ST ALBERIC CRESCITELLI - 21 JULY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JULY

Saints celebrated on the 21st of July

WELCOME!

SAINT ALBERIC CRESCITELLI, PRIEST AND MARTYR

Born in 1863 near Naples, Italy, Alberic joined the Milan Foreign Missionary Society. On completion of his studies and formation, he was consecrated a priest in 1887 in the Basilica of Saint John Lateran. Fr Alberic was received by Pope Leo XIII and given the missionary crucifix. On April 2, 1888, he left Rome for Marseille where he boarded the steamship to China. 

HIS ARRIVAL AT THE MISSION

He arrived at his mission in August 1888. The Vicariate of Hanzhong (which is now the diocese of Hanchung and the mission site of Fr Alberic) was almost all non-Christian at the time, with a myriad of problems, including opium smokers who also infected the pious Christian minority. Fr Alberic learned the language remarkably quickly and made a point of blending in with the locals in appearance. 

FR ALBERIC'S MARTYRDOM

He worked in schools and missions along the Han River until the Boxer Rebellion brought chaos to China. In Beijing the decree of expulsion of all the missionaries and the invitation to Christians to apostasy in order to save their lives was issued. A group of boxers captured Alberic and hacked him to pieces in a most barbaric manner on July 21, 1900. 

The process of canonisation began in 1910 in China. Beatified in 1951, he was canonised in 2000.

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that we who know how courageously your holy martyr Alberic confessed the faith, may experience his goodness as he intercedes for us with you. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

➡️ The Martyr Saints of China