Saint Jean-Gabriel Perboyre
Priest, Missionary, Martyr
(1802 – 1840)

Saint’s Life Story

His Early Life

Jean (John) was born on January 6, 1802 in Le Puech, a small village near Mongesty in the Cahors diocese of southern France. He was one of eight children born to Pierre Perboyre and Marie Rigal. Including Jean-Gabriel, five of the Perboyer children became consecrated religious – three priests and two nuns. He was the model of his companions during his childhood due to his piety.

Call to Priesthood

While acting as companion to his younger brother, in the preparatory seminary of Moutauban, Jean-Gabriel felt the Divine call to the priesthood. His parents, surprised, accepted the choice of their son and accompanied him with their encouragement. His paternal uncle, Jacques, was a missionary of St. Vincent. This explains why in 1818 the missionary ideal matured in the young Jean Gabriel. At that time, the missions meant principally China. But China was a faraway mirage. It was natural for Jean-Gabriel to choose the Congregation of the Mission founded by Saint Vincent de Paul in 1625 for the evangelization of the poor, the formation of the clergy, but above all to push those very missionaries toward holiness.

From 1818 to 1835, Jean-Gabriel was a missionary in his own country. First, in his formation period, he was a model novice and student. He was ordained priest on September 23, 1825, in the chapel of the Sisters of Charity, by Bishop Dubourg. On the following day, he said his first Mass.

Superior of the Seminary

Shortly after his priestly ordination, Jean-Gabriel was sent to the seminary of Saint-Flour to teach dogmatic theology, Two years later, he was appointed superior of the preparatory seminary of Saint-Flour responsible for the formation of seminarians. His great sanctity and marvelous success induced his superiors, in 1832, to appoint him subdirector of the novitiate in Paris.

Jean-Gabriel continued in this office until 1835, when he had sought and begged and prayed for, permission to go to China. His brother, Louis, also had entered the Congregation of the Mission. He had asked to be sent to China where the sons of St. Vincent had had a new martyr in the person of Saint Francis Regis Clet. During the voyage, however, the young Louis, only 24 years of age, was died. All that Louis had hoped for and done would have been useless if Jean-Gabriel had not made the request to replace his brother.

Missionary in China

Jean-Gabriel left Havre on March 21st. Then, on August 29, 1835, Jean-Gabriel arrived at Macao, where he spent some time studying the Chinese language. In December 1835, he began his journey to Ho-Nan, the mission assigned him. Three years later in 1838, he was transferred to the mission of Hou-Pé. Similar to his missionary work in Ho-Nan, Jean-Gabriel worked zealously and with great success serving the poor there. He helped his order rescue and care for abandoned children—he taught them through stories he told in his broken Chinese. In September 1839, the persecutions against Christians broke out in Hou-Pé.

Trials in China

In 1839, two events, apparently unrelated, clouded the horizon. The first was the renewed outbreak of persecution which flowed from the decree of the Manchurian emperor, Quinlong (1736-1795), which had proscribed the Christian religion in 1794. The second was the outbreak of the Chinese-British War, better known as the “Opium War” (1839-1842). The closure of the Chinese frontier and the pretense of the Chinese government to require an act of dependence from the foreign ambassadors had created an explosive situation.

On September 15, 1839 at Cha-yuen-ken, where Jean-Gabriel lived, soldiers came and used threats to force a catechumen to reveal the place where Jean-Gabriel was hiding. A series of trials began. The first was held at Kou-Ching-Hien. When Jean-Gabriel was asked, “Are you a Christian priest?”, he replied “Yes, I am a priest and I preach this religion.” When Jean-Gabriel was asked, “Do you wish to renounce your faith?”, he replied “No, I will never renounce the faith of Christ.”

They asked Jean-Gabriel to reveal his companions in the faith and the reasons for which he had transgressed the laws of China. But a witness to Christ is not an informer. Therefore, Jean-Gabriel remained silent.

Then, Jean-Gabriel was transferred to Siang-Yang. Here, he was held for a number of hours kneeling on rusty iron chains, was hung by his thumbs and hair from a rafter (the hangtze torture), was beaten several times with bamboo canes.

The third trial was held in Wuchang. Jean-Gabriel was brought before four different tribunals and subjected to 20 interrogations. During the questioning, he received tortures and the most cruel mockery. For not trampling on the crucifix, Jean-Gabriel received 110 strokes of pantse. During one interrogation he was obliged to put on Mass vestments. They wanted to accuse him of using the privilege of the priesthood for private interests. But the missionary, clothed in the priestly garments, impressed the bystanders, and two Christians drew near to him to ask for absolution.

His Martyrdom

The cruelest judge was the Viceroy who wanted confessions, admissions, and accusations against others. But, if Jean-Gabriel body was weak, his soul was reinforced. When Jean-Gabriel told him for the last time: “I would sooner die than deny my faith!,” Viceroy pronounced his sentence. Jean-Gabriel was to die by strangulation.

On September 11, 1840 with seven criminals, Jean-Gabriel was led up a height called the “Red Mountain” in Ou-Tchang-Fou, China. As the criminals were killed first, Jean-Gabriel reflected in prayer, to the wonderment of the bystanders. When his turn came, the executioners stripped him of the purple tunic and tied him to a post in the form of a cross. They passed a rope around his neck and strangled him.

Many circumstances surrounding his last year of life (the betrayal, the arrest, the death on a cross, its day and hour), are similar to the Passion of Christ. In reality, all his life was that of a witness and a faithful disciple of Christ. His body was brought back to France, where they were entombed for veneration in the chapel of the Vincentian Motherhouse in Paris.

Saint Jean-Gabriel Perboyre is the first saint associated with China.

Born:                   January 6, 1802 in Le Peuch (now Montgesty), Lot, France

Died:                   September 11, 1840 age 38 in Wuchang, Hubei, China

Beatified:           November 10, 1889 by Pope Leo XIII

Canonized:        June 2, 1996 by Pope John Paul II

Feast Day:         September 11

Patron Saint:    China

Source:

• • Saint of the Day – 11 September – St John Gabriel Perboyre C.M. (1802-1840) Priest, Martyr of the Congregation of the Mission – AnaStpaul
  • CatholicSaints.Info » Saint Jean-Gabriel Perboyre
  • Saint Jean Gabriel Perboyre – Saint for a Minute: Blesseds & Saints
  • John Gabriel Perboyre (1802-1840) – biography (vatican.va)
  • John Gabriel Perboyre – Wikipedia

Prayers

Video Link

Saint of the Week: St. Jean-Gabriel Perboyre – YouTube (The True Enlightenment!)