MIRACULOUS MIRACLES™

Saint — Jean-Gabriel Perboyre, CM

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St. Jean-Gabriel Perboyre, CM
January 6, 1802 AD, Puech, Cahors, Kingdom of France — September 11, 1840 AD, Wuchang, Hubei, Qing Empire (China) — strangled at the cross
French Vincentian martyr of China; first Chinese-mission martyr canonized
Chapel of the Vincentians, 95 rue de Sèvres, Paris, France — his shrine, France
Feast
September 11
Canonized
Canonized June 2, 1996 by Pope St. John Paul II
✠ MartyrStrangled on a cross at Wuchang, China → The Martyrs
Life

Jean-Gabriel Perboyre was born on January 6, 1802 at Puech in the Diocese of Cahors. In 1818, at the age of 16, Jean-Gabriel entered the Congregation of the Mission (Vincentians / Lazarists, founded by St. Vincent de Paul).

Ordained priest in 1826, Jean-Gabriel served as seminary rector at Saint-Flour and Paris until 1835. In 1835, Jean-Gabriel volunteered for the Chinese mission — following the vocation that had been established by his elder brother Louis Perboyre CM (who had died of illness en route to the Chinese mission).

In 1835, Jean-Gabriel arrived at Macau and entered the Chinese underground Catholic mission. For 5 years (1835–1840), Jean-Gabriel served the hidden Chinese Catholic community in Hubei province.

Arrested by Qing authorities in September 1839 during the systematic Catholic persecution under Emperor Daoguang, Jean-Gabriel was subjected to 20 court examinations and systematic torture.

On September 11, 1840, Jean-Gabriel was strangled at a cross-shaped stake at Wuchang — becoming the first Vincentian martyr canonized.

Miracles & Phenomena

  • The first canonized Chinese-mission martyr

    St. Jean-Gabriel Perboyre's martyrdom at Wuchang on September 11, 1840 — the first canonized Chinese-mission martyr in Catholic history — established the 19th-century Catholic Chinese-mission martyr tradition. The Perboyre-tradition underpinned the Chinese Catholic martyr tradition.

Relics
  • Body
    Relics of St. Jean-Gabriel Perboyre
    Chapel of the Vincentians, 95 rue de Sèvres, Paris, France — shrine

    His relics rest at the Vincentian mother-house at 95 rue de Sèvres in Paris.

Iconography
  • Perboyre at the cross-stake at Wuchang

    The 19th-century French Vincentian being strangled at the cross-shaped stake at Wuchang on September 11, 1840 — the iconography of Catholic Chinese-mission martyr tradition.

Patronages
Congregation of the Mission (Vincentians / Lazarists)Catholic Chinese missions traditionDiocese of Cahors (France)
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