On January 6, 1802, St. Jean Gabriel was born to a devout family of eight children in Puech, France. Five of the Perboyer children, including Jean Gabriel, became consecrated religious: three became priests and two became nuns. While accompanying his younger brother Louis to the seminary, Jean-Gabriel recognized his calling and, at the age of 16, entered the Congregation of the Mission, founded by St. Vincent de Paul.
Due to the sanctity his superiors perceived in him, he was chosen rector and eventually master of novices in Paris at the age of 23, where he also taught theology.
When Louis, his younger brother, passed away at the age of 24 while en route to China to preach, Jean-Gabriel was requested to take over Louis' mission. He arrived on the island of Macau on August 29, 1835, and left for the mainland later that year.
Before being moved to Hou-Pé, he spent the first three years of his evangelistic work in Ho-Nan. In the brief time he was there, his missions were very successful.
In 1839, two unanticipated events cast a shadow over the future. The first was the resurgence of persecution following Quinlong's proclamation, which in 1794 forbade the practice of Christianity in Manchuria. The second was when the Chinese-British War, also referred to as the "Opium War," started.
One of the earliest Christians to experience persecution was Jean-Gabriel, who died on September 11, 1840, and did so in a manner that was strikingly comparable to the Passion of our Lord. He was deceived for a silver payment, stripped of his clothes, carried from trial to tribunal, continually beaten, and tormented until he was given the death penalty alongside seven other criminals. He was nailed to a cross and executed.
Pope Leo XIII beatified him on November 10th, 1889, and Pope John Paul II canonized him on June 2nd, 1996. St. Jean Gabriel Perboyre is China's first saint.
St. Jean Gabriel penned the following prayer before his death:
"O my Divine Savior,
Transform me into Yourself.
Grant that I may live but in You, by You, and for You,
So that I may truly say, with Saint Paul,
"'I live - now not I - But Christ lives in me.'"
Other Saints of the Day
Saint Patiens
Saint Almirus
Saint Felix & Regula
Saint Bodo
Saint Vincent of Leon