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Saint Amandina of Schakkebroek
Image: Photographer unknown, picture has been taken in the late 1800's · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Saint Amandina of Schakkebroek

Belgian nurse-sister whom the Chinese reportedly called the laughing foreigner

Rank
Saint
Kind
Martyr, Religious, Missionary
Life
1872 – 1900
Era
19th century
Feast
9 July
Countries
Belgium, China
BelgiumChina

Life story

Pauline Jeuris was born on 28 December 1872 at Schakkebroek, part of Herk-de-Stad in Belgium. Her mother died around 1879, and as her father left to look for work the children were placed with several households. At fifteen she became a Franciscan tertiary. She later followed her sister Rosalie into the novitiate of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary at Antwerp and took the name Marie-Amandine.

She trained as a nurse at Marseille to prepare for work in a hospital that the bishop in Shanxi planned to open. She reached Taiyuan-fu with six other sisters on 4 May 1899. According to some accounts the Chinese called her the laughing foreigner. She soon fell seriously ill, and had just recovered when the Boxers besieged the mission.

On 5 July 1900 the sisters were imprisoned with religious brothers, seminarians and lay people, and on 9 July they were beheaded at the governor's palace. The order's account says they sang the Te Deum before they died. Pope Pius XII beatified her with her sisters on 24 November 1946, and Pope John Paul II canonized her on 1 October 2000 among the Martyr Saints of China.

Works and witness

  • Became a Franciscan tertiary at fifteen
  • Trained as a nurse at Marseille for the mission in Shanxi
  • Reached Taiyuan on 4 May 1899
  • Beheaded with her sisters on 9 July 1900
  • Canonized on 1 October 2000

Saints from the same country

Saint Damien of Molokai, Saint John Berchmans, Saint Christina the Astonishing, Saint Lutgardis

References

  • Encyclopedia.com, “Jeuris, Pauline, St.” (New Catholic Encyclopedia) – born 28 December 1872 at Herk-la-Ville (now Herk-de-Stad), tertiary at fifteen, nurse training at Marseilles, 'laughing foreigner', illness, Te Deum
  • Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, “Canonisation of the 7 FMM martyrs in China” (fmm.org) – arrival 4 May 1899, 9 July 1900
  • Holy See, list of the Martyrs of China canonized 1 October 2000 (vatican.va)

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.