A seventeen-year-old Chinese laywoman martyred in Hebei province in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion’s persecution of Christians.

Saint Lucia Wang Cheng was a Chinese laywoman of southeastern Zhili, martyred on June 28, 1900, at Wangla in Dongguang, Hebei province, at only about seventeen years old. Her death occurred during the Boxer Rebellion, a violent anti-foreign and anti-Christian uprising that claimed the lives of tens of thousands of Chinese Christians and foreign missionaries in the summer of 1900.

Quick Facts

• Born: c. 1883, Southeastern Zhili, China
• Died: June 28, 1900, Wangla, Dongguang, Hebei, China
• Beatified: 1955
• Canonized: 2000
• Feast Day: July 9 (with the Martyrs of China)

Who Was Saint Lucia Wang Cheng?

Lucia Wang Cheng was a young laywoman of the Catholic community in southeastern Zhili province when the Boxer Rebellion’s violence reached her village of Wangla in 1900, and she was killed for her Christian faith at only seventeen years of age. Her death is one of thousands recorded during this brief but exceptionally violent episode in Chinese Christian history.

Historical Setting

The Boxer Rebellion of 1900 arose from a militant nationalist and anti-foreign movement that blamed Christian missionaries and Chinese converts, in part, for the country’s subjection to foreign powers, resulting in a summer of widespread massacres of Christians across northern China before the uprising was suppressed by an international military force. Hebei province, where Lucia lived, saw some of the heaviest violence of this period.

Why the Church Remembers Saint Lucia Wang Cheng

The Church remembers Lucia Wang Cheng as one of the youngest of the Martyrs of China, a girl barely out of childhood who was killed simply for belonging to the Christian community into which she had been born. Her memory is honored together with the many other Chinese Catholics who died in the same terrible summer.

Canonization and Feast Day

Lucia Wang Cheng was beatified in 1955 and canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2000 as part of the group of the Martyrs of China, Saint Augustine Zhao Rong and Companions. Their shared feast is celebrated on July 9.

What Catholics Can Learn Today

Lucia’s death at only seventeen, swept up in violence targeting her whole community, is a sobering reminder of how quickly ordinary life can be overtaken by persecution and hatred. Her example calls the Church to remember and pray for young people caught in religious violence around the world today.

A Prayer to Saint Lucia Wang Cheng

Saint Lucia Wang Cheng, young martyr of China, intercede for children and young people today who suffer because of their Christian faith, that they may know God’s nearness in their trial. Amen.

Sources

• Vatican.va
• EWTN