Francis Ferdinand de Capillas

St. Francis Fernández de Capillas, O.P.
Missionary and Protomartyr of China
Born	August 15, 1607 Baquerín de Campos, Palencia, Spain
Died	January 15, 1648 Fu'an, Fujian, China
Venerated in	Roman Catholicism
Beatified	May 2, 1909 by Pope Pius X
Canonized	October 1, 2000 by Pope John Paul II
Major shrine	Dominican Priory of St. Paul Valladolid, Spain
Feast	January 15

Francis Fernández (or Ferdinand) de Capillas, O.P. (August 15, 1607 – January 15, 1648) was a Spanish Dominican friar who went as a missionary to Asia. He died in China as a martyr. He was canonized by Pope John Paul II on October 1, 2000, as one of the 120 Martyrs of China.

Capillas is honored by the Holy See as the protomartyr among the missionaries in China, and is considered the glory and pride of the Dominican Order.

De Capillas was born in Baquerín de Campos, Palencia, Spain, on August 14, 1607. At the age of 17 he entered the Order of Preachers, receiving the religious habit in the Dominican Priory of St. Paul in Valladolid. While still a deacon he was sent by his Order to do missionary work in the Philippines, landing in Manila during February 1631. Shortly after his arrival he was ordained as a priest.

De Capillas remained there for the next decade, working hard alongside his fellow friars. His own field of labor was the district of Tuao, Cagayan Valley, on the island of Luzon, where he was able to inspire a great flourishing of conversions. An apostolic soul and at the same very ascetic, he was able to join zeal to an extraordinary spirit of penance. He would take his short rest stretched out over a wooden cross and willingly not defending himself from the bites of the many insects infesting the region.

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