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Saint | Heroes | Presidents | The Letranites
| Few institutions like Letran can glorify of having produced so many illustrious men in the Philippines. Many of these men became great for having done so much to the country and its people. And not a few of them gave their lives to the cause of God and Country. Immeasurable were the contributions of Letranites that their names will forever be etched in history. And for as long as these names are written down and their memories recollected, Letran shines above other schools for what she has produced. Thus, we are proud of Letran and we are proud to be Knights. |
Saint
| Letran can pride itself
among schools (except UST whose students usually attended both schools) to have produced a
saint -- ST. VICENTE LIEM DE LA PAZ, O. P. |
 SAN
VICENTE LIEM DE LA PAZ, O.P.
Martyr
of the Catholic Faith
1732 – November 1773
San Vicente Liem De la Paz was born in the village of Tra-Lu, Tonkin to Antonio Daeon and
Monica dela Cruz. At the age of twelve,
Vicente was placed by his parents at the “House of God”, a mission center where
the children were taught the fundamentals of faith.
Good manners, the Chinese language, and even Latin.
He came under the tutelage of the Dominican Fr. Luis Espinosa known in his
Tonkinese name as Fr. Houy. Immediately
the good Dominican recognized the talent of the boy under his care and providentially
planned the best for his future.
Because of the available
scholarships made by the King Philip V of Spain, Fr. Espinosa through Fr. Juan Canduela,
Rector of Letran arranged the education of Vicente Liem in Letran, Manila’s famous
center of learning. While pursuing further
studies at the University of Sto. Tomas (UST), Liem doubled as instructor to the younger
students. He entered the novitiate upon his
graduation and was accepted on September 9, 1754.
In 1758, Vicente Liem was ordained to the priesthood.
Soon after on October 3, 1758, he
left for his country and arrived in Tonkin on Jan. 20, 1759. Vicente immediately applied for an apostolic
mission – to preach, convert, and to minister the sacraments from town to town. For fourteen years the future martyr labored
tirelessly in administering the sacraments to the faithful.
However, he was arrested for preaching the much outlawed religion in Tonkin on
October 3, 1773, feast of the Holy Rosary.
The King, because Vicente Liem was
a native, was supposed to free him, but there was another prisoner, the foreigner and
Dominican Fr. Jacinto Castaņeda; so Vicente himself pleaded that there should be only one
interpretation for priests whether foreign or native.
Together with two other native Christians and Fr. Castaņeda, Vicente Liem De la
Paz was sentenced to die. On November
7, 1773 they were tied to the stake and decapitated. He was beatified by Pope Pius X on May 20, 1906 and canonized on
June 19, 1988. His feast has now been set on
November 24 every year. San Vicente Liem De la Paz becomes the living symbol that embodies
the creed of DEUS-PATRIA-LETRAN.
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