Subj : February 18th - St. Francis Regis Clet To : All From : rich Date : Sun Feb 17 2019 07:52:07 From: rich February 18th - St. Francis Regis Clet Vincentian Father of France, Missionary in China Francis Regis Clet, together with 119 other Blessed Martyrs who died in China, was declared a saint on October 1 of the Jubilee Year 2000. Regis Clet was born in Grenoble (France) on August 19, 1748.=C2 He entered the Congregation of the Mission (Vincentian Fathers) at the age of 21.=C2 He was ordained to the priesthood in 1773. For 15 years he was a Theology professor at the Major Seminary of Annecy.=C2 He was admired for his great kindness and way of life; they used to call him the "walking encyclopedia".=C2 In 1788 he was appointed Director of Novices at the Mother House in Paris.=C2 The French Revolution broke out a year later.=C2 He was compelled to leave France so he asked to be sent to the Missions in China. For 30 years he evangelized the big provinces of Kiangsi (Jianjxi), Houpe and Honan (Henan) with great enthusiasm.=C2 A violent persecution against Christians forced him to flee from his poor house.=C2 Betrayed by an apostate Christian for a sum of 30 coins, he was subjected to numerous humiliations and sufferings, which he withstood without the slightest complaint. He was condemned to death by strangulation.=C2 Bound to a scaffold in the form of a cross, the sentence was carried out on February 18, 1820.=C2 Fifty years later, his relics were brought to the Mother House in Paris where they now rest opposite the relics of his co-brother missionary, St. John Gabriel Perboyre, also martyred in China 10 years later (although canonized four years earlier, in 1996). The missionary spirit of St. Francis Regis Clet forms part of the rich missionary legacy bequeathed by St. Vincent to his children.=C2 He proposed St. Francis Xavier as a model for them.=C2 St. Vincent himself wanted to go to China.=C2 He was not able to make it but he exhorted his missionaries to go there. The first Vincentian missionaries arrived in China immediately after the promulgation of the decree known as the Decree of Tolerance in 1692.=C2 Primary task: open a Seminary for the formation of native clergy.=C2 The ban imposed on the Company of Jesus in 1773 occasioned the second arrival of Vincentian missionaries to China in 1785, following the steps of the Jesuits.=C2 One of them wrote (1788): "Our successors, the Vincentian missionaries, are men of honor, with exceptional virtue, talent and refinement.=C2 We live together as brothers.=C2 It is difficult to say whether in our house the Vincentians live like the Jesuits or the Jesuits live like the Vincentians". The French Revolution banned the Congregation of the Mission in France (1789).=C2 The missions of China gained in this event.=C2 The sons of= St. Vincent founded several diocesan seminaries and a novitiate for the Congregation, which came to have 20 priests and two brothers from among the natives. In 1811, the Emperor expelled all the Catholic priests from Peking, with the exception of three Vincentians who remained as professors. Others were also allowed to remain in the provinces, but with the condition that they would abstain from doing any kind of apostolate. St. Francis Regis Clet, St. John Gabriel Perboyre and many other companions of the mission represent, for the Vincentian Family, the heroic testimony of their missionary spirit and their great love for the Chinese people.=C2 Following their footsteps, a good number of Vincentian missionaries arrived in China from Holland, Belgium, Poland, Italy, United States and Ireland during the rest of the 19th century up to the beginning of the 20th century, When the Chinese Republic was founded in 1911, the Congregation of the Mission already had a Minor Seminary in most of their 14 vicariates, as well as three Major Seminaries, with a total of 260 Theology students and 875 minor seminarians.=C2 There were a total of 675 priests ordained; of which 450 were members of the Congregation of the Mission.=C2 When the Chinese hierarchy was established in 1946, many bishops were Vincentians and others had been educated in their seminaries. The situation of the Church in China was totally altered with the establishment of the popular Republic.=C2 Foreign missionaries were accused of being enemies of the state and deported (1949-52). More than 150 Chinese Vincentians clandestinely remained in China. Little is known about them.=C2 We know enough, though, to be sure that they were faithful to their vocation in the midst of all kinds of trials and difficulties. There are around 50 Vincentian Fathers in Taiwan and around a dozen more who are in Mainland China.=C2 Once more "the blood of the martyrs becomes the seed of Christians". May the "Lord of the Harvest", through the merits of many intercessors, such as the 119 martyrs who are counted together with our co-brother ST. FRANCIS REGIS CLET, promote the much-desired opening of China to the truth of Jesus. Fr. Fernando Espiago, C.M. Saint Quote: If the Father (Father Kim, i.e., Saint Andrew Kim Taegon) is imprisoned, I wish to follow his example, even if I have to give myself up voluntarily, so do not expect to keep me long in this world. -- Saint Teresa Kim Im I to her sister. Bible Quote: And in doing good, let us not fail. For in due time we shall reap, not failing. Therefore, whilst we have time, let us work good to all men, but especially to those who are of the household of the faith. [Gal 6:9-10] DRB <><><><> Prayer Lord, from Thee flows true and continual kindness. Thou didst cast us off, and justly so, but in Thy mercy Thou didst forgive us. Thou wert at odds with us, but Thou didst reconcile us. Thou didst set a curse upon us, but Thou didst bless us. Thou didst banish us from the garden, but Thou didst call us back again. Thou tooketh away the fig leaves that had been an unsuitable garment, but Thou clothed us in a cloak of great value. Thou didst fling wide the prison gates, but Thou didst give the condemned a pardon. Thou didst sprinkle clean water on us, and Thou didst wash away the dirt. --Gregory of Nyssa, Doctor & Confessor: --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2 * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4) .