The parish community of St. Helena’s, which welcomes many people of Vietnamese heritage, celebrated the feast of the 117 Vietnamese martyrs Sunday, Dec. 1, at the church in Northeast Philadelphia.

Archbishop Charles Chaput was main celebrant for the Mass that included prayers of intercession to the martyrs and other elements of traditional Vietnamese Catholic culture.

The martyrs represent hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese, including Andrew Dung-Lac, and missionaries from France and Spain, who were tortured and killed from the 17th to the 19th centuries. They were canonized in 1988 by Pope John Paul II. Read background information on the website CatholicOnline.)

Click here to view video of the Mass

(Photos by Sarah Webb)