⛪ Saint Joseph Zhang Dapeng - Martyr

⛪ Saint of the Day : March 12

⛪ Other Names :

• Iosephus Zhang Depeng

• Joseph Tchang Taong

• Joseph Tshang-ta-Pong

• Ruose

⛪ Memorial :

28 September as one of the Martyrs of China

⛪ Born :

c.1754 in Duyun, Guizhou Province, China

⛪ Died :

• Strangled to death on 12 March 1815 in Guiyang, Guizhou, China

• Buried in Xijiaotang, China

• Grass from his grave has become part of local folk remedies

⛪ Canonized :

1 October 2000 by Pope John Paul II

St. Joseph (Joseph) Zhang Dapeng, a Chinese martyr, was born in 1754 in Duyunu, in the province of Kweichow, southwestern China. Until he met Christian, he was initially a Buddhist and a Taoist. From 1794, he lived in Guìyáng, the capital of the province of Guìzhō, and engaged in trading in silk. Then he came into contact with Christianity. He studied Christian works diligently, reflected on the problems of faith, and talked to them with a missionary and other Christians. He realized that only Christianity answers the most important questions: about the meaning of life, of death, and of transboundary life. He turned around, but he only crossed the 1800s, at the age of 46, despite the opposition of his family and business partners. He inherited the house he had made available to missionaries and baptismal trainees. He became the fiery apostle of Christ's faith, and Christianity was accepted by his wife and son Antun (Dewang Dapeng, born 1793). He took particular care of the poor, the sick and the children. In Guìyang in 1808, he opened and led a school where he, as a teacher, did a lot for the upbringing of youth. He turned to Christianity for more than 1,000 people. When the persecution of Christians began in 1811, Joseph fled to the province of Sichuan.

According to the wishes of Bishop Dufresse there, he returned to Guìyáng, although it was very dangerous. The persecutors first seized Joseph's son Antun, who did not want to give away his father's shelter. He'd rather go to exile in 1813 and died. In 1814, Josip issued his cohort to the persecutors. At the trial, mandarins promised honor and money only if they renounced faith, but he was firm and unbreakable. When they led him to the ground, he cried. Some were tempted by the Christian to be brave, and the martyr rebuked him to cry not because of the lack of courage, but because of the happiness that he was going to die for his faith. He was deeply aware that the martyr's death was the greatest mercy of his life, and it moved him to tears. They hung him on the hangers in the form of a cross and strangled the ropes, so he died on the cross as his divine teacher and model Jesus Christ. The martyr Himself formed himself into life and death, and became a shareholder and his resurrection. Josip Zhang Dapeng died of martyrdom on this day, March 12, 1815, in Guìyáng. He was proclaimed by the Blessed man on February 12, 1909, Pope Pius X, and on October 1, 2000, Pope John Paul II.