| 20 September |
• yesterday • tomorrow |
| Memorial of Saint Andrew Kim Taegon, priest and martyr, Saint Paul Chong Hasang, and companions, martyrs (red) |
There are thousands of Christian priests, missionaries and lay people who died in the early days of the Church in Korea, most murdered during waves of persecutions in 1839, 1846 and 1867. Between martyrdom and exile, eventually there were no clergy left in the country, and the faith was kept alive by lay people, covert Catholics who stayed loyal to Rome and for decades passed along the Bibles and other texts, and the oral rememberances until the outside world was allowed in again. 103 of these martyrs whose stories were known and documented were beatified over the years, and finally canonized as a group by Pope John Paul II, recognizing their willingness to lose their lives before losing their Faith.
1839 - 1867
6 May 1984 by Pope John Paul II
https://catholicsaints.info/martyrs-of-korea/
Eustace, Placidus
Pagan Roman general in the army of the emperor Trajan. Converted to Christianity following a hunting trip during which he saw a glowing cross between the antlers of a stag, after which he received a prophecy that he would suffer for Christ. He was baptized with his wife, Saint Theopistes of Rome and two sons, Saint Agapitus of Rome and Saint Theopistus of Rome, and given the name Eustachius.
Denounced as a Christian, he lost his property, was reduced to abject poverty, and Roman authorities took his wife and children. However, being a capable general, he was recalled to duty by Trajan to help repel barbarians from Rome, which he did. He and his family were reunited with the expectation they would sacrifice to idols in thanks for a military victory. When they refused, an enraged Hadrian ordered them thrown to the lions; the big cats played like kittens around them, so they were martyred together by being burned in a bronze bull. Eustachius is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers.
as Placidas
cooked to death in a bronze bull in 188 in Rome, Italy
• difficult situations
• fire prevention; against fire
• firefighters
• hunters, huntsmen, hunting
• torture victims; against torture
• trappers
• diocese of Altamura-Gravina-Acquaviva delle Fonti, Italy
• Madrid, Spain
• Poli, Italy
• bull
• crucifix
• hunting horn
• oven
• stag
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-eustachius/
• Anna Maria Tauscher van den Bosch
• Maria Theresia of Saint Joseph
• Mary Teresa of Saint Joseph
Daughter of a Lutheran Superintendent. Convert to Catholicism, joining the Church on 30 October 1888. Nun, taking the name Maria Theresia of Saint Joseph. In 1891 she founded a home of neglected children in Berlin, Germany. The young women that helped there formed Congregation of the Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus.
Mother Mary Teresa was known as a woman of prayer, and she put her faith in action by founding homes, nurseries, and day care centers for children and the aged, and through an extensive correspondence in which she gave spiritual advice and encouragement. She worked with the abandoned, immigrants, and the poor, and her Congregation continues this work today in Europe, Africa and the Americas.
19 June 1855 in Sandow, Mark Brandenburg, East Prussia (modern Poland) as Anna Maria Tauscher van den Bosch
20 September 1938 in Sittard, Limburg, Netherlands of natural causes
13 May 2006 by Pope Benedict XVI
To be able to dry tears, to heal the wounds of souls from the heights of Heaven, this is my ardent wish. - Blessed Marie Therese
Let us rest in the Divine Heart like little children in the arms of their father. The greater our confidence, the more will God's goodness be seen in us. - Blessed Marie Therese
Through cross to throne! That is the way, the royal way of the cross that leads to heaven, in union with God. - Blessed Marie Therese
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-marie-therese-of-saint-joseph/
• Andrew Kim
• Andreas Kim Tae-Gon
• Andeurea Gim Dae-Geon
Born to the Korean nobility; his parents were converts to Christianity, and his father was martyred. Andrew was baptized at age 15, then travelled 1,300 miles to the nearest seminary in Macao, China. He became the first native Korean priest, and the first priest to die for the faith in Korea. Leader of the Martyrs of Korea.
21 August 1821, Solmoi, Chungcheong-do, South Korea
tortured and beheaded on 16 September 1846 at Saenamteo, Seoul, Korea
6 May 1984 by Pope John Paul II
Korean clergy
The Korean Church is unique because it was founded entirely by laypeople. This fledgling Church, so young and yet so strong in faith, withstood wave after wave of fierce persecution. Thus, in less than a century, it could boast of 10,000 martyrs. The death of these many martyrs became the leaven of the Church and led to today's splendid flowering of the Church in Korea. Even today their undying spirit sustains the Christians of the Church of Silence in the north of this tragically divided land. - Pope John Paul II at the canonization of Andrew in 1984
O God, You have created all nations and You are their salvation. In the land of Korea Your call to Catholic faith formed a people of adoption, whose growth You nurtured by the blood of Andrew, Paul and their companions. Through their martyrdom and their intercession grant us strength that we too may remain faithful to your commandments even until death. Amen.
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-andrew-kim-taegon/
Son of Yak Jong Church who was martyred in 1801 in the persecution of Shin-Yu, an attack on the faith that killed all the clergy in the country. Son of Saint Yu Cecilia; brother of Saint Jung Hye. Paul, though a layman, reunited the scattered Christians, and encouraged them to keep their faith and live their faith. He wrote the Sang-Je-Sang-Su which explained to the Korean government why the Church was no threat to them. He crossed into China nine times, working as a servant to the Korean diplomatic corps. There he worked to get the bishop of Beijing to send more priests to Korea. He pleaded directly to Rome for help, and on 9 September 1831, Pope Gregory X proclaimed the validity of the Korean Catholic diocese. When the clergy began to return, Paul entered the seminary. However, he died in the Gi Hye persecution of 1839 before he could be ordained. One of the great founders of the Catholic Church in Korea.
1795 in Korea
martyred on 22 September 1839
6 May 1984 by Pope John Paul II
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-paul-chong-hasang/
Decided young to be a priest, and at age 19 entered the Dominican novitiate. Noted preacher. Home missioner in western Spain. Popular confessor. Known for his spiritual gifts, including reports of the ability to levitate. Wrote several works, including a biography of Saint Dominic de Guzman.
25 November 1644 at Cordova, Spain
20 September 1713 at Cordova, Spain of natural causes
20 September 1818 by Pope Pius VII
Loving God, you endowed Blessed Francis with the sweetness of heavenly charity and made him a renowned preacher of your word. With the help of his prayers may we ever live in your love. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. - General Calendar of the Order of Preachers
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-francisco-martin-fernandez-de-posadas/
• Laurent Marie Joseph Imbert
• Laurent-Joseph-Marius Imbert
Born to a poor farm family. Studied at the Foreign Mission Seminary at Paris, France in 1818. Ordained on 18 December 1819. Missionary to China, leaving in 1820. Taught at the College General, Penang from April 1821 to January 1822. Missionary for two year in Tonkin, Indochina (modern Viet Nam). Missionary for twelve years in the Szechuan province of China. Founded a seminary in Moupin. Named Vicar Apostolic of Korea and titular bishop of Capsa on 26 April 1836. Arrested with two of his priests, Saint Jacques Honore Chastan and Saint Peter Maubant, in 1839 for the crime of evangelization. Tortured and martyred.
23 March 1796 in Marigane, France
• beheaded on 21 September 1839 at Saenamt'o, Korea
• buried on Noku Mountain
6 May 1984 by Pope John Paul II
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-lawrence-mary-joseph-imbert/
• Charles Cornay
• Giancarlo Cornay
• John Charles Cornay
• John Cornay
• Johannes Karl Cornay
24 November as one of the Martyrs of Vietnam
Priest. Member of the Paris Society of Foreign Missions. Missionary to Vietnam, working in Annam. Accused of theft after weapons were planted on his land to discredit him, he was actually arrested for his faith at Ban-ho. He was kept in chains in a cage for three months, routinely beaten, and when interrogated was told to sing his answers as he was known for his beautiful voice. One of the Martyrs of Vietnam.
27 February 1809 at Loudun, diocese of Poitiers, Vienne, France
beheaded and his body hacked to pieces on 20 September 1837 at Son Tây, Ha Tây, Vietnam
19 June 1988 by Pope John Paul II
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-jean-charles-cornay/
Excellent student in his youth. Worked in the Saint Vincent de Paul Society. Ordained in 24 August 1879 at León, Guanajuato, Mexico. Founded the Congregation of the Servants of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Poor on 13 December 1885; the congregation works in countries throughout the Americas, Europe and Africa. Founded schools, orphanages, hospitals, clinics, shelters for the elderly and the abused. Worked with the Tamahumara Indians.
10 November 1851 in Jalmolonga, Mexico
20 September 1904 at Puebla de los Angeles, Mexico of natural causes
21 May 2000 by Pope John Paul II
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-jose-maria-de-yermo-y-parres/
Lifelong lay woman in the diocese of Córdoba, Spain. Member of Catholic Action. Member of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul. Member of the Salesian Cooperators. Attended the College of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception. Married to the architect Juan Battista Caballero in 1925. Mother of one daughter. Martyred in the Spanish Civil War.
15 October 1890 in Pozoblanco, Córdoba, Spain
20 September 1936 in Pozoblanco, Córdoba, Spain
28 October 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-teresa-cejudo-redondo-de-caballero/
Daughter of Arthemius, a pagan priest and Martha, a Jewish woman. Following their deaths, she converted to Christianity. Deaconess at Eleutheropolis. Imprisoned, tortured, and martyred by the prefect Alexander in the persecutions of Julian the Apostate.
362 at Eleutheropolis, Palestine while in prayer in her prison cell
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-susanna-of-eleutheropolis/
4 May as one of the Carthusian Martyrs
Carthusian choir monk of the Charterhouse in London, England. Martyred for refusing to accept King Henry VIII as head of the Church.
starved to death on 20 September 1537 in Newgate Prison, London, England
29 December 1886 by Pope Leo XIII
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-thomas-johnson/
Married to Saint Eustachius; mother of Saint Agapitus of Rome and Saint Theopistus of Rome. Martyred in the persecutions of Hadrian.
cooked to death in a bronze bull in 188 in Rome, Italy
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-theopistes-of-rome/
Son of Saint Eustachius and Saint Theopistes of Rome; brother of Saint Agapitus of Rome. Martyred in the persecutions of Hadrian.
cooked to death in a bronze bull in 188 in Rome, Italy
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-theopistus-of-rome/
Son of Saint Eustachius and Saint Theopistes of Rome; brother of Saint Theopistus of Rome. Martyred in the persecutions of Hadrian.
cooked to death in a bronze bull in 188 in Rome, Italy
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-agapitus-of-rome/
A pagan magistrate who ordered the torture and martyrdom of Saint Evilasius of Cyzicum. Seeing her courage and faith, he was moved to study Christianity and converted. Martyr.
305 at Cyzicum, Pontus (in modern Turkey)
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-fausta-of-cyzicum/
Canon regular at Mons, Belgium. Benedictine Cistercian monk. First abbot at Jardinet Abbey in the diocese of Namur, Belgium. Dispatched by the Order to restore discipline to several houses in the region.
1481 of natural causes
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-john-eustace/
Clicerius, Glicerius
Archbishop of Milan, Italy.
c.438 of natural causes
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-glycerius-of-milan/
Abbess of a convent in Marseilles, France. Martyred with about 40 of her sisters by Saracens.
c.731 at Saint-Cyr, France
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-eusebia-of-marseilles/
Consecrated virgin. Martyred in the persecutions of Maximian Herculeus.
c.300 in Carthage, North Africa
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-candida-of-carthage/
A girl of 13 who was tortured and executed for her faith.
305 at Cyzicum, Pontus (in modern Turkey)
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-evilasius-of-cyzicum/
Martyr.
Synnada, Phrygia (in modern Turkey)
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-dorimedonte-of-synnada/
A priest and two bishops who were imprisoned, tortured and martyred for the defense of icons in the iconoclast persecutions of emperor Leo the Isaurian. - Andrea, Asiano and Hypatius
• 735 in Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey)
• body thrown to the dogs
https://catholicsaints.info/martyrs-of-constantinople-20-september/
A group of lay people martyred in the persecutions of Emperor Elagabalus. The names that have come down to us are Dionysius, Dioscorus, Philippa, Privatus, Socrates and Theodore.
crucified c.220 at Pergen, Pamphylia, Asia Minor (in modern Turkey)
https://catholicsaints.info/martyrs-of-pergen/
Thousands of people were murdered in the anti-Catholic persecutions of the Spanish Civil War from 1934 to 1939. I have pages on each of them, but in most cases I have only found very minimal information. They are available on the CatholicSaints.Info site through these links:
• Blessed Cristobal Iturriaga-Echevarría Irazola
• Blessed Santiago Vega Ponce
• Adelpreto of Trent
• Candida of Como
• Susanna of Eleuteropoli
CatholicSaints.Info Portable Edition