To Die

After her husband was executed, Bùi Thị Xuân and her daughter was sentenced to death by elephant trampling. Both she and her husband were skilled generals, faithful to the Tây Sơn dynasty, and the rebels waited for this moment to exact their revenge. Before the herd of elephants stampeded her only daughter's 16-year-old body, she turned and cried out to her mother.

"I cannot help you in this moment. Die worthy of a general's daughter," Bùi Thị Xuân fearlessly counseled her daughter as she watched her daughter die before her eyes.

After Bùi Thị Xuân suffered the same death, the soldiers fought among themselves to eat a piece of her liver. They believed she was "gan lì" which meant unwavering intrepidity and eating her liver, or "gan" would make them just as dauntless.

Fr. Châu opened his homily for the Mass of the 117 Vietnamese Martyrs with this heroine story from our history books. He said anyone can die for a dream, an ideal, a vision. Yet, dying is not enough to become a saint. To be a saint is to live first.

All 117 Vietnamese Martyrs lived life fully and that is why they were able to face death calmly.

"You know, there is more to the story," Sơ Trang glanced at me as I was sipping my coffee.
"Oh? You know I was raised here in the States... so this is really my first time knowing of Bùi Thị Xuân... truly amazing woman!" I replied.

"When it was her turn, she walked straight towards the elephants and it threw her into the air, like all their other victims. Instead of stabbing her with their tusks as she descended, they caught her in-between them and she landed safely on their heads. This happened twice and the rebels were astounded and incensed. You know elephants are very strong creatures and their only vulnerable spot is their head. The executioners quickly whipped the elephants' heads and the elephants, in pain, finally pierced her through and trampled her. They were forced to hurt a person whom they saw as their equal."

Some say death is frightening.
Living life may be equally frightening.
So that those who have truly lived life are not afraid to die.

Photo credit http://www.baocamau.com.vn/newsdetails.aspx?newsid=10034

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