(1814-1856) Auguste was the youngest of nine children born to a farming family in France. He dropped out of school to work on the farm but eventually attended seminary and was ordained a priest at 29. He served as a parish priest before joining the Institute of Foreign Missions in Paris and then left for the Guangxi province of China. Accused of stirring up insurrection and refusing to pay a bribe, he was tortured and martyred alongside a widow-catechist, Saint Agnes Tsao-Kouy, and a layman and laborer, Saint Lawrence Bai Xiaoman. The French government cited Chapdelaine’s death as grounds for joining the Second Opium War alongside the British.
Missionaries often leave the comfort of their known world for the unknown. Many times in history, the task of the missionary came with the very real possibility of martyrdom. Our addictions, compulsions, and unhealthy attachments give us strange comfort. Can we draw inspiration from the missionaries and the martyrs to leave comfort for a greater adventure?
“My religion is the true religion and I cannot betray it. I have done no evil, but only persuaded people to do good and win eternal life in heaven” (Saint Auguste Chapdelaine).
Reflection by Brad Farmer