Paul Le Bao Tinh
vers 1793-1857 19th century Feast day: April 6
Joy that holds firm at the bottom of the trial, because one is not alone there.
Who was Paul Le Bao Tinh?
A Vietnamese priest trained in hiding, twice arrested, he knew prison, chains and deportation before being beheaded under Emperor Tự Đức. From captivity he wrote to the seminarians of Ke-Vinh a letter that became famous, in which the hell of prison becomes a place of God's presence. The Church still reads it each year in the office of the martyrs of Vietnam.
In their own words
In the midst of these torments, which usually crush others, I am, by the grace of God, neither sad nor dejected, but full of joy, for I am not alone: Christ is with me.
In the midst of this storm, I cast my anchor toward the throne of God: the living hope that is in my heart.
This prison is a true image of everlasting hell; but God, who once freed the three young men from the furnace, is with me; he has delivered me from these tribulations and turned them into sweetness.