1870 - Amélie-Caroline Legras

June 21, 1870

Tianjin

Amélie-Caroline Legras was born at Paris in 1834. In her late teens she had already cultivated an intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, and desired to serve him more fully. In mid-19th century Europe one of the few ways for a woman to do so was to take a vow of chastity and become a nun. Amélie-Caroline did this in 1854. As she commenced her service among the community a strong desire for foreign missions arose in her heart. She took this desire to be the call of God. After a time working in the northern French town of Arras, Amélie-Caroline was sent to Alexandria, Egypt, where she served for nine years. Her impressive character led to the following testimony:

“She possessed all those qualities which were most needful to render real service; intelligent, bright, clever, yet with a submissive spirit…. For that reason, she was considered capable of being sent to China to fight against the powers of darkness and to bring up in the true faith the children of the Holy Childhood in the orphanage of Ningbo [Zhejiang Province]. Nothing was so powerful with these little children as the sweetness and gentleness of her voice and manner.”[1]

In 1865 she joined the Daughters of Charity in Tianjin and was a great blessing to the work. She was a quiet and calm woman who engaged in much fervent prayer with God. Although Amélie-Caroline Legras was more experienced than most of the other nuns at Tianjin, she never tried to control the orphanage or convent, but saw herself as an encourager and edifier. Many tears were shed as people whose lives had been impacted by this generous Christian woman heard about her martyrdom in the Tianjin massacre. She was “literally cut in half, at the north-east angle of the chapel, in face of the choir.”[2] Legras was 36-years-old at the time of her death, of which 16 years had been spent in the fulltime service of God.