A friend of mine recently sent me a unusual holy card. It honors St. Mark Ji Tianxiang, a Chinese layman who was murdered in 1900, along with dozens of other Catholics in his village, in the vicious persecution of Christians during the Boxer rebellion. That’s not the unusual thing. The Church has canonized many martyrs, including many Chinese martyrs. What’s unusual about St. Mark is that he was an opium addict who was barred from receiving the sacraments for the last 30 years of his life.
Mark couldn’t receive communion because his addiction was regarded as gravely sinful and scandalous. He prayed for deliverance from his addiction, but deliverance never came. Nevertheless he remained a believing Catholic. At his trial he was given a chance to renounce his faith, but he refused. It is said that he sang the litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary as he was led to his execution.
Saints are exemplary people. The Church creates them so we can learn from them. So what can we learn from St. Mark Ji Tianxiang?
For starters, he shows that anybody can become a saint—even a man who was kicked out of the church for giving public scandal. By canonizing him, the Church also signals a different attitude toward addiction than the one St. Mark’s pastors had a century ago. Drug abuse is sinful, but addiction is also a disease of the mind and body. Addicts today are not excluded from the sacraments because they are addicts.
I also marvel at St. Mark’s confidence in the mercy of God. He probably shared the village’s opinion of him—that he was serious sinner who was behaving terribly. He must have felt despair in his futile struggles and perhaps some bitterness too. But he persevered in his faith. I suspect that in his brokenness he met the suffering Christ. In the end, he went to his death confidently, trusting that love would receive him. May we all imitate St. Mark.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
It is unique opinion – addict has make it’s word definition being bias – but I agree with your sentences: “Saints are exemplary people. The Church creates them so we can learn from them. “
This is rather a unique and inspiring story especially for ordinary Catholics like us. I find that in each person, no matter how dark their life seems or how often they make the worst decisions, we can discover the goodness of the Lord. We can come to know their finest moment in faith and in life at the most difficult times.
Wow. I have never heard of this saint but his story is so inspirational. Thank you.
I love that this article about the Chinese martyr, St. Mark Tianxiang, followed the day after the feast of another beloved saint- St. Matthew the former tax collector!
This also reminds me of St. Andrew Wouters, one of the martyrs of Gorkum (who’s feast is also celebrated on July 9 together with the Martyrs of China). St. Andrew was a diocesan priest who led a scandalous life. He was a womanizer and fathered several children. When he was offered freedom in exchange of his faith, he made the famous reply, “Fornicator I always was; heretic I never was.”
This is a very inspiring story for me as in the past, when I sin too much I feel so guilty that it has stopped me going to Mass and has stopped me following Jesus because I think I’m undeserving. Before last Saturday I had missed mass for 2 weeks, was on holiday drinking too much and committing other sins I wont mention. I decided to try and get back on track and went to confession but had planned to sneak out before mass started and go back on Sunday but I stayed and the priest spoke about Saint Mark Ji Tianxiang and it taught me that I shouldn’t let sins I struggle not to commit make me commit other sins and turn my back on God but I realise I shouldn’t be complacent and and think it’s ok to sin but try harder to avoid the guilt that sin makes me feel.