St. Augustus Schoffler

Augustus was born at Mittelbronn, Lorraine in 1822. He joined the Society of Foreign Missionaries in Paris, was sent to Tongking (now Vietnam), Indochina, in 1848, and soon learned enough of the language to hear confessions and give simple instructions. In 1851, owing to political disturbances, a persecution of Christians broke out. Father Schoffler was arrested on March 1 and, although he was not tortured he must have suffered terribly from the great wooden frame (cang) around his neck and the fetters which confined his limbs, not to speak of the vermin and of the company in the common prison into which he was thrown. His execution (beheading) was attended with much parade, but the martyr's courage and bearing impressed even his enemies. He was beatified in 1900 and canonized in 1988 with the Martyrs of Indo-China.