Saint Amandina of Schakkebroek (28 December 1872 – 9 July 1900), born Pauline Jeuris, was a Franciscan sister of Belgian origin who served in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. She was

beatified Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their nam ...

and canonized together with other

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

s of the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by ...

Background

Her official name was "Marie-Pauline Jeuris". Her father was Cornelius Jeuris, born on 25 February 1830 and her mother was Agnes Thijs, born on 13 May 1836. Her mother died on 27 October 1879 with the birth of the ninth child. Pauline was the seventh child.

Education

When she was only seven years old, Pauline had already lost her mother. Until the age of fifteen she was placed with a neighbour woman (Celis-Jans). Thereafter she stayed for two years with the family Van Schoonbeek-Jans. She attended primary school with the sisters

Ursulines The Ursulines, also known as the Order of Saint Ursula (post-nominals: OSU), is an enclosed religious order of consecrated women that branched off from the Angelines, also known as the Company of Saint Ursula, in 1572. Like the Angelines, they t ...

Herk-de-Stad Herk-de-Stad (; french: Herck-la-Ville, ) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg. On 1 January 2018, Herk-de-Stad had a total population of 12,661. The total area is 42.83 km² which gives a population density of ...

. In 1886 she was serving with the Sisters of Love congregation in Sint-Truiden, which also allowed her to study. Her elder sister Marie had already joined this congregation and her two-years-older sister Rosalie also had already worked there for two years. On 2 August 1892 she went to

Hasselt Hasselt (, , ; la, Hasseletum, Hasselatum) is a Belgian city and municipality, and capital and largest city of the province of Limburg in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is known for its former branding as "the city of taste", as well as its ...

to assist the household of her sister Anna, struck by illness and widowed with four children.

Religious life

She entered the Institute of

Franciscan Missionaries of Mary , image = Mariadelapasion2.jpg , size = 175px , caption = Blessed Mary of the Passion foundress of the congregation , abbreviation = F.M.M , motto = , formation = , founder = Hélène de Chappotin(Sister ...

with the name Marie Amandine. Her first assignment was to go to Marseilles to nurse the sick, also completing a sacrament. Her second was in Taiyuan to work in the mission hospital. Her humor, friendliness, and healing with laughter gained her the esteem of the Chinese, who called her "the laughing foreigner". In the course of the

, an edict was issued on 1 July 1900 which, in substance, said that the time of good relations with European missionaries and their Christians was now past: that the former must be repatriated at once and the faithful forced to apostatize, on penalty of death. When she heard the news that a persecution was approaching St. Amandine said: "I pray God, not to save the martyrs, but to fortify them." With true Franciscan joy she and her companions met their deaths singing the ''

Te Deum The "Te Deum" (, ; from its incipit, , ) is a Latin Christian hymn traditionally ascribed to AD 387 authorship, but with antecedents that place it much earlier. It is central to the Ambrosian hymnal, which spread throughout the Latin Chur ...

'', the hymn of thanksgiving. Seven sisters, including St. Marie Amandina, were martyred on 9 July 1900 and were canonized on 1 October 2000 along with other Martyr Saints of China.

References

* Heldin in China, ''Jacques Van Baelen'', Galerij van Vlaamse Groten, Nr 3, 1967, Uitgeverij Saeftinge pvba, Blankenberge. * Zuster Amandina in China, ''Geert De Sutter'', Pastoraal Informatiecentrum vzw, D/2000/1671/4 900202010 Hasselt.

External links

Maria Amandina at Franciscan Missionaries of Mary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amandina Of Schakkebroek 1872 births 1900 deaths Belgian Roman Catholic saints Franciscan Missionaries of Mary 19th-century Christian saints People from Herk-de-Stad Canonizations by Pope John Paul II 19th-century Belgian Roman Catholic nuns 19th-century Roman Catholic martyrs People of the Boxer Rebellion