St. Martha Wang Luo Mande and Companions

Martha Wang Luo Mande was born in 1812 in Zunji, China. She and her husband were vegetable farmers. Although they had no biological children, they adopted two of her nephews. After her husband died and the boys left home, Martha ran an inn in Qingyian. A Catholic traveler introduced her to Christianity, and she joined the Church on Christmas 1852. She moved to Guiyang to work as a cook in a Catholic hostel. She also worked as a cook and cleaner at the seminary in Yaojiaguan.

Christianity had been banned in China in 1724, with different emperors allowing varying levels of tolerance. In 1840, following the opening of China during the First Opium War, China allowed Chinese people to follow the Catholic faith and restored several pieces of Church property confiscated in 1724. In 1844, foreign missionaries were allowed in certain port cities. In 1856, missionaries were granted full freedom of movement.

However, anti-Christian sentiment was rising following the Taiping Rebellion, in which a man claimed to be the brother of Jesus, built an army to seize land as part of his “holy mission,” and destroy Buddhist and Taoist temples. The rebellion led to a massively violent conflict, leaving millions dead between 1850-1864. Christianity became associated with violence. Foreign missionaries became associated with European imperialism, especially when missionaries built churches or schools in locations of old temples or abolished Chinese Christian institutions and replaced them with foreign-led ones. Violence against Christians rose, often under the permission of authorities.

In 1861, two seminarians and a layman attached to the seminary in Yaojiaguan were seized by a group of soldiers. They were accused of being Christian and sentenced to death. Martha walked alongside the condemned seminarians to their place of execution. I imagine after caring for them in the seminary, she wanted them to know they weren’t alone in their last moments. Her support led to her own arrest and sentencing. She was martyred with them on July 29, 1861.

They were four of many Christians martyred in China during this time period. The Church officially recognizes 120 Catholics who were killed between 1648-1930 as the Martyr Saints of China. Of the group, 86 died during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900. But tens of thousands of Christians were martyred. Their feast day is July 9.