9th July marked the celebration of the feast of 121 Saints in China.
87 were Chinese and 34 expatriate missionaries. Among them, the youngest was 7 and the oldest 79. Canonised in 2000, the Saints were martyred between 1648 (the Qing Dynasty) and 1930 (the period of the Republic of China), including 6 bishops, 24 priests, 8 brothers, 7 religious sisters and 76 laypeople.
Hong Kong's Sunday Examiner said that, "The martyrs of China gave the ultimate witness to the Gospel with courage. Their faithfulness echoes the Confucian ideal of sacrificing oneself for a noble cause."
"The blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians" (Tertullian, ca. 160-220AD), and "certainly, this seed of faith will bear fruit in China."
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