Some stories testify to Easter Passion more than most. Case in point: Venerable Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan (1928-2002).

Born in Vietnam into a very devout family, Van Thuan was the eldest of eight children. His mother Elizabeth would recite Bible stories to her son every evening, along with the accounts of Vietnamese martyrs for the faith, some of whom were his blood relatives — a lineage for which he would later prove himself worthy.

He entered the seminary as a young teenager and was ordained in 1953. He spent the next decade serving in various capacities, primarily as a teacher and rector of the seminary where he himself had been trained and earning a degree in canon law in Rome. By 1967, he was elevated to the role of bishop.

Under Van Thuan’s leadership, vocations flourished:  the number of those in major seminary more than tripled over an eight-year period. He co-founded a Catholic radio station, developed programs for forming laity, and met with a cardinal from Poland — the future Pope St. John Paul II — to gather wisdom on how to best serve his flock under communist rule.

In 1975, Pope Paul VI named Van Thuan coadjutor archbishop of Saigon, and, at the same time, titular archbishop of Vadesi. The communist regime saw the elevation of such a beloved man as a threat and shortly thereafter, they detained him and placed him under house arrest. Then, as was characteristic of the communist treatment of clerics at that time, he was taken to North Vietnam where he was imprisoned for more than 13 years, nine of which were spent in solitary confinement in a “re-education camp,” without ever having been tried or sentenced.

Van Thuan has written numerous works documenting these dark and difficult years, and the effect it had on his priesthood. Even in solitary confinement, his fatherly zeal could not be contained. In fact, it seemed to make him even more effective. As vocations flourished under his leadership as bishop, conversions flourished under his pastoral leadership in prison.

Prison guards were commonly converted through their interactions with this holy man. So much so that, at one point, officials decided they would change the men guarding him every two weeks to prevent their being “contaminated” by this “dangerous criminal.” After some time, they reversed their decision, saying they would not change out his guards to prevent his contaminating — i.e., converting — every prison guard he encountered.

Of this time, Van Thuan wrote: “I understood that … in this prison was my most beautiful cathedral, and that these prisoners (and those who imprisoned me), without exception, were the people of God entrusted to my pastoral care” (“Testimony of Hope,” Boston: Pauline Books, 2000, p. 79). How we need witnesses to evangelization like this!

What is your prison? Illness, poverty, isolation, fatigue, abandonment? Jesus is not hindered by these; he will find you and come to you no matter the shape or kind of prison you might find yourself in and turn that prison into a cathedral where you may worship him freely and draw those around you to him.

Father Almighty, as we approach the sacred Triduum, we beg you for hearts and lives that testify, not only on Easter morning, but through the passions we suffer in life, to a God who transforms our prisons into magnificent houses of prayer, worship and effective evangelization. Amen.

Stanchina is the author of more than a dozen books. Visit her website at Lizk.org or follow her on Instagram at LizKToday.