Saint Peter Wu Guosheng (1768–1814 AD)
Feast Day: July 9 (Holy Martyrs of China)
Saint Peter Wu Guosheng was born in 1768 in Zunyi County, Guizhou Province. Wu Guosheng has a strong personality and opened a large inn in Longping to cater to businessmen. One day, a Christian named Xu came to stay in his inn. Observing that Wu Guosheng had a bold and dominant personality, he thought: If he could persuade Wu to believe in the Lord, he would develop into a great instructor. Xu was able to arouse Wu’s desire to know God, and later on, Xu invited a church leader from Sichuan to preach to Wu. Wu admired the church leader’s words, such that he would insist to those who entered his inn to become Christian.
A priest from Sichuan Province came to Longping. Although the priest admired Wu’s enthusiasm, he was not agreeable to Wu’s tough method of evangelization. The priest advised Wu to go to Sichuan to learn the example of the more experienced church leaders. In Sichuan, Wu felt that his method was not in line with the holy teaching of Jesus, and he deeply regretted it. When the priest saw the change in Wu, he baptized Wu and named him Peter.
When the Christians were being persecuted, Wu did not leave the church. The officers forced him to apostate, but Wu refused and was put in prison on April 3, 1814. In prison, he led the believers to recite the scriptures and sing daily. He wrote letters to encourage his wife to long for heaven. When the magistrate tried Wu, he forced Wu to trample on the cross, but Wu would rather die than apostate. Wu was convicted and sentenced to hang.
On November 7, 1814, when he arrived at the execution grounds in Zunyi, Guizhou, Wu held a rosary, knelt down with joy, and shouted, “Heaven, heaven, my hometown! I saw the glory of heaven, I saw the Savior Jesus! I saw the Mother of God and my guardian angel coming down to meet me!” Wu was tied to a cross with a rope around his neck, and he gave up his life to God at the age of 46.
Wu Guosheng was canonized by Pope John Paul II on October 1, 2000 as one of the holy martyr Saints of China.