Saint of the Day

01 · Read · A life to discover

St. Augustine Zhao Rong

Augustine Zhao Rong was a Chinese soldier whose encounter with Bishop John Gabriel Taurin Dufresse helped lead him to Christianity. After baptism, he entered formation and became a diocesan priest, serving during a period of restrictions and persecution.

His passage from soldier to Christian priest is the distinctive movement in his story. The conduct of a Christian prisoner could become a form of witness even within the machinery of persecution. Conversion then led him to training and service rather than ending with a private change of belief.

The official account places the 120 martyrs within a long and varied history of Christianity in China. They should not be treated as people from one execution or a single political episode. Augustine’s individual ministry and death belong to an earlier period than many other members of the canonized group.

He was arrested, tortured, and died in 1815. Pope John Paul II canonized him with 119 other martyrs of China in 2000. The group includes Chinese laypeople and clergy as well as missionaries from abroad, killed across several centuries. Their shared memorial is July 9; it is not a claim that all 120 died on that date.

This saint is included on this recurring date in the U.S. Roman Rite calendar published by the USCCB. This reading guide gives U.S. calendar saints priority; the Mass celebrated on a particular year’s date can differ because of Sundays, seasons or higher-ranking celebrations.