From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   May 26th - Blessed Peter Sanz, OP BM (AC)   
      
   Born in Asco, Catalonia, Spain, 1680; died at Fu-tsheu, China, in 1747;   
   beatified in 1893 by Pope Leo XIII.   
   The viceroy of Peking wrote this about the five martyrs that included Peter   
   Sanz: "What are we to do with these men? Their lives are certainly   
   irreproachable; even in prison they convert men to their opinions, and their   
   doctrines so seize upon the heart that their adepts fear neither torments   
   nor   
   captivity. They themselves are joyous in their chains. The jailors and their   
   families become their disciples, and those condemned to death embrace their   
   religion. To prolong this state is only to give them the opportunity of   
   increasing the number of Christians."   
      
   Peter Sanz was among the first group of martyrs in Tonkin, which also   
   included   
   Bishop Francis Serrano, Father Joachim Royo, Father John Alcober, and Father   
   Francis Diaz.   
      
   Peter Sanz was professed a Dominican at Lerida when he was 18 (1697). He was   
   ordained in 1704, volunteered for the Chinese missions, and was sent to   
   Manila,   
   The Philippines, in 1713. After studying the language for two years, he   
   entered   
   China where he spent 31 years evangelizing the Chinese before he was   
   captured.   
   In 1730, he was nominated vicar apostolic of Fukien and titular bishop of   
   Mauricastro. When a renewed persecution of Christians flared up in 1746, he   
   was   
   accused of breaking the laws by converting thousands to Christianity by a   
   man to   
   whom he had refused to lend money, according to one account.   
      
   The five men, bound together by their vows and their work, were brought more   
   closely together during their imprisonment at Foochow. Fathers Serrano,   
   Alcober,   
   and Diaz were captured first, and tortured to reveal the whereabouts of   
   Bishop   
   Sanz. They did not break down, but the bishop and Father Royo, hearing about   
   the   
   torture, surrendered in the hope of sparing their brothers' suffering, says   
   another account.   
      
   The five priests were dragged in chains to the emperor's court, where they   
   were   
   subjected to frightful torments. All of them, with a catechist named Ambrose   
   Kou, were sentenced to death in December 1746. During the long imprisonment,   
   a   
   Dominican, Father Thomas Sanchez, managed to see them. He brought them some   
   clothes and a little money, and all the news he could find.   
      
   On May 25, 1747, Bishop Sanz was beheaded at Fu-tsheu. Even the pagans were   
   impressed with his gentle demeanor as he was led out to die, and a fellow   
   prisoner who had been converted in prison, followed him closely through the   
   mob,   
   openly proclaiming his sanctity. As the headsman prepared to swing the axe,   
   the   
   venerable bishop looked at him and said, "Rejoice with me, my friend; I am   
   going   
   to heaven!"   
      
   "I wish I were going with you!" blurted out the unhappy man.   
      
   Laying his head upon the block, the bishop preached his last sermon: "If you   
   want to save your soul, my friend, you must obey the law of God!" Pagan   
   friends   
   of the priests scurried through the crowd, gathering up the relics which   
   they   
   saved for the Christians. Many of these people, including the executioner,   
   were   
   later baptized.   
      
   On October 20, 1747, after the death of Sanz, word arrived that Father   
   Serrano   
   was had been appointed titular bishop of Tipsa and coadjutor to Blessed   
   Peter   
   Sanz. At that point, he and the others were summarily executed at Fukien   
   (Benedictines, Delaney, Dorcy).   
      
      
   Saint Quote   
   "Resist your impatience faithfully, practicing, not only with reason, but   
   even   
   against reason, holy courtesy and sweetness to all, but especially to those   
   who   
   weary you the most"   
   --St. Francis de Sales   
      
   (Taken from the book "A Year with the Saints".  May - Meekness)   
      
   Bible Quote   
   19 And the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into   
   heaven,   
   and sitteth on the right hand of God. 20 But they going forth preached every   
   where: the Lord working withal, and confirming the word with signs that   
   followed.   (Mark 16:19-20)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Canticle Ephesians 1   
      
   God the Saviour   
      
   Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,   
   who has blessed us, in Christ, with every spiritual blessing in heaven.   
      
   In love, he chose us before the creation of the world,   
   to be holy and spotless in his sight.   
      
   He predestined us to be his adopted children through Jesus Christ,   
   simply because it pleased him to do so.   
      
   This he did for the praise of the glory of his grace,   
   of his free gift of us to his Beloved,   
   in whose blood we have gained redemption,   
   and the forgiveness of our sins.   
      
   This he did according to the riches of his grace,   
   which he gave us in abundance,   
   with all wisdom and discernment,   
   revealing to us the mysteries of his will,   
   because it pleased him to do so.   
      
   In this action he has planned, in the fulfilment of time,   
   to bring all things together in Christ,   
   from the heavens and from the earth.   
      
   Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,   
    as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,   
    world without end.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)