ANDLAUER, MODESTE, ST.

Martyr, Jesuit (SJ) priest; b. May 22, 1847, Rosheim, Bas Rhin, Alsace, France; d. July 19, 1900, Wuyi, Hopeh (Hebei) Province, China. Modeste Andlauer studied in the minor seminary in his home town for seven years before beginning his year of philosophy and three years of theology in the major seminary. He entered the Jesuit novitiate at Saint-Acheul on Oct. 8, 1872, studied theology for two more years at Arras after his novitiate, then was ordained on Sept. 22, 1877, at Laval, France. Thereafter he taught German in Amiens, Lille, and Brest.

In 1881, he was sent to China, where he arrived the following year. He studied Chinese with his fellow martyrs Leon Mangin and Remi isorÉ at Zhangjiazhuang, before beginning his mission in Wuqizo and Wuyi, where he continued to preach and teach after the uprising of the Boxers in early 1899.

On June 18, 1900, Fr. Isoré arrived in Wuyi after a retreat to visit Fr. Andlauer. The Boxers had already arrived at the village to obtain the release of some of their fellows who had been imprisoned the previous winter. They delayed their departure upon hearing that a foreign priest was resident.

Realizing that probable martyrdom was at hand, the priests spent that night in prayer. About 6:00 p.m. the following afternoon the Boxers broke into the chapel where the priests were praying. The two were stabbed with swords and lances before being decapitated. Their heads were posted at the village gate as a warning to others. They were beatified by Pius XII (Apr. 17, 1956) and canonized (Oct. 1, 2000) by Pope John Paul II with Augustine Zhao Rong and companions.

Feast: July 20; Feb. 4 (Jesuits).

Bibliography: p. x. mertens, Du sang chrétien sur le fleuve jaune. Actes de martyrs dans la Chine contemporaine (Paris 1937). j. simon, Sous le sabre des Boxers (Lille 1955). c. testore, Sangue e palme sul fiume giallo. I beati martiri cinesi nella persecuzione della Boxe Celi Sud-Est, 1900 (Rome 1955). j. n. tylenda, Jesuit Saints & Martyrs (Chicago 1998), 173–75. L'Osservatore Romano, Eng. Ed. 40 (2000): 1–2, 10.

[k. i. rabenstein]