Saint Gregory Grassi

Gregory Mary Grassi, O.F.M., (in Italian language Gregorio Maria Grassi) (13 December 1833 – 9 July 1900) was an Italian Franciscan friar and bishop who is honored as a Catholic martyr and saint. He is one of the 120 Martyrs of China who were canonized on 1 October 2000 by Pope John Paul II. He was born Pier Luigi Grassi in Castellazzo Bormida, in the Piedmont region of Italy, on 13 December 1833. At the age of 15, on 2 November 1848, he took the Franciscan habit in the Friary of Montiano, Romagna, with the name Gregory. His solemn profession was made one year later, on 14 December. He was then sent to Bologna to do his seminary studies, and was ordained priest on 17 August 1856 in Mirandola. Then he was sent to Rome for further training to prepare for his mission to China. In 1860 Grassi was assigned to Taiyuan, China, where he was appointed Mission Promoter, Director of the mission orphanage, and choirmaster at the seminary there. On 25 January 1876, he was chosen as the Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic for the Apostolic Vicariate of Shanxi. On 17 June 1891, he assumed authority over the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Shanxi. On 6 September 1891, he established a novitiate to provide access to Franciscan life for the Chinese of all four vicariates in Shanxi and a rest home for overworked missionaries. He also dealt with the suffering of the local population brought on by plague and famine, which led him to enlarge the orphanage in the city and establish several others, in order to cope with the orphans left behind by these catastrophes. When the short but bloody Boxer Rebellion broke out in Peking in June 1900 and the Empress Dowager Cixi issued the Imperial Decree of declaration of war against foreign powers, Grassi was urged to flee. He responded, "Ever since I was twelve, I have desired and also asked God for martyrdom.