Martyrs of Songkhon

The Martyrs of Songkhon[1] (Thai: มรณสักขีแห่งสองคอน) (also called Seven Blessed Martyrs of Songkhon) are seven Roman Catholic Thais executed in the village Songkhon in Pong Kham subdistrict, Wan Yai District,[2] Mukdahan Province, northeastern Thailand, in December 1940 by local police forces. The killings occurred during the Franco-Thai War and police falsely believed they were spying for the French. The victims were beatified by Pope John Paul II in Rome on October 22, 1989.[3]

Martyrs of Songkhon
Stone panels depicting the story of the Martyrs of Thailand, from the Our Lady of the Martyrs of Thailand Shrine in Mukdahan Province, Thailand.
DiedDecember 16–26, 1940
Martyred byPolice at Songkhon
Means of martyrdomgunshot
Venerated inCatholic Church
BeatifiedOctober 22, 1989, Saint Peter's Basilica, by Pope John Paul II
Major shrineOur Lady of the Martyrs of Thailand Shrine
Feast16 December

The names of the martyrs are:

  • Philip Siphong Onphitak, catechist, 33 years old
  • Agnes Phila, 31 years old, belonged to Lovers of the Holy Cross Congregation
  • Lucia Khambang, 23 years old, belonged to Lovers of the Holy Cross Congregation
  • Agatha Phutta, 59 years old
  • Cecilia Butsi, 16 years old
  • Bibiana Khampai, 15 years old
  • Maria Phon, 14 years old
The Seven Martyrs of Songkhon, Thailand

Letter of Sister Agnes Phila to the police before the execution

To the Chief Police in Songkhon

Yesterday evening you received your order to wipe out, definitely, the Name of God, the Only Lord of our lives and minds. We adore Him only, Sir. A few days earlier, you had mentioned to us that you would not wipe out the Name of God and we were rather pleased with that in such a way that we put away our religious habits which showed that we were His handmaids. But it not so today. We do profess that the religion of Christ is the only true religion. Therefore, we would like to give our answer to your question, asked yesterday evening which we did not have a chance to respond because we were unprepared for it. Now we would like to give you our answer. We are asking you to carry out your order with us. Please do not delay any longer. Please carry out your order. Please open the door of heaven to us so that we can confirm that outside the Religion of Christ no none can go to heaven. Please do it. We are well prepared. When we will be gone we will remember you. Please take pity on our souls. We will be thankful to you and will be grateful to you for it. And on the last day we will see each other face to face.

Do wait and see, please. We keep your commands, oh God, we wish to be witnesses to You, dear God. We are: Agnes, Lucia, Phuttha, Budsi, Buakhai, Suwan. We would like to bring little Phuma along with us because we love her so much. We have already made up our minds, dear Sir.

References
  1. มรณสักขีแห่งสองคอน Archived 2014-10-25 at the Wayback Machine. Historical Archives of Archdiocese of Bangkok (in Thai)
  2. วัดสองคอน ต.ป่งขาม อ.หว้านใหญ่ จ.มุกดาหาร (in Thai). Archived from the original on 2016-02-27. Retrieved 2016-02-27.
  3. Society of St. Pius X, District of Asia
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