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Introduction

1822. Founding of the work of the Propagation of the Faith 1. On 22 November at Mittelbronn, a village in Lorraine, is born Augustine Schoeffler2.

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1851. On 1 May, at Son-Tay [Vietnam], 29 years later, Augustine is beheaded – the first victim of a new wave of persecution against the Christians3.

1988. On 19 June, in Rome, Augustine is canonized with 116 other martyrs of Vietnam. Schoeffler! This name is so terribly “strange” to francophile ears that even Augustine’s superiors altered it. In the account of his martyrdom by his bishop,

Mgr.Retord, published in Les Annales de la Propagation de la Foi, his name is written as Schæffler. It is also the same in his diocese of origin, Nancy, and as far as in an official document of the Congregation of Rites, in 1930, etc.4 The multiple Franco-German wars in the XIXth and XXth centuries do not favor in the heartland of France5 the success of German-sounding names.

The family name is already a handicap; — it is not the only one.Augustine Schoeffler was born in the diocese of Nancy. He attended the minor and major seminaries of this diocese. But, following the war of 1870, his village was transferred to the diocese of Metz. Two dioceses; it was one too many! Instead ofdoubling interest it seems rather that — except for a few required demonstrations at the moment of beatification in 1900, in 1951 and in 1988 — Nancy and Metz showed very little attention to their shared martyr.

The Foreign Missions Society of Paris number among their membership so many martyrs that it is not possible to devote ardent interest in each one. The comparison with Théophane Vénard is interesting. Augustine and Théophane share common points. Both are from the same XIXth C. period. Théophane is younger by seven years.6 Both were very young when attracted by the missions, Tonkin, and martyrdom. Their lives were brief:

29 and 32 years. Théophane lived double the years in the locale, but that amounts to only about seven years. For each, learning the language had been difficult. A comparative study of their training and of their spirituality reveals numerous similarities.Their letters were numerous; they wrote and especially waited for replies. Augustine had an uncle who was a priest; Théophane’s brother, Eusèbe, became one. It is there that the differences stand out. The Annales had published the tale of the martyrdom of Augustine in 1852; in 1862, this revue offers to its numerous readers the last letter of Théophane. While both missionaries were imprisoned for several 7 l months, it seems that Augustine was not free to write; the most moving letters of Théophane are, assuredly, the final messages he drew up before his execution. Two years after his death in 1864, his brother Eusèbe published a collection of letters8 which would enjoy great success, and thanks in great measure to a far-from-ordinary lady reader, [Saint] Thérèseof the Child Jesus9.Augustine’s uncle died before him. Not until fifty years later did Nancy and Metz each publish a short biography for the beatification. Only a few hundred copies were disseminated. As for Théophane’s family name, it was truly not a handicap!Authentic representations of Augustine are rare and enjoyed only limited distribution. [There does exist an early daguerreotype from his seminary days: see Frontispiece - Trans.] To the contrary, several photographs of Théophane were abundantly reproduced. The singular exception, a painting of the martyrdom of Augustine is presented in numerous missionary publications, including certainbiographies of Théophane!Another major difference distinguishes them. Théophane went far away with the blessing and financial backing of his father, his mother having died. Augustine entered the seminary of the Foreign Missions of Paris in spite of the resistance of his family, which would have done everything possible to thwart his missionary vocation. He would be running short of funds10 and busy managing his inheritance, his father having died at the moment of his priestly ordination. Théophane’s family was very ordinary; his brotherwould become its fervent propagandist. Augustine’s three sisters as well as one of his aunts — by their failures in morality, which nowadays would be seen as venial sins — did not contribute to the good renown of the martyr’s family. Augustine will take toheart the projects of the boarding school run by his aunt. Numerous letters to her are overloaded with this matter and project a less than “spiritual” image of him.

These material, familial, and practical concerns, on top of the numerous bereavements that Augustine experienced sometimes provide a bitter tone to his letters. In no way does this lessen their interest; they express, with modifications appropriate to the recipients, the life, preoccupations, ideas, prejudices, and projects of a young man — profoundly marked by his native land, his family, the Church, and the society of his times — in search of God and of his calling. Some matters were certainly repeated: the trip and its vicissitudes, the first echos of the mission to Tonkin, etc. And yet, a patient reading brings about the discovery that these pages are variations on the same theme, skillfully adapted to the needs of the recipient.

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