In the 19th century, China opened its doors to world trade, and missionaries traveled there to evangelize the nation. By the end of the century, as China’s economy wavered, attitudes towards the foreigners had begun to change. A nationalist movement took shape that opposed foreign imperialism and Christianity.

A secret society was formed to drive the Europeans away—they called themselves the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists. In 1900, these “Boxers” led attacks on embassies and diplomats, merchants and missionaries. Any Chinese who had converted to Christianity were also killed—a total of some 30,000 Christians were massacred.

In many cases, these martyrs were given a chance to renounce their faith, and were killed by strangulation when they refused.

The Catholic Church honors 120 Catholics who died between 1648 and 1930 as the “Martyr Saints of China”—86 of these died during the Boxer Rebellion.

Among them were Augustine Tchao, who was a Chinese soldier who escorted a bishop to Beijing during his missionary work. The bishop, Saint Gabriel-Taurin Dufresse, had such a powerful personal witness that Augustine was moved to consider the faith. He was among those who were converted by Gabriel, and went on to become ordained a priest. He was arrested during a persecution in 1815, and was tortured and killed.

Of the 120 Martyr Saints, 87 were Chinese lay people and 33 were missionaries. These saints were canonized by St. Pope John Paul II in 2000, and are sometimes referred to as Augustine Zhao Rong and his 119 companions.

Martyr Saints of China, you remained true to your faith even under torture, and died for what you believed—pray for us!

Image Credit: Courtesy of the Holy Transfiguration Monastery