ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST Saints celebrated on the 8th of August WELCOME! SAINT PAUL GE TINGZHU, MARTYR Saint Paul Ge Tingzhu, born 1839, was a farmer of Xiaotun, China, and the leading Catholic layman in his village. In 1900 the Chinese quasi-religious faction known as the “Boxers” began a bloody persecution against Christians in China. AS THE SUN ROSE ON AUGUST 8, PAUL WAS SETTING OFF WITH A SHOVEL OVER HIS SHOULDER As the sun rose on August 8, 1900, Paul was setting out with a shovel over his shoulder to begin his routine farm labours when he was confronted by a band of Boxers. Having been told that the sixty-one-year-old farmer was a Catholic, the Boxers demanded from him a denial of his faith. Paul answered, ‘Absolutely not!’ THEY TIED HIM TO A TREE AND DEMANDED THAT HE APOSTATISE The Boxers prepared to kill him on the spot. Paul interrupted them, insisting that insofar as the ground they were standing on belonged to another farmer, they should take him to his o...