1900 - Zhang Huailu

June 9, 1900

Hengshui, Hebei

Zhang Huailu. [CRBC]

Zhang Huailu was born at Zhukotian village in Hengshui County, Hebei, in 1843. Zhukotian was the location of a Catholic mission station. Six or seven families in the community were Christians, but the Zhang household was not. When Zhang Huailu expressed his desire to follow Christ great opposition arose from his wife and children. Zhang was undeterred and attended catechism class. By the start of 1900 he had become a firm believer.

On June 9th of the same year, a mob of Boxers came to Zhang’s village looking for Christians. Zhang was caught, but the Boxers were unsure if he was a Christian. One source says,

“He was old and slow. Because of his poor memory, however, he could not recite his prayers, so many thought he was not Catholic, but he insisted. The Boxer leader, convinced that he was a Catholic, knocked him down, wounding him, and the others cut off his head. One time Zhang Huailu was heard to say, ‘I have a poor memory but no matter what happens I do love God with my whole heart. God saves my soul. It doesn’t matter that I cannot read’.”[1]

Zhang Huailu was a true worshipper of God, even though he had not yet been baptized. On the glorious day of his martyrdom he was truly baptized, not in water but by his own blood. This simple illiterate man gained a martyr’s crown, and has recently been recognised as a saint by the Catholic Church.