Dan-nae Shrine

Overview

The Dannae Holy Family Shrine is a shrine of the Diocese of Suwon located at the foot of Mount Waryong in Dancheon-ri, Hobeop-myeon, Icheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, where the body of Servant of God Paul Jeong Eun (1804–1867), who was martyred at Namhansanseong during the Byeongin Persecution in 1866, is enshrined. It is the hometown of Paul Jeong Eun and Peter Jeong Yang-muk, and it commemorates five martyr saints whose hometown is Icheon or who were active in Icheon: John Yi Mun-u, Peter Yi Ho-yeong, Agatha Yi Sosa, Sebastian Nam I-gwan, and Barbara Jo Jeung-i. Because most of the commemorated martyrs are family martyrs, it is maintained as a ‘Holy Family Shrine’ visited on pilgrimage for the sanctification of families.

History

The related-shrine guide of the Episcopal Commission for Beatification and Canonization of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea introduces Dannae as the oldest faith community and Catholic village in the Icheon area. Catholicism began in the Icheon area when Yi Chong-eok, son of Yi Gi-yang, became a student of Servant of God Ambrose Kwon Cheol-sin, and Yi Chong-eok attended the winter study gathering at Jueosa in Cheonjinam in 1779, when he was living in Dannae, Icheon. According to the introduction to the Dannae Catholic village, Yi Gi-yang came to live in Dannae, where his maternal family lived, from 1788, when he was about 45 years old, and Jeong Seok — written as Jeong Seop later in the same introduction — a cousin of Jeong Eun, is introduced as a man who, after the Myeongnyebang incident in 1785, went with a companion to the criminal authority to protest and demand the return of Bibles and Church books, and who was arrested during the Sinyu Persecution in 1801 and exiled to Gwangyang. It is said that his elder cousin Jeong Ok was also taken to Seoul under arrest in that persecution but was released, then died on the way home after being severely beaten. Unlike most Catholic villages of the early Korean Church, which later became non-Catholic villages after the apostasy of descendants, the introduction explains Dannae as an exemplary old Catholic village that has kept the faith to this day.

Among the saints martyred during the Gihae Persecution in 1839, those from Icheon are Peter Yi Ho-yeong, Agatha Yi, Barbara Jo Jeung-i, and John Yi Mun-u. Dannae is also the hometown of Paul Jeong Eun and Peter Jeong Yang-muk, martyrs of the Byeongin Persecution in 1866 (related-shrine guide of the Bishops’ Conference).

Paul Jeong Eun lived in Dannae, Icheon (now Dancheon-ri, Hobeop-myeon), and learned the doctrine from a man of the Jo family from Yangji who came to treat his illness, and thus entered the Church. He then taught the doctrine to his family and led them to accept the Catholic faith, for which he was also criticized by relatives. When Father Andrew Kim Dae-geon stayed in Eun-i, Yangji, and secretly administered the sacraments, Paul Jeong Eun welcomed the priest into his own house and received the sacraments, around the end of 1845 (brief biography of the 133 beatification candidates by the Bishops’ Conference).

When the Byeongin Persecution broke out in 1866, relatives came to Paul Jeong Eun’s house and forced the family to burn Church books and abandon the faith, fearing harm to themselves. Still he neither burned the books nor abandoned the faith. When Gwangju runners burst into Dannae village on December 19 of that year (November 13 by the lunar calendar), his sons Francis Jeong Il-dong and Philip Jeong Su-dong tearfully urged him to flee, but he said, “My legs are too weak, and I have no shoes to wear. And what good would fleeing do? It is right for me to be martyred for the Lord,” and meekly followed the runners (brief biography of the 133 beatification candidates by the Bishops’ Conference).

Peter Jeong Yang-muk, his second cousin’s grandson, heard that the runners had come and, wishing to be martyred, tried to follow Paul Jeong Eun. His wife clung to his clothes and earnestly tried to stop him, but he said, “Since my second cousin’s grandfather has been arrested, how could I, at such a time, fail to follow the example of Jesus Christ?” and confessed before the runners that he was a Catholic. The two were taken to the magistrate of Gwangju, and when asked to “tell where other believers are,” they consistently answered that they knew no believers, and bore witness to the faith amid interrogation and torture. After sharing prison life, they were martyred together on January 13, 1867 (December 8, 1866 by the lunar calendar) at the execution ground of Namhansanseong in Gwangju, by the punishment of spraying water on the face and covering it with hanji to block breathing, called death by white paper. At the time Paul Jeong Eun was 63 years old (brief biography of the 133 beatification candidates by the Bishops’ Conference). Peter Jeong Yang-muk is recorded in the brief biography as ‘1820?–1867’ and his age is given as 47 years old. A note to the brief biography states that the Dongnae Jeong clan genealogy found in 2019, the fixed edition of the Gimi-year genealogy of 1919, gives Peter Jeong’s name as ‘Yang-muk’ and his birth year as the Gyeongjin year (1820).

After martyrdom, the descendants of Paul Jeong Eun recovered his body and buried it on the hill behind Obang-ri in Dannae (brief biography of the 133 beatification candidates by the Bishops’ Conference). Because Peter Jeong Yang-muk’s body could not be recovered, soil was taken from the martyrdom site (Namhansanseong) and a cenotaph was made beside Paul Jeong Eun’s tomb (shrine guide of the Diocese of Suwon).

According to the chronology on the official homepage of the Dannae Shrine, the faith tradition of Dannae Shrine began when Paul Jeong Eun’s body was brought from Namhansanseong and buried in the present tomb. Later, Father Leo Jeong Gyu-ryang erected a cross-shaped tombstone at the martyr’s tomb to honor and protect devotion to the martyrs. The Icheon Shrine Development Committee developed this place to make known the martyrdom spirit of martyrs Paul Jeong Eun and Peter Jeong Yang-muk and their families, and held a blessing ceremony on September 15, 1987, officiated by Angelo Kim Nam-su, Bishop of Suwon (shrine guide of the Diocese of Suwon). The homepage chronology records this blessing ceremony, organized by Icheon Parish under the shrine name ‘Icheon Shrine,’ as the event that launched full-scale development of Dannae Shrine and Icheon Shrine. According to the Catholic Times series on the history of the Diocese of Suwon, Dannae Shrine and Eonong Shrine were originally developed together as ‘Icheon Shrine,’ and when the tomb of Blessed James Yun Yu-o was identified in the ancestral burial ground in Eonong-ri through descendants of Blessed Paul Yun Yu-il in September 1987 and proclaimed a shrine, the site of the Catholic village where Paul Jeong Eun had lived and his tomb were blessed together as a shrine. Icheon Shrine was divided in 2003 into Eonong Shrine and Dannae Shrine.

The homepage chronology then records in order the groundbreaking for the martyrdom memorial monuments to saint martyrs John Yi Mun-u, Peter Yi Ho-yeong, and Agatha Yi Sosa 3, the official approval of the venerable portrait of Paul Jeong Eun, the shift to a system with a priest assigned to the shrine, the completion of the Stations of the Cross, the creation of a cenotaph with soil taken from the martyrdom site of Peter Jeong (Sugumun at Namhansanseong), the groundbreaking for the church, rectory, and office, the authentication of 3-class relics of Saint Andrew Kim Dae-geon, the construction of the large Sacred Heart statue of Jesus, the Saint Joseph garden, the Black Rock Marian grotto, and the Gulbawi pilgrimage course, the completion and dedication of the large main hall and the installation of the Holy Family statue, the erection of the martyrdom monuments to saint martyrs 5, and the blessing of the retreat house ‘Dannae Spiritual Center.’ Paul Jeong Eun and Peter Jeong Yang-muk were included in the ‘Servant of God John Yi Byeok and 132 Companions.’

Architecture and Space

According to the shrine guide of the Diocese of Suwon, the Dannae Holy Family Shrine has a stream with abundant water flowing right in front and is embraced behind by Mount Waryong with its dense forest. Along the valleys and ridges of Mount Waryong, a pilgrimage course with a total length of 5.2 kilometers has been created, leading to the Sacred Heart statue of Jesus at the scenic summit of Mount Waryong, the Black Rock and Gulbawi Rock that sheltered persecuted believers around the time of the Byeongin Persecution, and along the pastoral route of Father Kim Dae-geon. The pilgrimage courses are offered in four routes, from the shortest Holy Family statue, Stations of the Cross, and martyrs’ tombs course of 300 meters (30 minutes) to 5.2 kilometers (1 hours 30 minutes).

As the main facilities and places in the shrine, the Diocese of Suwon introduces the following. Father Kim Dae-geon Road is a footpath from the shrine parking lot to the office, created as the shrine entrance road from the path Father Kim Dae-geon walked around 1845 when he visited Paul Jeong Eun’s house, administered the sacraments, and left for Golbaemasil. Holy Family Plaza is a large plaza at the lower part of the Mount Waryong valley with an outdoor altar and a Holy Family statue, where prayers for families, prayers for couples, prayers for parents, and prayers for children are offered before the Holy Family statue. In the Martyred Saints Plaza above it are an outdoor altar, a statue of Father Kim Dae-geon, and the cenotaphs of 5 martyr saints. Beside the plaza are the tombs of Paul Jeong Eun and Peter Jeong Yang-muk, and on the hill behind Martyred Saints Plaza are the 14 Stations of the Cross along the mountainside.

The large Sacred Heart statue of Jesus on the summit of Mount Waryong is reached by walking 15 minutes from the plaza, and from there one can view Dongsan-ri, the hometown of Saint John Yi Mun-u, and the pastoral route of Father Kim Dae-geon. Walking 20 minutes from the Sacred Heart statue along the valley leads to Black Rock, where Paul Jeong Eun and his family hid from persecution and prayed, and a statue of Mary has been erected there. Walking 30 minutes from the Sacred Heart statue by the hillside path leads to Gulbawi Rock, where Paul Jeong Eun’s family lived as refugees after being expelled with their property confiscated. At Marian Garden at the entrance to the small chapel is a small outdoor altar with a statue of Mary and a statue of Saint Joseph, where pilgrimage groups can each offer Mass.

Religious Significance and Visiting Context

The shrine guide of the Diocese of Suwon describes the Dannae Holy Family Shrine as a place of pilgrimage to pray for the sanctification of families and to seek the grace to live as a holy family. According to the related-shrine guide of the Bishops’ Conference, the commemorated martyr saints are Peter Yi Ho-yeong (1803–1838) and his sister Agatha Yi (1784–1839), Sebastian Nam I-gwan (1780–1839) and his wife Barbara Jo Jeung-i (1782–1839), and John Yi Mun-u (1810–1840). Paul Jeong Eun and Peter Jeong Yang-muk are second cousin’s grandfather and second cousin’s grandson (brief biography of the 133 beatification candidates by the Bishops’ Conference), Yi Ho-yeong and Agatha Yi are brother and sister, and Nam I-gwan and Jo Jeung-i are husband and wife (related-shrine guide of the Bishops’ Conference).

The martyrdom dates given by the shrine guide of the Diocese of Suwon are January 13 for Paul Jeong Eun and Peter Jeong Yang-muk, February 1 for Saint John Yi Mun-u, May 24 for Saint Agatha Yi (Sosa), September 26 for Saint Sebastian Nam I-gwan, November 25 for Saint Peter Yi Ho-yeong, and December 29 for Saint Barbara Jo Jeung-i. The official homepage of Dannae Shrine introduces this shrine as the site of ‘Holy Family martyrdom’ where families together bore witness to the faith, and announces that there is a Holy Hour on the first Thursday of each month and a Marian devotional Mass at 11 in the morning on the first Saturday of each month.

Related Places and Figures

• Namhansanseong: the execution ground of the Gwangju garrison where Paul Jeong Eun and Peter Jeong Yang-muk were martyred by death by white paper on January 13, 1867.
• Eun-i, Yangji: the place where Father Kim Dae-geon stayed and secretly administered the sacraments, and where Paul Jeong Eun welcomed the priest into his house.
• Jueosa in Cheonjinam: the place attended by Yi Chong-eok, then living in Dannae, Icheon, for the winter study gathering in 1779.
• Eonong Shrine: the shrine developed together with Dannae Shrine as Icheon Shrine in 1987 and separated in 2003.
• Father Leo Jeong Gyu-ryang: the priest who honored devotion to the martyrs by erecting a cross-shaped tombstone at the tomb of Paul Jeong Eun.
• Saint John Yi Mun-u, Saint Peter Yi Ho-yeong, Saint Agatha Yi Sosa, Saint Sebastian Nam I-gwan, and Saint Barbara Jo Jeung-i: the five martyr saints commemorated at Dannae Shrine.

References and Sources

1. Diocese of Suwon, Shrine Guide: Dannae Shrine. Confirmed the meaning of the shrine, pilgrimage courses and main places, blessing on September 15, 1987, cenotaph of Peter Jeong Yang-muk, and martyrdom dates.
   https://www.casuwon.or.kr/holyland/intro/10
2. Episcopal Commission for Beatification and Canonization of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea, Related Shrines: Dannae Holy Family Shrine. Confirmed the history of the Dannae Catholic village and the birth and death years of the five commemorated saints.
   https://cbck.or.kr/koreanmartyrs/Shrines/38
3. Episcopal Commission for Beatification and Canonization of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea, Brief biography of Paul Jeong Eun among the 133 beatification candidates. Confirmed entry into the Church, connection with Father Kim Dae-geon, arrest and martyrdom, and burial of the body.
   https://cbck.or.kr/koreanmartyrs/133-Martyrs/80
4. Episcopal Commission for Beatification and Canonization of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea, Brief biography of Peter Jeong Yang-muk among the 133 beatification candidates. Confirmed arrest and martyrdom, and name and birth year according to genealogy.
   https://cbck.or.kr/koreanmartyrs/133-Martyrs/81
5. Official homepage of Dannae Holy Family Shrine, Introduction to Dannae Shrine. Confirmed shrine chronology and meaning of the Holy Family Shrine, and Mass information.
   http://dannae.or.kr/about/dannae-about/
6. Official homepage of Dannae Holy Family Shrine, Catholic Village. Confirmed the early believers of the Dannae Catholic village and its meaning as an old Catholic village.
   http://dannae.or.kr/about/dannae-about/village/
7. Catholic Times, One Page of Suwon Diocesan History (5) Movement for Beatification and Canonization of Ancestors in Faith and Shrine Development (February 24, 2026). Confirmed development of Icheon Shrine and separation in 2003.
   https://www.catholictimes.org/article/20260220500031