July is a great month for saints, unfortunately it’s because a lot of religious persecutions really get going in the heat of the summer. Many great saints received the crown of martyrdom in July.
Such was the case for these seven women, who were among the tens of thousands of Christians massacred in 1900 during China’s Boxer Rebellion. (The fanatical Boxers could be compared to today’s Taliban. Their victims included many American Protestant missionary families, and the sheer brutality of the riots made headlines around the world.)
The seven Sisters honored today were from France, Italy, Belgium and Holland, members of a new missionary order, the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary. The youngest of them, Maria della Pace, was twenty-four and the oldest, Marie de St Natalie was thirty-five. Within months of their arrival in China they had established a charity hospital and orphanage in Shanghai’s capital.
That summer, when the Boxer riots reached Shanxi, their bishop tried to get the Sisters to evacuate, but the Sisters refused to leave their work. One of them wrote home: “I attach myself to the Will of God as the anchor of salvation.”
The Sisters were arrested with 33 other Christians, including a 66-year-old widow and six orphaned children. Days later, three thousand Boxers watched them sing hymns as they filed in to face the viceroy. As the hearing began, the viceroy quarreled with the bishop, then ordered his soldiers to kill them all. The Boxers immediately began hacking at heads and limbs. A Boxer witness said later: “What was most astonishing was to see these ‘she-devil Christians’ die singing.” The Martyrs of Shanxi were canonized with the Martyrs of China in 2000. They are venerated by the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary on July 10.
The Faith is still strong in China and the Order is still doing great work throughout the world. You can find out more about these wonderful women on their Order’s website, where they note that their seven martyred sisters all shared “the earnest desire to open their lives to the Spirit and to respond to God's call to the end.” http://www.fmm.org/
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Feast of Saint Kilian, Irish Martyr
Like many of the great Irish saints, Saint Kilian (c. 640 – 689) was a wanderer. Born in Ireland, he embraced the monastic life, which makes him one of those heroes celebrated by Thomas Cahill in “How the Irish Saved Civilization.” Yet Kilian felt called to be a missionary, and after a pilgrimage to Rome he was commissioned by Pope Conon as a kind of roving bishop. With eleven companions, he headed north to evangelize what is now Germany. Based in Wurzburg, he converted many of the local pagans to Christianity. His influence spread throughout the region that is now Bavaria, earning him the title “Apostle of Franconia.”
One of Kilian's most important converts was the Duke of Gosbert. The Duke was married to Geleina, the widow of his brother, and Kilian insisted that the marriage was invalid. Geleina decided to solve this problem by murdering Kilian. She waited until Gosbert was away to order the assassination, then tried to cover it up. One historian writes: “Geilana was seized with an evil spirit, which tormented her so much she died soon after.” At least one of Geleina’s thugs also went mad and died a horrible death. But the Christianity that Kilian had planted in Bavaria is still strong today and it is said that he personally intercedes for every citizen of Franconia, Germany, when they approach Heaven.
For some reason, the church I attended as a child in Farmingdale, Long Island, was called Saint Kilian’s, but the school was called Saint Killian’s. I seem to remember that the extra “L” was originally a misprint and the thrifty Dominican nuns and/or the Benedictine priests decided to just roll with it.
Saint Kilian might have enjoyed that. He was, after all, an Irishman, so he must have had a sense of humor.
I spent eight years at St Killian’s (a/k/a St Kilian’s) school and my class will mark a Very Important Anniversary in 2009. I’d love to hear from any of my former classmates who have probably traveled even further than St Kilian himself. I hope some of them will read this and e-mail me here.
One of Kilian's most important converts was the Duke of Gosbert. The Duke was married to Geleina, the widow of his brother, and Kilian insisted that the marriage was invalid. Geleina decided to solve this problem by murdering Kilian. She waited until Gosbert was away to order the assassination, then tried to cover it up. One historian writes: “Geilana was seized with an evil spirit, which tormented her so much she died soon after.” At least one of Geleina’s thugs also went mad and died a horrible death. But the Christianity that Kilian had planted in Bavaria is still strong today and it is said that he personally intercedes for every citizen of Franconia, Germany, when they approach Heaven.
For some reason, the church I attended as a child in Farmingdale, Long Island, was called Saint Kilian’s, but the school was called Saint Killian’s. I seem to remember that the extra “L” was originally a misprint and the thrifty Dominican nuns and/or the Benedictine priests decided to just roll with it.
Saint Kilian might have enjoyed that. He was, after all, an Irishman, so he must have had a sense of humor.
I spent eight years at St Killian’s (a/k/a St Kilian’s) school and my class will mark a Very Important Anniversary in 2009. I’d love to hear from any of my former classmates who have probably traveled even further than St Kilian himself. I hope some of them will read this and e-mail me here.
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