The Church remembers the Chinese Orthodox Christian holy martyrs who suffered for their faith during the Yihetuan Uprising in 1900. This is one of the tragic and at the same time majestic pages in the history of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in China.
The Yihetuan Rebellion, also known as the "Boxer Rebellion," was directed against foreigners and Christians. Its participants saw Christianity as a threat to the traditional way of life and called for the destruction of those who professed the faith of Christ. In the summer of 1900, unrest gripped Beijing. The Russian Ecclesiastical Mission was looted and burned, and its library, archive, and sacristy were destroyed. But the main loss was the lives of Chinese Orthodox Christians who did not renounce Christ.
On June 11, 1900, mass persecution of Christians began. Their homes were vandalized, and the believers themselves were seized, interrogated, tortured, and forced to renounce the Orthodox faith. Some, fearing torment, retreated, but many courageously confessed Christ until their death. Among them were catechists, teachers, women, children, and descendants of the Albazin people, the first speakers of Orthodoxy in Beijing.
A special place among the Chinese martyrs is occupied by the Hieromartyr Mitrofan Jichun, the first Chinese priest ordained by St. Nicholas of Japan. During the days of persecution, Orthodox Christians took refuge in his house. Father Mitrofan strengthened the faint-hearted and urged everyone to remain faithful to Christ. When the soldiers and Ihetuani surrounded his house, many were able to escape, but the priest himself, as well as the women and children, remained and suffered martyrdom.
Along with Father Mitrofan, members of his family also suffered. His wife Tatiana was executed the next day. The eldest son, Isaiah, also died for professing the Christian faith. Isaiah's fiancee, Maria, refused to hide and said that she was born near the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and wanted to die there. She was also counted among the martyrs. The youngest son of the Holy Martyr Mitrofan, eight-year-old Ivan, showed amazing courage after terrible torments and testified that suffering for Christ does not hurt.
A total of 222 Chinese Orthodox Christians were tortured during the persecution. Archimandrite Innocent, Head of the Beijing Ecclesiastical Mission, presented their list of names to the Holy Synod and petitioned for the perpetuation of the memory of the first Chinese martyrs. By a decree of the Holy Synod of April 22, 1902, it was blessed to build a temple in Beijing in honor of All the Holy Martyrs of the Orthodox Church and to establish an annual celebration of their memory.
The feat of the Chinese martyrs reminds us of the power of faith, which does not disappear in the face of fear, violence and death. These saints were simple people, but at the crucial hour they remained faithful to Christ and became the first Chinese saints of the Orthodox Church.
Holy Chinese Martyrs, pray to God for us!