Little Li

During the 1950s, as Mao Zedong solidified his control of China, churches were attacked, closed, and even destroyed. Eleven-year-old Li watched as one Catholic church was attacked. The priest was arrested and imprisoned in a small, adjoining house. As they desecrated the tabernacle, the communist soldiers scattered thirty-two consecrated hosts over the sanctuary floor.

While the guard slept, little Li would sneak into the church and kneel before one of the hosts, doing a holy hour each night. At the end of her time in prayer and adoration, she would bend down and take one host onto her tongue and consume it.

She did this for thirty-two nights. On the thirty-second night, she was shot and killed as she placed her tongue on the host.

I invite you, my brothers of the Eucharist, to reflect on the reverence and the ultimate sacrifice of little Li. How do we approach our Lord as we walk down the aisle to receive Him? Are our hearts and minds prepared for that holy union? What care do we take not to defile the tabernacle we have become in receiving Him?

This reflection was adapted from the print version of an interview of Sophia Cornicelli, winner of the USCCB “Witness to Freedom” essay contest on the Catholic News Agency broadcast on June 26, 2023.