Little Martyr of the Eucharist

This is a real story from 1950s Communist China, told by Archbishop Fulton Sheen. It is very famous in Catholic Church.

The True Story of Little Li:

1. Place and Time:
When Mao Zedong took over China, Communists started closing churches. This happened around 1948-1952.

2. What happened in her church:
Soldiers came to her village church. They locked the priest in a small room attached to the church. They broke the Tabernacle and threw all 32 Consecrated Hosts (Jesus' Body) on the floor and stepped on them. All villagers ran away because of fear.

Little Li was only 11 years old girl. She had received her First Holy Communion just 2 months before.

3. What this small girl did:
Every night, she secretly came to the church. The priest was watching from his prison room, but he could not call her.

- She prayed for 1 hour (Holy Hour) before Jesus on the floor.
- Then she knelt down and with her tongue only (because in those days lay people were not allowed to touch the Host with hands), she picked up ONE Host from the dirty floor and ate it.
- She did this for 32 nights, one Host per night.

4. Her Martyrdom:
On the 32nd night, only one Host was left. As she put her tongue on the last Host, a Communist soldier saw her and shot her dead.

Even after being shot, with her last strength she crawled and consumed the last Host. She died in union with Jesus. This last Communion is called Viaticum - food for the journey to Heaven.

The priest later survived and told this story to the world. Archbishop Fulton Sheen said Little Li inspired him to do 1 hour daily adoration of Blessed Sacrament for his whole life.

This is why she is called Little Martyr of the Eucharist.

~ WA