Saint Mary Zheng Xu

Saint Maria Zheng Xu (born c. 1889 in Kou, Hebei, China; died June 28, 1900, in Wangla, Hebei) was a saint of the Catholic Church and a martyr. Maria Zheng Xu was born around 1889 in Kou, Hebei Province. She was raised in an orphanage founded by Catholic priests in the village of Wangla. On June 24, 1900, during the Boxer Rebellion, when Christians were being persecuted in China, insurgents seized the village, burned the church, and killed all the Catholics who could not escape. Maria Zheng Xu and three other orphans—Lucia Wang Cheng, Maria Fan Kun, and Maria Qi Yu—remained alive. The insurgents first took them to Yingjia, then to Mazetang, and finally to the village of Mala. The three younger girls cried on the way and 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 Pope Pius XII as part of the group of Léon-Ignace Mangin and 55 companions. She was canonized on October 1, 2000, by Pope John Paul II as one of the 120 Chinese Martyrs.