From: rich <
richarra@gmail.com>
July 9th - St. Gregory Grassi and Comp.
Slain by the Boxers
d. 1900
The vast land of China, with its incredibly large population of
cheerful people, has a long history of resistance to the Gospel. Not
that the Christian faith has been without its missionaries. Nestorian Christians preached in China from the 7th to the 14th centuries with
modest success. The Franciscans pioneered there from 1294 to 1368. In
the 17th century, the Jesuits, followed by other western missionary
orders, won a larger following for a couple of centuries until
foreigners were excluded. From 1842 on, when China reopened trade
gates to the West, missionaries, Catholic and Protestant, were able to
get a better foothold in at least a part of China. This good fortune
lasted through World War II. Conditions were still so good in 1946
that Pope Pius XII established a Chinese Catholic hierarchy, and even
named China's first cardinal. (By 1946, there were 3.3 million
Catholics in a total population of 461 million.) But then there
occurred what had occurred so often before: the Chinese suddenly
ousted all foreigners and persecuted Christianity. Yesterday it was
the emperors; today it is the Chinese Communists who refuse to
acknowledge Catholicism affiliated with the pope.
So much for the background. In 1900, a typical persecution broke out
against Catholics tied in with a hatred of foreigners. It was carried
on by a secret society named the =E2=80=9CVirtuous Harmony Society,=E2=80=
=9D but known
to Europeans as the =E2=80=9CBoxers.=E2=80=9D The =E2=80=9CBoxer=E2=80=9D a= ttack on foreigners,
encouraged by the Chinese Emperor, lasted only a couple of months in
1900; but their purge resulted in the death of at least 11,000
Catholics!
A number of these martyrs have since been beatified. The first 29 were
declared blessed by Pope Pius XII in 1946.
The largest percentage of this group were done to death at Taiyuan by
Governor Yu Hsien, who first forbade Christians to gather for prayers.
The leading person arrested was the Italian missionary bishop, Gregory
Grassi, a Franciscan, aged 67. With him were his coadjutor bishop,
Franciscan Francesco Fogolla; a Franciscan priest, and a Franciscan
lay brother. Another bishop and two additional missionaries had been
killed shortly before. Seven young Franciscan Missionary nuns from
France, Italy, Belgium and Holland suffered death at the same time,
along with five native seminarians and nine Chinese Catholic servants,
who were too loyal to desert their missionaries.
Bishop Grassi and his group were herded into a building, whose name, ironically, was the =E2=80=9CInn of Heavenly Peace.=E2=80=9D After torture = they were
beheaded. The missionary nuns knelt, and held their white veils aside
for the death blow.
Of course, the Boxers' hatred of these foreign Christians had mixed
motives. Were these twenty-nine killed, then =E2=80=9Cfor their faith=E2=80= =9D or as
=E2=80=9Cpolitical=E2=80=9D enemies? In their case, antipathy to the Faith = was
certainly the governing motive. In his proclamation, Governor Yu Hsien
had said: =E2=80=9CThe European religion is wicked and cruel, it despises t=
he
spirit and oppresses people. All (Chinese) Christians who do not
sincerely repudiate it will be executed =E2=80=A6Christians, hear and tremb= le!
Give up this perverse religion! Let all Christians fear and obey: the
Boxers will not hurt persons ' it is this religion they hate.=E2=80=
=9D That is
clear enough. Indeed, thirty-seven persons connected with a local
Protestant mission were killed around the same time. They too, died
for the Gospel, not for politics.
Some day, in God's good time, there will be a breakthrough, and Chi=
na
will open her doors permanently and effectively to the Gospel. We pray
for that day. Perhaps it is because Chinese territory is so immense
that much blood like that of the Blessed Boxer victims must first be
shed to =E2=80=9Cirrigate=E2=80=9D the soil. Then the Faith can finally tak=
e lasting
root.
'Father Robert
Saint Quote:
Where sin was hatched, let tears now wash the nest.
--St. Robert Southwell
Bible Quote:
Light dawns[a] for the righteous,
=C2 =C2 and joy for the upright in heart.
12 Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous,
=C2 =C2 and give thanks to his holy name!=C2 Psalm 97:11-12=C2 =
RSVCE
<><><><>
=C2 The easy roads are crowded,
And the level roads are jammed;
The pleasant little rivers
With the drifting folks are crammed,
But off yonder where it's rocky,
Where you get a better view,
You will find the ranks are thinning
And the travelers are few.
Where the going's smooth and pleasant
You will always find the throng,
For the many, more's the pity,
Seem to like to drift along.
But the steps that call for courage
And the task that's hard to do,
In the end results in glory
For the never-wavering few.
--- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
* Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)