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By Yi Whan-woo
Alongside a giant picture of 124 martyrs, the beatification mass held in downtown Seoul, Saturday, also featured unique, Korean elements illustrating the history of the Catholic Church in the country.
A portrait of Paul Yun Ji-chung, Korea's first martyr executed in 1791, and those of 123 other early church pioneers was unveiled as Pope Francis recalled their sacrifices and lifted them one step closer to sainthood during Saturday's ceremony at Gwanghwamun Square.
The oil painting is three meters wide and two meters long.
It shows the 124 martyrs, who were persecuted in the late 18th and 19th centuries, wearing traditional white clothing worn during the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1897). In their hands, they each hold a palm branch, a cross and a lily, symbols of victory, martyrdom and chastity in Catholicism.
Of the 124, 100 were men and 24 women. They included Anastasia Yi Bong-geun, the youngest martyr aged only 12 at the time of her execution in 1839. She is portrayed holding a bunch of lilies and a Rose-of-Sharon, Korea's national flower.
Father James Zhou Wen-mo, the only Chinese national among the 124 pioneers, was distinctively seen as he wore a red epitrachelion around his neck.
The Pope, as well as the group of bishops and priests, wore red vestments and epitrachelions, ceremonial stoles around their necks, during the mass that paid tribute to the martyrs of one what is becoming one of Asia's major Catholic countries. The nuns at Sisters Disciples of the Divine Master in Seoul designed and created the Korean clothing worn during the ceremony.
The Korea unit of the Italy-based nun community also made a statue of The Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus dressed in traditional Korean clothes. The statue was placed on the altar during the mass.
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