- Lucy Yi Zhenmei
Infobox Saint
name=Saint Lucy Yi Zhenmei
birth_date=December 9 ,1815
death_date=February 19 ,1862
feast_day=February 19
venerated_in=Roman Catholic Church
imagesize=
caption=
birth_place=Sichuan ,China
death_place=
titles=Virgin; Martyr
beatified_date=
beatified_place=
beatified_by=
canonized_date=October 1 2000
canonized_place=
canonized_by=Pope John Paul II
attributes=
patronage=
major_shrine=
suppressed_date=
issues=A native of
Mianyang inSichuan ,China , St. Lucy Yi Zhenmei was born onDecember 9 ,1815 , and was the youngest member in her family.Lucy was a very pious child, to the extent that she made a commitment to
chastity at 12 years of age.As she matured she developed a love for reading and study. At 20 years of age, in the midst of her higher education she grew very ill. After her recovery Lucy took her spiritual life still more seriously. She devoted herself to the discipline of
prayer with great devotion, assuming a way of life much like that of a religious while continuing to assist in the support her family. [http://www.chinesemartyrs.org/chinese_saints/19-e.htm]After her father died, she lived with her brother and mother, using part of her leisure time to teach the faith to children nearby. The
parish priest , who asked her to teach at the school in Mianyang, noticed her devotion and reliable knowledge of herfaith . After four years, her brother went to Chongqing to practice medicine, and Lucy and her mother moved with him. In Chongquing, the priest also asked her to help teach the women in the parish. When she was offered money for her work, she refused to take it and offered her work to God. [http://www.chinesemartyrs.org/chinese_saints/19-e.htm]A few years later, her brother moved back to Guiyang, during which time her mother died. Full of enthusiasm for spreading the
Gospel , she went on doing missionary work. However, for her own safety she decided to stay at theconvent of lay virgins. Shortly after, her failing health forced her to move back home again. In 1861,Bishop Hu asked her to teach once more at the convent. In spite of opposition from relatives, she returned to work there. [http://www.chinesemartyrs.org/chinese_saints/19-e.htm]In 1862, she went with Fr. Wen Nair to open a mission in Jiashanlong, but just then the administrator of Guizhou Province, Tian Xingshu, began to stir up hatred against
Christian s, which the local magistrate supported. As a result, Zhang Tienshen, Wu Shuesheng, Chen Xianheng and Father Wen were all imprisoned and sentenced to death without a formaltrial . On February 18, the day of theirexecution , they met Yi Zhenmei on the road. She was also jailed and put on trial that very day and sentenced to death, because she refused to renounce her faith. The following day at noon, February 19, 1862, she was beheaded. Brave believers took the bodies of all five martyrs to the Liuchonnguan seminary grounds for burial. [http://www.chinesemartyrs.org/chinese_saints/19-e.htm]Pope John Paul II canonized St. Lucy Yi Zhenmei and her companions, theMartyr Saints of China on October 1st, 2000. Her feast day is celebrated on19 February in theRoman Catholic Church .See also
*
Consecrated life
*Martyr Saints of China
*Chinese Martyrs References
* [http://www.chinesemartyrs.org/chinese_saints/19-e.htm The Chinese Catholic Martyrs]
* [http://www.chinesemartyrs.org/chinese_saints/index.htm An account of the Chinese Martyrs]
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