July 9
Chinese martyrs--St. Augustine Zhao Rong and Companions (optional memorial)
ALSO OF NOTE: Venerable Augustus Tolton, FIRST Black American Priest, d. 1897
and in Marian devotion: BVM, Mother of Divine Hope and Queen of Peace
Augustine Zhao Rong was a Chinese soldier who
accompanied Bishop John Gabriel Taurin Dufresse of the Paris Foreign Mission
Society to his martyrdom in Beijing. Not long after his conversion and baptism,
Augustine was ordained a diocesan priest. Martyred in 1815.
Boxer Rebellion
The 1890s saw a rise in anti-foreign sentiment in China;
this gave rise to societies such as the "Society for Justice and
Harmony" (commonly known as the "Boxers"). The Yellow River had
flooded in 1898 and drought followed over the course of 1898–1900. A mixture of
natural disasters, political tensions and legal wrangles led to many
impoverished and disillusioned Chinese taking up martial arts and determining
to make changes in their country. Anti-foreign sentiment led some Boxers to
attack Christian missionaries in an attempt to drive out their foreign
influence and bring a return to Chinese values.
During 1900, the movement spread and carried out actions
against foreign peoples and their properties. This led to what became known as
the Boxer Rebellion from May 1900 to September 1901. The month of May 1900 saw
popular demonstrations against foreigners, and the following month, the Boxers
received government backing to attack foreign strongholds within the country,
until an alliance of foreign forces took control of Beijing in mid-August. The
rebellion saw the murders of approximately 250 missionaries and their children
and over 20,000 Chinese Christians.
--26%20Franciscan%20martyrs%20of%20the%20Boxer%20Rebellion.jpg)
On July 9th, the Franciscan family celebrates the memory of
Saints Gregory Grassi, OFM, Marie-Hermine, FMM, and Companions, martyred in
China in July 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion. They include fifteen European
missionary religious and at least eleven native Chinese Secular Franciscans.
a) Martyrs of Shanxi, killed on 9 July 1900 (known as the
Taiyuan massacre), who were Franciscan Friars Minor:
Gregorio Grassi, bishop [32]
Francis Fogolla, bishop [32]
Elias Facchini [fr], priest
Théodoric Balat [fr], priest
Andrew Bauer [fr], religious brother;
b) Martyrs of Southern Hunan, who were also Franciscan
Friars Minor:
Anthony Fantosati [fr], bishop (martyred on 7 July 1900)
Joseph Mary Gambaro [fr] priest (martyred on 7 July 1900)
Cesidio Giacomantonio [fr], priest (martyred on 4 July 1900)
To the martyred Franciscans of the First Order were added
seven Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, of whom three were French, two Italian,
one Belgian, and one Dutch:
Mary Hermina of Jesus (in saeculo: Irma Grivot)
Marie de la Paix Giuliani (in saeculo: Mary Ann
Giuliani)
Maria Chiara Nanetti (in saeculo: Clelia Nanetti)
Marie of Saint Natalie (in saeculo: Joan Mary
Kerguin)
Marie of Saint Just (in saeculo: Ann Moreau)
Marie-Adolphine (in saeculo: Ann Dierk)
Mary Amandina (in saeculo: Paula Jeuris)
Of the martyrs belonging to the Franciscan family, there were also eleven Secular Franciscans, all Chinese:
John Zhang Huan, seminarian,
Patrick Dong Bodi, seminarian,
John Wang Rui, seminarian,
Philip Zhang Zhihe, seminarian,
John Zhang Jingguang, seminarian,
Thomas Shen Jihe, layman and a manservant,
Simon Qin Chunfu, lay catechist and aide to Bishop Fogolla
Peter Wu Anbang, layman,
Francis Zhang Rong, layman and a farmer,
Matthew Feng De, layman and neophyte,
Peter Zhang Banniu, layman and laborer.
To these are joined a number of Chinese lay faithful:
James Yan Guodong, farmer,
James Zhao Quanxin, manservant,
Peter Wang Erman, cook,
James Zhao Zhunsen, prison visitor
Christian
missionaries have often gotten caught in the crossfire of rebellions against
countries from which they have come. When the governments of Britain, Germany,
Russia and France had all gained substantial territorial concessions from the
Chinese in 1898, anti-foreign sentiment grew very strong in some Chinese
circles.
Gregory Grassi [head of this grouping] was born in Italy in
1833, ordained in 1856 and sent to China five years later. Gregory was later ordained
Bishop of North Shansi. All [the Franciscan] martyrs were beatified in 1946.
[And canonized in 2000 as part of a larger group of Chinese martyrs.]
QUOTE: “Martyrdom
is part of the Church’s nature since it manifests Christian death in its pure
form, as the death of unrestrained faith, which is otherwise hidden in the ambivalence
of all human events. Through martyrdom the Church’s holiness, instead of
remaining purely subjective, achieves by God’s grace the visible expression it
needs. As early as the second century, one who accepted death for the sake of
Christian faith or Christian morals was looked on and revered as a ‘martus’
(witness). The term is scriptural in that Jesus Christ is the ‘faithful witness’
absolutely (Rev. 1:5, 3:14).” (Karl Rahner, Theological Dictionary, volume
2, pp. 108-09).
COMMENT:
Martyrdom is the occupational hazard of missionaries. Throughout China during the
Boxer Rebellion, five bishops, 50 priests, two brothers, 15 sisters and 40,000 Christians
were killed. The 146,575 Catholics served by the Franciscans in China in 1906
had grown to 303,760 by 1924, and were served by 282 Franciscans and 174 native
priests. Great sacrifices often bring great results.
These last four paragraphs are by McCloskey,
Patrick. Franciscan Saint of the Day. St. Anthony Messenger Press, 1981.
