Source: Orthodox History
June 11, 2025
The Boxer Rebellion was an anti-foreign, anti-Christian uprising in China at the turn of the twentieth century. Its victims included a group of Chinese Orthodox Christians, who were brutally martyred on June 11-12, 1900. The following April, the Russian Orthodox American Messenger — the official magazine of the Russian Church in America, edited by St Alexander Hotovitzky — published a firsthand account of the martyrdoms, written by the head of the mission in Pekin (Bejing), Archimandrite Innocent. Here it is:
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Hard times indeed were those of the late terrible troubles for the Orthodox Christians in China. The native flock was not numerous. The Orthodox priests in China never made it their special object to achieve a rapid increase in the number of their native converts; but it has been the unanimous opinion of all that the Chinese greatly incline towards Christianity and that the grace of God has not passed by this people. The chief of our mission in Pekin, the Archimandrite Innocentius, has sent a report on the sufferings endured by the Orthodox Chinese. In his letter he says among other things:
Anyone who knows under what conditions the Orthodox work was carried on in China will not condemn the poor, neglected native Orthodox community. On the contrary, to it may be applied the words of Scripture on the spirit of Christ: “Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my spirit upon him and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets” (Matt. 12:18-19).
In the midst of the darkness of paganism, not only did the Orthodox community, weak and helpless as it was, preserve its faith in Christ, but it put forth true confessors of Christ during the last days of cruel ordeal.
... Read the rest at Orthodox History.
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