Today is the memorial of Saint Augustine Zhao Rong, and his companion 119 martyrs who were martyred over the centuries in China.
Christianity arrived in China by way of Syria in the 600s. Depending on China's relations with the outside world, Christianity over the centuries was free to grow or was forced to operate secretly.
It was in 1648, Blessed Francis Fernández de Capillas, a Dominican priest was killed. After having imprisoned and tortured him, they beheaded him while he recited with others-- the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary.
44 years later, in 1692, the Emperor K'ang Hsi issued the first decree of religious liberty by virtue of which all his subjects could follow the Christian religion and all the missionaries could preach in his vast domains. Unfortunately, the difficult question of rites used for the sacraments irritated the Emperor K'ang Hsi and he began a persecution, which resulted in missionaries and faithful lay people being killed, and many churches destroyed.
Another persecution began in the 1800’s, Augustine Zhao Rong, a Chinese solider accompanied Bishop John Gabriel of the Paris Foreign Mission Society to his martyrdom in Beijing. This event greatly influenced Augustine, who was then baptized and not long after his baptism was ordained as a diocesan priest. He was martyred in 1815. Among their number was an eighteen year old boy, Chi Zhuzi, who cried out to those who had just cut off his right arm and were preparing to flay him alive: "Every piece of my flesh, every drop of my blood will tell you that I am Christian."
Today, Christians in China are undergoing a terrible persecution with many being tortured, killed or imprisoned. They force women into having abortions and the government is destroying Catholic churches. To make matters worse, the Vatican came up with an agreement with the Chinese government, which has resulted in many underground Catholics feeling betrayed by the Church and a greater persecution has begun due to the agreement.
Today, let us ask the Blessed Virgin Mary to pray for the conversion of the Chinese people and pray Our Lord will give us the faith to shed our blood for Him in imitation of the Chinese martyrs, whose memorial we celebrate today.
