The Irish standard., 1900-07-07

ists," and ten OF the Sisters OF Charity
of the same order, were massacred at
Tien Tsin, and the volume was intended
to prepare the way for the judicial pro-
cess of their beati6cation, completed by
Leo XIII, on Sunday, May 81, with
all solemnity. When the first Sisters
of Charity who had ever gone to China
arrived at Ming Po in December, 1890,
while the rebels (Tae-pings) menaced
that town, the Superior General, ad-
dressing his beloved daughters, remind
ed them that it should be their work
to merit by sufferings of all kinds the
glorious destiny reserved for the Church
in the vast empire that has groaned> for
so many centuries under the yoke of
Satan, and having reminded them OF the
two priests of the order already mar
tyred on the chinese soil, he prophet
ically exclaimed: "Why may we not
hope that some day Providence will
give us a like consolation by sending
us home from those distant shores the
remains of some Sisters of Charity who
will have suffered death for the name
of the massacre of the Sisters.
Then we come to the day of the mas
sacre, and learn how the French Consul
in uniform died with his Chancellor be-
fore the doors of the Consulate; how
the assassins arrived at the Mission;
how the missioners, taking refuge in the
church, were done to death, and the sa-
cred building was set on fire. The
murderers next proceeded to the hos
pital and orphanage of the Sisters of
Charity near the Church of Our Lady
OF Victories. The holy women were
preparing themselves for speedy death.
Their moral agony had been long and
cruel. Voluntary exiles of charity, they
thought themselves lost in town full
of demons. Saddened even unto death,
having seen to their native orphans, the
poor Sisters went from time to time to
shed tears in secret before the taberna-
Gle of their Divine spouse, and renew to
Him the offering of their lives for His
love.
F, But before their sick, their orphans,
and their little children, they remained
firm and strong, like their Divine
Mother on Calvary. The Sisters were
all assassinated and cut in pieces. Last,
but not least on the list of martyrs
named, was Sister Alice O'Sullivan, the
only Irish member of the Community.
She was leaving the chapel by the
northwest door, and was seized close by
the kitchen. The barbarians, seeing
saucepan of boiling water, threw it over
her, and she rushed to the northwest
facade Of the chapel; there she was f.
nally knocked down and killed. "A fire
was made and the bodies were roasted.
Sister Dutrouilth says: Every one in
the community and in touch with it
spoke in the highest terms of the Sister
from Ireland. The Protestant chaplain
the Rev. Charles Butcher, wrote to the
Times after the massacre: "The muir
der of the Sisters of Charity is an out
rage, not on a nation or a church, but
on humanity itself. AS chaplain to the
British community of Shanghai, have
had many opportunities Of seeing the
noble and devoted work of these ladies
taking care of the sick at the hospital.
One Sister was an Irish lady, whose
memory is cherished with affection and
gratitude by many of the community
here"
James Mercer, master of the British
ship Walton Harwick, Scotch Presby-
terian Freemason, the only British sub
ject in the doomed hospital previous to
the massacre, returning to Europe just
after the outrage at Tien-Tsin, wrote a
touching letter to the Cardinal Arch
bishop of Dublin, in order to discover
the parents of "a beloved child
Che names our heroine), who suffered
martyrdom for her Saviour's sake" He
says "she was at my bedside day and
night cheering my dropping spirits,
broken down with sickness and pain. 1
will not dwell longer on the characer-
istics of this minstering angel, who is
now with her redeemer." Yes, and in
her place among the blest beside the
Great White throne, while she wears
her glorious crown, she will pray not
only for the Chinese, but for her birth
place in poor, suffering, faithful ireland.
In St. Mary's Presentation Convent,
Irishtown, where she received her girl
hood education, secular and religious,
she was great favorite with the nuns
always, particularly with the late Sister
Agatha. Her brother, Rev. Daniel o.
Sullivan, of the Vincentian Order, Du-
bin, is gratefully remembered in Clon-
mel as having assisted at very success
full mission some years ago at St.
Mary's.
Referring to William Michael Byrne,
McKinley's district attorney at Wilm-
ington, Del, the Boston Republic says: