(1780 - July 12, 1842)
(Translated by TNT)
The life of Saint Peter Khanh brings to mind the picture of a copious harvest. A person who toiled and sweated sowing the seed would be rejoicing carrying the golden sheaves when the harvest comes. For during the darkest days of the persecution, when the seminaries were formally dissolved, Father Khanh was able to train 40 seminarians of whom 8 were ordained priests.
Peter Khanh was born around 1780 in the Village of Nguyen-Kiet, Hoa Due, Nghe An Province. At a very young age, he was allowed by his parents to live in the Rectory of the parish in order to be trained as a catechist. With his commitment to the church and realizing the need of the people of God, Peter Khanh requested and was granted permission to continue his education and training to become a priest. At the age 25, he started to wrestle with the conjugations of the first basic Latin nouns. For 14 years, he determined to educate himself, learned from other priest, and finally accomplished his goal when he was ordained a priest in 1819 at the age of 39.
Father Khanh can be compared to a mountain climber, who, reaching the mountain top and seeing the immensity of the space above him, would invited others to the top to share the beautiful view. After assuming his pastoral responsibility, Father Khanh saw more clearly that the growing church in Viet Nam still in need of many hands to preach the Good News of Salvation and take care of the people. He saw many missionaries and priests martyred during the persecution; and the mission needed help to continue and develop. Thus, even though he was really busy wiht his pastoral duty, he invested all his efforts in recruiting and training the future priests.
Assigned by the diocese, he served in many parishes: Trai Le, Quynh Luu, Tho Ninh, Long Truong, and Ngan Sau. Yet, no matter where he was, he always turned his residence into a minor seminary. He took care of the young boys, taught them the basic of the faith, guided and raised in them the apostolic zeal. With the paternal love and the carefulness and keenness of an artist, he concentrated on training the future leaders of the church.
Beside the lessons and lectures, his own life was a living example for them. When he celebrated the Eucharist, everyone experienced authentic encounter with God; with his homily, everyone became more zealous. He was never reluctant to do anything and would be happy to fulfill anything assigned to him for the good of the souls. His commitment showed cleary when one saw how quick he was when notified that someone, especially the sick, needed him in the middle of the night.
During that difficult time in the history of the church in Viet Nam when the training and education of both clergy and laity had to be done in secret and on an individual basic, the number of 40 seminarians and 8 priests, that he was able to train in his 22 years as a priest, was not small. It was really a heavy golden sheaf that he contributed to the Church in Viet Nam.
After King Minh Mang died in 1841, the Church in Viet Nam seemed to have more freedom. Father Khanh felt more secure and became more eager with his apostolic mission. Unfortunatedly, at the end of January 1842, while escorting Father Masson, assistant to the bishop, on a mission to Ha Tinh, he was searched and arrested.
With just a few days in prison, he became liked by everyone, even the soldier, for his joyuos and peaceful manner. He was further known for his knowledge and capability in medicine, especially after that one famous practice. The warden of the prison in Ha Tinh had a mistress how was pregnant and sick and had seen many doctors without any good prognosis. Hearing about his reputation, the warden came asking for help and took the father to see the patient.
After making the diagnosis, the priest wrote a traditional prescription including five different types of herbs. The next morning, the warden sent a servant to pay respect and to inform the priest that his mistress had become better. He asked about the patient and gave another prescription for another day. From then on he was known and praised throughout the province of Ha Tinh as a good doctor. However, it was not his reputation but the fact that many people, including the parents of the provincial judge, came to learn the Good News from him and were converted, that made him really happy. Even the mistress of the warden, after giving birth to a boy, asked him to baptize both her and her son.
Due to love and respect to the witness of faith, the officials tried to save him from the death sentence. They requested him to hide his identity of a priest and claim himself to be a doctor so that they could find a way to ask for his amnesty. But Father Khanh did not accept the proposal to lie. Thus, his sentence was sent to Hue to get King Thieu Tri’s approval. On July 11, 1842, the sentence was returned to Ha Tinh accusing him to be crazy and unreasonable and to act blindly, deserving to be beheaded.
The next morning, the sentence was carried out, ending 5 months in prison and 62 years in this world of the witness of the faith. His remains was taken to Ke Gon where Father Masson solemnly celebrated the burial mass with the participation of many believers.