A married Korean laywoman martyred in Seoul in 1839 during the severe persecutions of Catholics in Joseon Korea.

Saint Caecilia Yu So-sa (died 1839) was a married Korean laywoman martyred at Bo-jeong Prison in Seoul at approximately seventy-seven years of age, during one of the major waves of persecution against Catholics in nineteenth-century Korea. She is one of the many Korean Martyrs later canonized together as a group.

Quick Facts

• Died: November 23, 1839, in Bo-jeong Prison, Seoul, South Korea
• Age at death: approximately 77
• Status: Married laywoman
• Venerated as: Lay martyr

Who Was Saint Caecilia Yu So-sa?

Caecilia Yu So-sa was a married Korean Catholic laywoman who died a martyr in Seoul’s Bo-jeong Prison in 1839, at the advanced age of approximately seventy-seven. Her death came during one of the severe waves of persecution that Catholics in the Joseon dynasty of Korea repeatedly faced during the nineteenth century.

Historical Setting

Korean Catholicism developed almost entirely through the initiative of lay believers before any resident clergy arrived, and the Joseon government treated the growing faith as both a religious and political threat, launching several major persecutions across the nineteenth century, including the 1839 persecution in which Caecilia died. Many of its victims, like her, were ordinary married laypeople rather than clergy.

Why the Church Remembers Saint Caecilia Yu So-sa

She is remembered as one of the many lay Korean Catholics, often elderly, who held to their faith under interrogation and torture during the 1839 persecution, part of the distinctively lay-led character of the early Korean Church’s witness.

Canonization and Feast Day

Saint Caecilia Yu So-sa was beatified in 1925 and canonized in 1984 together with the wider group of 103 Korean Martyrs, during Pope John Paul II’s historic canonization Mass held in Seoul itself.

What Catholics Can Learn Today

Her martyrdom at an advanced age is a reminder that the courage demanded by persecution does not diminish with age, and that elderly believers have often shown the same steadfastness as the young.

A Prayer to Saint Caecilia Yu So-sa

Saint Caecilia Yu So-sa, faithful wife and martyr of Korea, intercede for elderly believers who continue to bear witness to their faith with courage. Amen.

Sources

• Vatican.va canonization records
• Roman Martyrology