Biography
Magdalene Du Fengju
About Magdalene Du Fengju
Magdalene Du Fengju was a young Chinese Catholic from Du in Hebei. GCatholic places her birth around 1881 and identifies her as a laywoman. She is distinct from her mother, Maria Du Tianshi, who died in the same persecution.
The account compiled by Per Einar Odden describes a family of two sons and three daughters. During the Boxer attack in June 1900, Magdalene, her mother and siblings hid near the village. Magdalene and a sister tried to reach a friend’s house, but she arrived after the door had closed. She was wounded by gunfire and left behind while the attackers returned to the others.
Odden recounts that a family acquaintance later found her alive and urged her to save herself by abandoning Christianity. She refused. The account says that she was buried alive with her mother and brothers. Its reported dialogue belongs to the later martyr narrative; no words are quoted here as an eyewitness transcript. Her sister escaped, so the family’s fate should not be described as the death of every child.
Her death is dated June 29, 1900. She was beatified on April 17, 1955.
John Paul II canonized her on October 1, 2000.
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