelligence and piety, Fr. Espinosa Huy, O.P. sent him
to study at St. John Lateran in Manila, the Philippines. Vincent Liêm received a Dominican habit and
entered the novitiate on Sept 09, 1753. One year later, together with three country men, he made his
religious profession and chose for himself the names Vincent Liêm de la Paz, meaning Vincent Liêm of
Peace. He continued to study theology at the University of Santo Tomás for four more years and was
ordained a priest in 1758. On Oct. 03rd of the same year, he embarked a ship and returned home to start
his ministry. The ship arrived in Vietnam on January 20th, 1759.
In 1738, King Philip V of Spain opened the Colegio de San Juan de Letran and the University of Santo
Tomas (UST) in the Philippines to Chinese and Tonkinese students, since China and Tonkin did not
have Christian educational institutions. The Dominican fathers decided to let Liem with four other
Tonkinese (Jose de Santo Tomas, Juan de Sto. Domingo, Pedro Martir and Pedro de San Jacinto) study
in the Philippines.
Vicente took the trivium and the quadrivium in Colegio de San Juan de Letran, now the equivalent of
elementary and secondary education. He finished a degree of lector of humanities at Letran. He would
pursue his collegiate education at the University of Santo Tomas while residing at Letran. In September
1753, after completing his studies at UST, he entered the Dominican order, along with his four
Tonkinese companions. A year later, they made their solemn professions. On January 28, 1755, he
received the tonsure and minor orders at the Church of Sta. Ana. In 1758, de la Paz was ordained priest
under the Dominican order. On September of that year, he passed the examinations to hear confessions.
On October 3, he started his journey back to Tonkin. He arrived on January 20, 1759.
Fr. Vincente Liêm de la Paz had ministered his people for 14 years as a seminary professor as well as a
priest. His first assignment was to teach at the seminary of Trung Linh. He then served in many parishes,
such as Quất Lâm, Lục Thủy, Trung Lễ, Trung Lao, and Lai Ổn. The book The Catholic Church in
Vietnam, vol. I, describes his services as follows: “His ministries were not limited within parishes, but
expanded to the villages of non-Catholic regardless of the obstacles and threats during the persecution
under the Lord Trịnh Sâm (1767-1782). Everywhere he ardently loved and helped everybody. He
exhorted everybody to be courageous, consoled the sorrowful and encouraged the faithful to be strong
and not to be afraid of any difficulty and danger.”
The process of beatification of de la Paz and Casteneda, as well as other Dominican martyrs, was
initiated through Vicar Apostolic Bishop Ignacio Delgado, O.P. They were beatified by Pope Pius X
with his feast day on November 6. Pope John Paul II announced the canonization of de la Paz on June
19, 1988, with his feast day on November 24.
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