Augustin Schoeffler

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Saint Augustin Schoeffler
250px
Saint Augustin Schoeffler.
Martyr
Born 22 November 1822
Mittelbronn, France
Died 1 May 1851 (aged 28)
Son Tay, Vietnam
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church
Beatified 7 May 1900 by Pope Leo XIII
Canonized 19 June 1988, Rome, Italy by John-Paul II
Major shrine Mittelbronn, France
Feast May 1 (May 2 locally in France)
Patronage Metz Seminary

Augustin Schoeffler (1822–1851) was a French saint and martyr in the Roman Catholic Church and a member of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. He was a priest in Lorraine who joined the Foreign Missions of Paris.[1] He worked as a missionary to Indochina and was one of two French missionaries killed in northern Vietnam between 1847 and 1851.[2] At the time, it was illegal to proselytize in Vietnam.

His feast day is May 1 (May 2 locally in France).[1]

Early life and education

Augustin Schoeffler was born on the 22 of November, 1822, in Mittlebronn, France.[3] He was baptized the next day. From 1834-1842 he studied at the minor seminary of Pont-à-Mousson and the college of Phalsbourg. From 1842-1846 Schoeffler studied Philosophy at the major seminary of Nancy. On the 5 October 1846, he began training in the Seminary of Foreign Missions of Paris. On May 29, 1847 Augustin Schoeffler was ordained a priest in Paris.[4]

Missionary Life

  • November 18, 1847: left Antwerp for Tonkin.
  • July 6, 1848: arrived in Tonkin.
  • 1848-1851: Worked as missionary while learning the Vietnamese language.
  • Spring 1850: Left for the north of the country where his bishop gave him the task of evangelizing to Son Tay.
  • March 1, 1851: Schoeffler was arrested.
  • March 5, 1851: Schoeffler was found guilty of proselytizing.
  • May 1, 1851: Schoeffler was beheaded at Son Tay.[4]

As Father Schoeffler walked to his place of execution, a placard, which read, "He preached truly the whole charge of preaching the religion of Jesus. His crime is patent. Let Mr. Augustin be beheaded, and cast into a stream."[5] was carried before him. Augustin Schoeffler's head was thrown into the Red River, and was never recovered.[3] The crowd rushed to collect relics. Some even uprooted the grass that was stained with his blood.[6] His body was buried on the site of his execution. Two days later, local Christians exhumed the body and reburied it in a Christian village nearby.[3]

Sainthood

On September 24, 1857, Augustin Schoeffler was declared Venerable by Pope Pius IX. He was beatified by Pope Leo XIII on May 7, 1900. He was made a saint by Pope John Paul II on June 19, 1988.

Relics

As of May 10, 2009 a relic of Augustin Schoeffler can be found at the Assumption Grotto Church in Detroit, Michigan.[7] Descendants of Schoeffler's family live in the area and attend the church.[8]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Société des Missions Etrangères de Paris (French)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Assumption Grotto News
  8. ↑ Te Deum laudamus!

External links



Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Augustin_Schoeffler&oldid=4671389"