The story that follows was penned by a witness and participant: Father Antoni, a Catholic priest and missionary in China.
While it is shocking and serves as a record of appalling cruelty, it also inspires and uplifts with an extraordinary testament to faith.
“Do you still believe in what the priests tell you?”
I knelt at the place where Holy Communion was distributed, praying in anticipation of the next events. Every time I heard a noise in the church or a loud shout on the street, I braced for imminent death. But nothing special happened that day. I began to get used to the communist regime. However, it didn’t last long. One summer afternoon, an inspector came to the school with four soldiers. The men entered the room without knocking. “Times have changed for China,” the inspector loudly declared, “and all these pious objects will soon go to the furnace. Get to work, kids!” Soon, along with the soldiers, he began tearing down pictures, crosses, and figurines from the walls, placing them on the benches. He then ordered the children to put everything into boxes and take it to the toilet. The terrified children did not move. “Faster,” the inspector shouted, “or else I’ll use my revolver!” The children continued to resist. In the last row sat Pei – a little girl, with bitten lips and hands folded like a figurine. “You there, at the back!” the inspector yelled, heading towards her. Threatening the student and hurling the worst curses at her, he tried to force her to comply. Pei lowered her eyes but did not move. The other children were frozen with fear. There was a deadly silence… Suddenly, one of the soldiers pulled out a revolver and shot at the window. The children screamed in terror and began to cry. More and more people approached the school, puzzled by the noise. The inspector terrorized the girl with his shouting, but she still did not move. Only a large tear ran down her cheek. Looking at the group of people gathered in front of the school, the inspector ordered: “Bring me her father, and then gather everyone in the church!”
The girl’s father was brought in with his hands tied behind his back. Meanwhile, the church filled with residents. The father was ordered to stand by the railings, able to see his daughter, who was brought to the place of Holy Communion. The inspector muttered to himself, then spoke loudly: “You were taught that your God is omnipotent and resides here, in the tabernacle. I will show you how you were deceived. He can do nothing! He will soon be crushed under our boots and won’t even squeak!” The soldiers smashed the tabernacle doors with a volley of shots. A deathly silence followed. The inspector took a vessel, opened it, and poured all the Hosts onto the floor in the sanctuary. “Trample their God!” he shouted to the soldiers, who immediately obeyed. “And what do you say now?” Everyone held their breath. “Do you still believe in what the priests tell you?” he asked those gathered. He then turned to the girl’s father: “Answer!” “Yes, I still believe,” the man answered calmly. The inspector, inflamed with rage, yelled: “Bring him here!” At this moment, a non-commissioned officer approached the soldier and whispered something in his ear. “Everyone out of the church. Only the child is to stay!” the inspector ordered, clearly affected by the command. I, on the other hand, was locked in a coal room adjacent to the church. Inside, I found a hole from which I could observe the church’s sanctuary. I looked at the scattered Hosts and the trembling girl. Not much time had passed when a woman entered the church, richly dressed, adorned with bracelets and rings. She approached Pei with a smile, opened her arms, and said: “What have these people done to you? Come, I won’t do anything bad to you.” The girl began to sob and threw herself into the arms of the stranger. After a while, they both left the church.
“If there was such a girl in every town…”
In the darkness of my “prison,” I lost track of time. I prayed, slept, felt hunger, and my head hurt. There was a deadly silence around me. I suppose it was morning when I suddenly heard the quiet opening of the church doors. And who did I see through the hole? My little girl hesitantly headed towards the sanctuary. She stopped and looked around. Then she took a few more steps, knelt down, and respectfully picked up one Host with her tongue, consuming it. When she got up, she folded her hands and prayed with her eyes closed. Then she got up and disappeared. Almost the same scene repeated every morning, being the only consolation in my dark hideout. I eagerly awaited the next day when Pei would come again to consume the Host. The beauty of her childlike figure, radiant eyes, and shy steps filled me with true admiration. How many more times will I see her? One morning, when Pei was praying as usual after Holy Communion, the doors brutally opened. First, there was a wild cry, then a shot. The girl, supporting herself on her hands, slowly slid to the floor. Gathering her last strength, she took one more of the desecrated Hosts with her tongue. The soldier stood over her and watched her closely. Pei tried to get up one last time and fold her hands in prayer, but she fell lifelessly. A dull thud of her head hitting the floor echoed through the church. The soldier stared at her dead body, then looked at the scattered Hosts and left the temple with heavy steps.
As I was still contemplating the body of the young martyr, the door of the cell suddenly opened. The same soldier who had just shot the girl told me that I was free. Surprised, I thanked him and immediately rushed to the sanctuary. I had barely managed to kneel before the dead body when the soldier was already standing over me. “If there was such a girl in every town,” he said, “there wouldn’t be a single soldier fighting on the side of communism…” As soon as I buried the body of the martyr, a man approached me, took me to a car, and dropped me off at the border. Fr. Antoni
Jesus Overcomes All Evil
The heroic faith of a Chinese girl in the real presence of the Lord Jesus in the Eucharist reminds us that only the love of Jesus emanating from the Most Holy Sacrament can overcome all evil in humanity and in the world, heal all wounds of the heart, and liberate us from every form of enslavement. The love of Jesus is the most effective remedy. By receiving the Lord Jesus in Holy Communion and adoring Him in the Most Holy Sacrament, we submit ourselves to His healing.
To begin, one must come to Jesus and confess all sins in the sacrament of penance, and afterwards participate daily in the Eucharist and spend an hour in His presence before the Most Holy Sacrament. Anyone who does not lose heart and perseveres in this practice will experience a profound spiritual transformation and healing from all forms of addiction and enslavement, such as pornography, alcoholism, drug addiction, or gambling. In the Garden of Gethsemane, just before His Passion, the Lord Jesus said to His disciples: “So, you could not keep watch with me for one hour?” (Matthew 26:40). With these words, the Lord Jesus invites us to remain in His presence before the Most Holy Sacrament.
Saint John Paul II stated that “all the evil in the world can be overcome by the immense power of Eucharistic adoration.” By remaining in adoration, unreservedly trusting and surrendering ourselves to Jesus, along with all our weaknesses and tendencies to sin, we allow Him to spiritually transform us, strengthen our faith, liberate us from all forms of enslavement, and heal us from all maladies of the soul and body.
In his encyclical on the Eucharist, Saint John Paul II encouraged us towards daily adoration: “It is beautiful to stop with Him and, like the beloved disciple, to rest our head on His chest (cf. John 13:25), to feel the touch of the infinite love of His Heart. If Christianity is to stand out in our times primarily as the ‘art of prayer,’ how can we not feel a renewed need to spend more time before Christ present in the Most Holy Sacrament for spiritual conversation, in silent adoration full of love? […] The Eucharist is an inestimable treasure: not only its celebration but also its adoration outside of Mass allows us to draw from the very source of grace” (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 25).
Source: Ellen Lucey Prozeller, 32 Days. A Story of Faith and Courage, Boston 2016.
12/04/2024
