Saint Who?
Saints Who Established Schools
Saint Francis Choe Kyong-hwan († 1839)Blessed Maria Yi Seong-rye († 1840)
MartyrsFeast: September 20
“A soldier going to war needs his battle instructions…. At a time like this we must study all the books more earnestly.” Francis Choe Kyong-hwan lived in 19th-century Korea, where Catholics had been without priests for decades, and their faith was waning. Francis decided to establish a Catholic village to help fortify his fellow believers.
Working in the fields by day and teaching at night, Francis educated his own children and the other members of the community. Faced with persecution, he encouraged the people to hide their sacramentals so they would not be desecrated. But he urged them not to bury the books, for they were essential weapons in the battle for faith.
When soldiers came to arrest the Christians, Francis welcomed them. He gave them food and shelter, and accepted arrest peacefully along with his wife. He suffered martyrdom shortly thereafter, whereupon his wife, who had been subjected to terrible tortures, renounced her faith, but she soon repented and followed him in death. Francis was canonized in 1984 and Maria was beatified in 2014. Their eldest son, Thomas Choe Yang-eop, became the second Korean-born priest, and the cause for his beatification has been opened.
Almighty Father, grant that Catholic communities
and families may be strengthened through faithful study
and become schools of heroic virtue.
