Saint Joseph Freinademetz was born on April 15, 1852 in a town called Badia. This town was located in what was then known as Austria, today it can be located in Italy. His parents’ names were Anna Maria and Giovanmattia, and their marriage brought them four children. The two raised their four children like typical parents of their time. On July 25, 1875 Saint Joseph Freinademetz was ordained. This was after years of studying theology.
Saint Joseph Freinademetz began his life as a priest in San Martino. He enjoyed his time there and was a good priest. Joseph always thought about being a missionary though. After contacting Saint Arnold Janssen, he would travel to Steyl and do just that.
Some of Saint Jospeh’s most important work came while he was in Hong Kong. Joseph traveled to Hong Kong with John Baptist Anzer, and the two remained there for two years. Their job was to try and make more Christians out of the Chinese because very few of them were Christians at the time.
Saint Joseph rewrote religious books in Chinese and taught the Chinese who were interested in learning of Christianity. Saint Joseph got sick with tuberculosis at this point, and was forced to travel to Japan to receive proper care. He would return to take over the lead position of the operation in China.
There was an outbreak of typhus in this time, and he helped wherever he could, until he himself became infected. He returned to Taikia, South Shandong, where he died. He was buried in Taikia, at the twelfth station on the Way of the Cross.
After a few years of successful work in China, a wave of typhus swept the lands. Saint Joseph helped out anybody who needed it during these times. However, his contact with those who were infected, caused him to become ill. On January 28, 1908 Saint Joseph Freinademetz would pass away due to his sickness. Saint Jospeh was canonized on October 5, 2003. His feast day falls on January 28th each year.
