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Stories of the Chinese Martyrs
St. Anna Wang 1886-1900, Patron of Young Women
 Anna Wang was born to Christian parents in 1886 at Majiazhuang, in the Weixian zone in the south of Hebei province. Her mother died when she was five. At an early age her strong character was already visible: at eleven she was to be given in marriage but she strongly opposed the idea. On July 21, 1900 a band of Boxers reaches Majiazhuang. They captured a group of Christians and warned them, "The government has banned the practice of western religions. If you renounce your religion you will be set free. If you refuse we will kill you."
Anna's stepmother decided to renounce her religion, and urged Anna to do the same. But Anna refused to follow her and cried in a loud voice: "I believe in God. I am a Christian, I do not want to renounce God. Jesus save me!" Anna and a number of companions prayed through the night. In the morning the Boxers took the Christians who refused to deny their faith to the execution field.
Anna watched the terrifying scene of the execution of little Andre Wang Tianqing, aged 9. The non-Christians were anxious to save him, but his mother said: "I am a Christian, my son is a Christian. You will have to kill us both." The leaders of the band made a sign with their heads. Little Andre knelt down and bent over. He looked towards his mother and smiled. Then the executioner's axe struck the boy's neck. On that day the Boxers killed five women with their children, including a ten-month-old baby.
Anna kept watch with the Church in Weixian. On her knees she prayed out loud and kept her eyes set on the sky. A soldier said to her, "Give up your faith and you will live." But Anna made no reply, and when he insisted, she said, "Do not touch me; I am a Christian. I prefer to die rather than give up my faith." The bandit brutally cut off her right arm and repeated his question: "Do you deny your religion?" She said nothing. He struck her again. Anna said, "The door of heaven is open," and she whispered the name of "Jesus" three times, lowering her head. The bandit made the final blow, severing her head from her body.
St. Paolo Lang Fu 1893-1900, Patron of Children
 Mrs. Lang Yang, born in 1871, in the Lu Village of Qinghe Country in Hebei Province, was married into the Lang family while not yet a Catholic. However, she soon became one and led an exemplary life as a Christian. Lang Fu was her only son.
When the Boxers invaded the Lu Village on July 16, 1900, they caught Mrs. Lang, tied her to a tree and began to question her about her faith. Lang Fu, returning from play, began to cry when he saw his mother there. She just said: "Don't cry, child, come here." The Boxers then set fire to the house, pierced her body with a lance and cut off the boy's arm. Both were then thrown into the fire. She was 29, the lad, 7.
St. Xi Zhuzi 1882-1900, Patron of Young Men
 Xi Zhuzi was born in a simple and honest peasant family in 1882 in the village of Dezhao in Shen County, Hebei Province. Moved by the good example of the Catholics in his village, he got to know about the faith and decided to enter the Church at the age of 17. Though illiterate, he made great efforts to learn the Catholic doctrine and attended mass every Sunday with all the others. But in the Fall of 1899, when the Boxer Rebellion was reaching its height, his parents objected and said: "If you want to remain a member of this family, stop going to church and wait till the situation is more favorable." However, Xi Zhuzi remained firm in his faith inspite of family opposition. On New Year's eve, he refused to worship the family idols, suffered hunger as a consequence and was cut off from the family. But he gladly endured all hardships for God's sake.
In June 1900, the Boxers pressed harder and harder against the Catholics, who began to dig trenches and arm themselves for self-defense. Strangers were admitted into their villages only after careful screening. Since Zhuzi was not yet baptized, he was not known in Catholic circles and was turned away when he sought shelter there. Finally he found one Catholic who knew him, took him in and gave him a job as servant in his house.
Before long, his parents discovered his refuge and ordered him to return home. As filial piety is one of the Ten Commandments, Zhuzi went home. But, on the way, he met up with some Boxers who first ordered him to worhip idols in a nearby temple. He refused to do this and courageously told them that he was a Catholic. They then began to torture him by first cutting off his arm. He remained firm and the mutilation continued. Some of the villagers went to notify his parents but they took no measure to save him. He was cruelly killed in this way at the age of eighteen. After his death, his family became Catholic - a sure sign of the blessing of God on his sacrifice of life.
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