A French Franciscan Missionary of Mary killed in the 1900 Taiyuan Massacre, part of an entire mission community lost that day.

Saint Marie de Sainte-Nathalie Guerguin was a French sister of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary killed at Taiyuan, Shanxi province, China, on July 9, 1900, at thirty-six years old, in the Taiyuan Massacre. She is venerated among the 120 Martyrs of China, beatified in 1946 and canonized in 2000 by Pope John Paul II, one of the sisters of her congregation’s Shanxi mission lost together that day.

Quick Facts

• Born: c. 1864
• Died: July 9, 1900, age 36
• Place: Taiyuan, Shanxi, China
• Venerated as: Religious, Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, martyr

Who Was Saint Marie de Sainte-Nathalie Guerguin?

Saint Marie de Sainte-Nathalie Guerguin was a French religious sister of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary killed at Taiyuan, Shanxi province, China, on July 9, 1900, at thirty-six years old, in the Taiyuan Massacre, alongside her fellow sister-missionaries and two Italian Franciscan bishops.

Historical Setting

The Taiyuan Massacre of July 9, 1900, ordered by the provincial governor Yuxian, brought together missionaries, bishops, and Chinese Catholics for mass execution in a single coordinated act, making it one of the most concentrated losses of Catholic life during the entire Boxer Uprising, and one that claimed nearly the whole community of Franciscan Missionaries of Mary then serving in the province.

Why the Church Remembers Saint Marie de Sainte-Nathalie Guerguin

Marie de Sainte-Nathalie is remembered as one of the French sisters of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary who died at Taiyuan, part of a congregation whose entire local mission community was essentially wiped out in a single afternoon of violence, a loss the Church has honored collectively ever since.

Canonization and Feast Day

The production register records Marie de Sainte-Nathalie’s beatification in 1946 and canonization in 2000, when Pope John Paul II canonized her among the 120 Martyrs of China.

What Catholics Can Learn Today

Marie de Sainte-Nathalie’s death as part of an entire mission community lost together is a sober reminder of how completely the Church’s missionary presence in some places was tested, and how faithfully those missionaries remained at their posts despite the danger.

A Prayer to Saint Marie de Sainte-Nathalie Guerguin

Saint Marie de Sainte-Nathalie Guerguin, missionary martyr of Taiyuan, pray for the Church’s missions in every dangerous place, that they may not fail for want of courage. Amen.

Sources

• Vatican.va (canonization of the 120 Martyrs of China, 2000)
• The Roman Martyrology