November 24
St Andrew Dung-Lac and Companions
Tuesday, week 34 in Ordinary Time — Year II
Today the Church commemorates St Andrew Dung-Lac, priest, and his companions, martyrs of Vietnam. The group represents a large number of Vietnamese Catholics—priests, religious, and lay faithful—who suffered martyrdom from the 17th to the 19th centuries, particularly during intense persecutions under several dynasties. St Andrew Dung-Lac himself was a Vietnamese diocesan priest who, along with a diverse group including both foreign missionaries and local believers, was killed for steadfastly refusing to renounce the Christian faith. Officially, the Church recognizes 117 martyrs in this group, canonized together in 1988 by St John Paul II, but tradition holds that tens of thousands more Vietnamese Christians lost their lives for their faith during these centuries.
The lives and deaths of these martyrs witnessed profoundly to the enduring spirit of faith amid hardship. Their courage in the face of torture and death inspired both their contemporaries and later generations. By including both clergy and laity, Vietnamese and foreign-born, the Church highlights the universality and communal nature of Christian witness. Today, Vietnamese Catholics around the world honor these martyrs as symbols of hope, perseverance, and unity in faith.
Their memorial encourages all Christians to remember and pray for Christians still persecuted today, and it invites us to faithfulness even in adversity. Through this celebration, the Church holds before us the truth that the blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church.
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The liturgical day
Mass readings
ReadingAp 14, 14-19
I, John,
I saw:
and there was a white cloud,
and seated on the cloud was one
like a Son of Man.
He had a gold crown on his head
and a sharp sickle in his hand.
Another angel came out of the Sanctuary.
He cried in a loud voice to the one seated on the cloud:
"Put in your sickle and reap:
the hour to reap has come,
for the harvest of the earth is ripe."
Then the one who was seated on the cloud
swung his sickle over the earth,
and the earth was harvested.
Then another angel came out of the Sanctuary in heaven;
he too had a sharp sickle.
Yet another angel came out from the altar;
he had authority over the fire.
He called out in a loud voice
to the one with the sharp sickle:
"Put in your sharp sickle,
and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth,
for the grapes are ripe."
So the angel swung his sickle over the earth,
he gathered the harvest of the earth's vine
and threw it into the great winepress of God's wrath.
– The word of the Lord.
PsalmPs 95 (96), 10, 11-12a, 12b-13ab, 13bcd
Say among the nations: "The Lord is king!"
The world, unshakable, stands firm.
He governs the peoples with fairness.
Let the heavens rejoice! Let the earth exult!
Let the roaring sea and all it contains,
the countryside and everything in it, celebrate.
The trees of the forests dance for joy
before the Lord, for he comes,
for he comes to judge the earth.
The Lord comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with justice,
and the peoples according to his truth!
GospelLc 21, 5-11
At that time,
as some people were talking about the Temple,
with its fine stones and offerings that adorned it,
Jesus said to them:
"What you are looking at—
the days will come
when not one stone will be left upon another:
everything will be destroyed."
They asked him:
"Teacher, when will this happen?
And what sign will there be that this is about to take place?"
Jesus replied:
"Be careful not to be led astray,
for many will come in my name,
saying: 'It is I,'
or again: 'The time is near.'
Do not follow them!
When you hear of wars and uprisings,
do not be frightened:
these things must happen first,
but the end will not come immediately."
Then Jesus added:
"Nation will rise against nation,
kingdom against kingdom.
There will be great earthquakes
and in various places, famines and epidemics;
terrifying events will take place,
and great signs from heaven."
– Let us acclaim the Word of God.
Liturgical texts: © AELF — aelf.org