Saint Joseph Freinademetz was born in Italy in 1852 but wanted to be Chinese and he even said "I want to be Chinese in heaven." Saint Joseph spoke 7 languages. He ordained in 1875 and joined the Divine Word Missionaries when the congregation was only three years old. He was sent as a missionary to China in 1879 and spent the rest of his life there. He did all he did to be Chinese in order to convert the Chinese.
He worked with the Franciscan missionaries so his group could get acclimated. The bishop of Hong Kong planned to put Father Joseph in charge of the group and later ordain him as bishop; but Father Joseph wanted the bishop to give the honor to someone else. Christians were being persecuted in China. Father Joseph and his co-workers were chase, arrested, and beaten. Father Joseph preached to his attackers while they were beating him; they were so moved and impressed that they left. Father Joseph worked on the roads and missions to preach and teach for the rest of his life. He died on January 28, 1908 in China of tuberculosis and typhus. He was canonized on October 5, 2001 by Pope John Paul II.
"Love is the only language everyone understands."
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