In 1858, Bishop DeLaplace of Chekiang Province in China was appointed to disinter the body and send it to Paris. Because of local wars, it was a dangerous 58 day trip to Wu-chang. Here he received the news that all the tomb-stones in the Catholic cemetery on Red Mountain had been confiscated for building extended city walls, as protect-ion against enemies. Also all the Christians and pagans, who had been present at the burial and who knew the location of the grave, had been dispersed by the war. It seemed an impossible situation. However the very next day, a Christian Paul Fong, son of Fr. Perboyre's catechist came to the house and said that he knew the location of the tomb; he had been 14 years old when he helped in the burial and had recently visited and seen the tomb, with the tombstone still on it.
Several Christians volunteered to help in the work and the trip was made to Red Mountain. Here there were two
amazing events. First of all, they found Christians and pagans digging up plants and roots in the area of Fr. Per-boyre's tomb. On inquiring, they were told that for years these plants and roots near Fr. Perboyre's tomb had the reputation of curing many different illnesses. Secondly, of the thousands of graves on Red Mountain, all the tombstones had been taken by soldiers to re-pair old defense walls for Wu-chang and to build new walls. Only 3 tombstones could be found intact on the entire mountain and one was that of Fr. Perboyre, even though it was only 7 or 8 feet from a newly constructed wall. The tombstone was in good condition and the Latin and Chinese carved inscriptions on it very clear. when the coffin was dug up, after 18 years, it was found to be unexplainably in excellent condition and unbroken. It was taken to the seminary and opened. The bones were found to be perfectly clean and intact. New cases were made for the bones and ashes, which were than taken back to Chekiang and finally arrived in Paris on Jan. 6, 1860. Here the relics were again examined, official documents written, the relics sealed in a triple coffin and buried inside the house of the Vincentian motherhouse.
Several Christians volunteered to help in the work and the trip was made to Red Mountain. Here there were two
amazing events. First of all, they found Christians and pagans digging up plants and roots in the area of Fr. Per-boyre's tomb. On inquiring, they were told that for years these plants and roots near Fr. Perboyre's tomb had the reputation of curing many different illnesses. Secondly, of the thousands of graves on Red Mountain, all the tombstones had been taken by soldiers to re-pair old defense walls for Wu-chang and to build new walls. Only 3 tombstones could be found intact on the entire mountain and one was that of Fr. Perboyre, even though it was only 7 or 8 feet from a newly constructed wall. The tombstone was in good condition and the Latin and Chinese carved inscriptions on it very clear. when the coffin was dug up, after 18 years, it was found to be unexplainably in excellent condition and unbroken. It was taken to the seminary and opened. The bones were found to be perfectly clean and intact. New cases were made for the bones and ashes, which were than taken back to Chekiang and finally arrived in Paris on Jan. 6, 1860. Here the relics were again examined, official documents written, the relics sealed in a triple coffin and buried inside the house of the Vincentian motherhouse.
