Today, January 12, is the memorial of Blessed Nicholas Bunkerd Kitbamrung.
Nicholas was born in 1895 in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand. His parents were converts to Catholicism. He took ecclesial studies and became a catechist. He took further studies in Malaysia and was ordained priest in 1926.
Four years later, Nicholas became a missionary to Northern Vietnam. His mission was to bring back Catholics who had fallen from the faith and to re-evangelize the area. All these happened when the Thai government had an anti-Christian stance.
On the morning of January 12, 1941, Father Nicholas rang the church bell to summon parishioners to Sunday Mass. Because of this act, the priest was arrested and sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment.
While in prison, Nicholas continued his mission: catechizing his fellow prisoners, preaching the Gospel, and baptizing 68 of them. He spent a lot of time praying inside the prison cell. Although he did not have his breviary, he did recite frequently the Holy Rosary.
He contracted tuberculosis while in prison. However, he was refused treatment because he was Catholic. He was left to die in a hospital in Bangkok in 1944. He was 48 when he died.
Pope St. John Paul II beatified Father Nicholas in 2000 in Rome.