CH'EN, ROSE AND TERESA, SS.

Lay martyrs, b. Feng, Qi County, Hebei (Hopeh) Province, China; d. near there, July 5, 1900. Serious Teresa Ch'en Jinjie (also called Ch'en Chin-chieh, Chen Qingjieh, Kinn-Tsie, b. 1875) and her vivacious younger sister Rose Ch'en Anjie (also called Ch'en Ai-chieh, Chen Aijeih, Tch'Enn-Kai-Tsie, b. 1878) were among the ten Christians captured by the Boxers as they sought refuge from persecution by fleeing to a neighboring village. The cart driver, who begged for the women and children to be spared, was beheaded immediately, as were two of the Ch'ens' cousins (ages 12 and 17). Three of the group escaped and the two mothers were seriously injured. Although their captors contemplated taking the two sisters with them, Rose and Teresa refused to move. Instead they dropped to their knees in prayer. Teresa was stabbed to death in a struggle. Rose, already weakening, was offered her life in exchange for denying the faith. Reinvigorated by repeating, "Jesus, have mercy on me!," she remained resolute. After being mortally stabbed, she said her Rosary as she slowly died. Rose and Teresa were among the 2,072 killed between June and August of 1900 whose causes were submitted to the Vatican, of which 56 were beatified by Pope Pius XII (April 17, 1955) and canonized (Oct. 1, 2000) by Pope John Paul II with Augustine Zhao Rong and companions.

Feast: July 20.

Bibliography: l. miner, China's Book of Martyrs: A Record of Heroic Martyrdoms and Marvelous Deliverances of Chinese Christians during the Summer of 1900 (Ann Arbor 1994). j. simon, Sous le sabre des Boxers (Lille 1955). c. testore, Sangue e palme sul fiume giallo. I beati martiri cinesi nella persecuzione della Boxe Celi Sud-Est, 1900 (Rome 1955). L'Osservatore Romano, English Edition 40 (2000): 1–2, 10.

[k. i. rabenstein]