Saint of the Day: St. Andrew Kim Taegon and Companions

Martyrs of Korea

Their story

+ The Christian Faith reached Korea through the work of dedicated lay people early in the 17th century. A strong, vibrant community emerged, flourishing under lay leadership until 1836 when, in secret, members of the Paris Foreign Mission Society entered the country.

+ During the persecutions of 1839, 1846, 1866 and 1868, one hundred and three members of the Christian community gave their lives as martyrs. 

+ Two outstanding members of this group of martyrs were the first Korean priest and pastor, Andrew Kim Taegon, and the lay catechist, Paul Chong Hasang. 

+ The list of martyrs also includes bishops and priests but most of the martyrs were lay men, women, and children. 

+ Pope Saint John Paul II canonized the Martyrs of Korea in the cathedral in Seoul, Korea, in 1984. Together the martyrs are honored as the patrons of Korea.

For prayer and reflection

“I beg you not to fail in your love for one another, but to support one another and to stand fast until the Lord mercifully delivers us from our trials.”—Saint Andrew Kim Taegon

Spiritual bonus

September 20 also marks the day the Church celebrates the memory of Blessed Teresa Cejudo Redondo de Caballero. A wife and mother from the Diocese of Córdoba, Spain, she was a member of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and a Salesian Cooperator, she was martyred in Pozoblanco, Spain, on September 20, 1936, during the anti-Catholic fury of the Spanish Civil Wara. She was beatified with other martyrs in 2007. 

Prayer

O God, you have created all nations and you are their salvation. In the land of Korea your call to Catholic faith formed a people of adoption, whose growth you nurtured by the blood of Andrew, Paul, and their companions. Through their martyrdom and their intercession grant us strength that we too may remain faithful to your commandments even until death. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(from The Roman Missal)
Saint profiles prepared by Fr. Silas Henderson, S.D.S.