Saint Mary Chi Yu

Saint Maria Qi Yu (Chinese: 齊玉瑪利) (born 1885 in Daji, Hebei, China – died June 28, 1900, in Wangla, Hebei) was a saint of the Catholic Church and a martyr. Maria Qi Yu was born in 1885 in Daji, Hebei Province. She was raised in an orphanage founded by Catholic priests in the village of Wangla. During the Boxer Rebellion, Christians in China were subjected to persecution. On June 24, 1900, insurgents seized the village, burned the church, and killed all the Catholics who had not managed to escape. They spared her and three other orphans: Lucia Wang Cheng, Maria Fan Kun, and Maria Zheng Xu. The girls were taken first to Yingjia, then to Mazetang, and finally to the village of Mala. As the three younger girls cried along the way, they were comforted by Lucia Wang Cheng. Upon arriving in the village of Wangla, all four refused to renounce their faith and were subsequently murdered. Her feast day is July 9, as part of the group of 120 Chinese Martyrs. She was beatified on April 17, 1955, by Pius XII as part of the group of Léon-Ignace Mangin and 55 companions. She was canonized on October 1, 2000, by John Paul II as one of the 120 Chinese Martyrs.