February 18
Francis Regis Clet (1748–1820)
Martyr
Practical advice
When collecting your heart in silence, avoid criticism and speak with charity about those who have hurt you as someone who works and prays under the loving gaze of God.
Biography
Blessed Francis Regis Clet (1748-1820) Born in Grenoble, France, the tenth of fifteen brothers, he entered the Congregation of the Lyon Mission, where he was ordained a priest. He was a theology professor, and they called him “Walking Library” because of his wisdom. After a novitiate where he learned the Chinese language and customs, Francis went to the mission of Kiangsi. There were 10,000 Christians scattered, taking refuge in the mountains because of persecution. For so many Christians there were only three priests and sometimes only Father Clet, walking from mountain to mountain, in disguise. He visited groups of Christians who had not seen a priest in twenty or thirty years. On his rest days, he would confess for nine or ten hours straight without ever losing his good humor. At the age of seventy, he was captured and thrown into a prison where he suffered torment for twenty months, at the end of which he was strangled to death. On May 27, 1900, he was beatified with 11 other martyrs of China.