Vocation and Ministry
Before his ordination Metrophanes worked as a catechist. He was ordained to the priesthood at about age 25 by Nikolai (Kasatkin), Bishop of Japan. He initially resisted ordination, stating that he lacked sufficient abilities and charity for the role, but accepted under pressure from church leadership.
At the Peking mission he served for some fifteen years, assisting in translating and checking liturgical books under Archimandrite Flavian. Sources describe him as a humble person, very cautious and quiet, peaceful and dispassionate.
The Boxer Rebellion and Martyrdom
The Boxer Rebellion of 1898–1900 targeted foreign missionaries and Chinese converts to Christianity; the Boxers burned the Beijing mission's library. On June 10, 1900, approximately seventy Christians sheltered at Metrophanes's home. When the Boxers attacked, they punctured his chest, and he fell under a date tree.
He is identified as the first Orthodox Christian martyr to be killed and as the leader of the Peking Mission. On June 11, 1900, leaflets were posted in the streets calling for the massacre of the Christians and threatening with death anyone who would shelter them. His body was later placed under the altar in the martyrs' church during a commemoration in 1903.
Family
Metrophanes's wife Tatiana was executed by beheading on June 12, 1900, at the Xiaoyingfang Boxer camp. His son Isaiah, who had served in the military for 23 years, was beheaded on June 7, 1900. His son Ioann, age 8, was killed on June 10, 1900; the Boxers slashed his shoulders and cut off his nose, ears, and toes, and he died shortly after. A son named Sergiy is also mentioned as a priest who perished.
The Holy Martyrs of China
The Eastern Orthodox Church recognizes 222 Orthodox Christians who died during the Boxer Rebellion as Holy Martyrs of China; all 222 were members of the Peking mission. They were mostly members of the Chinese Orthodox Church, which had been under the guidance of the Russian Orthodox Church since the 17th century. Metrophanes (named in sources as Metrophanes Chi Sung) is identified as the first to be killed and as the leader of the mission.
The martyrs are termed new-martyrs, as they died under a modern regime. The Russian Orthodox Church allowed local veneration on April 22, 1902; ROCOR promoted church-wide veneration in 1997; and the Russian Orthodox Church officially canonized the saints on February 3, 2016. The Orthodox liturgical calendar for June 11 remembers the 222 Chinese Orthodox Christians, including Father Mitrophan, slaughtered in 1900. Despite the uprising, by 1902 there were 32 Orthodox churches in China with close to 6,000 adherents.
Note on Identity
Metrophanes Chang of Peking is commemorated with the Martyrs of China on June 11. He is distinct from St Metrophanes of Constantinople, commemorated on June 4.
