Saint Andrew Kim Taegon, priest and martyr, and Saint Paul Chong Hasang, catechist and martyr, and their companions, martyrs Memorial Day: September 20 Christianity came to Korea during the Japanese invasion in 1592 when some Koreans were baptized, probably by Christian Japanese soldiers. Evangelization was difficult because Korea refused all contact with the outside world except for bringing taxes to Beijing annually. On one of these occasions, around 1777, Christian literature obtained from Jesuits in China led educated Korean Christians to study. A home Church began without any clergy and continued for almost a century under fierce persecution. When a Chinese priest managed to enter secretly, he found 4,000 Catholics, none of whom had ever seen a priest before. Seven years later there were 10,000 Catholics. Andrew Kim Taegǒn, the first Korean priest, secretly trained in Macao, entered Korea in 1845 and was executed in 1846, together with his father. A lay apostle, St. Paul Chong Hasang, and many others perished at the same time. A further major persecution occurred in 1866. In all, 103 of the Korean martyrs are celebrated today: they are mostly lay men and women: some married, some not; some old, some young, some even children. Pope John Paull II canonized them on May 6, 1984. Opening Prayer at Mass: O God, who have been pleased to increase your adopted children in all the world, and who made the blood of the Martyrs Saint Andrew Kim Tae-gǒn and his companions a most fruitful seed of Christians, grant that we may be defended by their help and profit always from their example.
Posted on: Fri, 20 Sep 2013 04:31:00 +0000