A Chinese Catholic catechumen and father martyred during the Boxer Rebellion of 1900, canonized among the martyr saints of China.

Saint Lang Yangshi was a Chinese Catholic catechumen, a married man preparing for full initiation into the Church, who was martyred in 1900 during the violent anti-Christian uprising known as the Boxer Rebellion. He died at Lujiapo in Hebei province, along with his son Saint Paulus Lang Fu, also recognized as a martyr. He was beatified in 1955 and canonized in 2000 by Pope John Paul II among the martyr saints of China.

Quick Facts

• Born: China, c. 1872
• Died: July 16, 1900, Lujiapo, Hebei, China (age about 28)
• Beatified: 1955; Canonized: 2000
• Venerated as: Martyr of the Boxer Rebellion; father of Saint Paulus Lang Fu

Who Was Saint Lang Yangshi?

Lang Yangshi was still a catechumen, that is, a person formally preparing for baptism and full reception into the Catholic Church, when the anti-foreign and anti-Christian violence of the Boxer Rebellion swept through northern China in 1900. A married man from the region historically known as Southeastern Chi-Li, he was killed alongside his own son, Paulus Lang Fu, who is also honored as a martyr saint.

Historical Setting

The Boxer Rebellion of 1900 unleashed one of the deadliest waves of anti-Christian violence in modern history, claiming tens of thousands of Chinese Catholic and Protestant lives, along with foreign missionaries, in a matter of months across northern China. Entire Catholic villages and families, including catechumens still preparing for baptism, were targeted simply for their association with the faith.

Why the Church Remembers Saint Lang Yangshi

The Church remembers Lang Yangshi as part of the vast company of Chinese lay Catholics who gave their lives during this rebellion, a witness made especially poignant by the fact that he had not yet been baptized when he died for the faith he had already chosen, and that he died together with his own son.

Canonization and Feast Day

Lang Yangshi was beatified in 1955 and canonized on October 1, 2000, when Pope John Paul II canonized 120 martyrs of China as a group, recognizing the full breadth of Chinese Catholic suffering during this period.

What Catholics Can Learn Today

Lang Yangshi’s death as a catechumen, not yet formally baptized but already willing to die rather than renounce the faith he was preparing to receive, is a powerful reminder that commitment to Christ does not wait for a sacrament to become real and costly.

A Prayer to Saint Lang Yangshi

Saint Lang Yangshi, father and catechumen, you gave your life for a faith you had not yet formally received in baptism, and you died beside your own son. Strengthen the faith of those still preparing to enter the Church, and give Christian families the courage to stand together, whatever the cost. Amen.

Sources

• Vatican.va canonization homily for the Martyr Saints of China (2000)
• Roman Martyrology
• Butler’s Lives of the Saints