#St. James Kisai

[thepastisalreadywritten]

SAINTS OF THE DAY (February 6)

On February 6, the Catholic Church honors the 26 Martyrs of Nagasaki, a group of native Japanese Catholics and foreign missionaries who suffered death for their faith in the year 1597.

During the 16th century, the Catholic faith reached Japan by the efforts of the Jesuit missionary Saint Francis Xavier (1506-1552).

Jesuit outreach to the Japanese continued after his death and around 200,000 Japanese had entered the Church by 1587.

Religious tensions led to a period of persecution that year, during which many churches were destroyed and missionaries forced to work in secret.

But few episodes of martyrdom took place during this time, and within a decade, 100,000 more Japanese became Catholic despite the restrictions.

During 1593, Franciscan missionaries came to Japan from the Philippines by order of Spain's King Philip II.

These new arrivals gave themselves zealously to the work of charity and evangelism, but their presence disturbed a delicate situation between the Church and Japanese authorities.

Suspicion against Catholic missionaries grew when a Spanish ship was seized off the Japanese coast and found to be carrying artillery.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a powerful imperial minister, responded by sentencing 26 Catholics to death.

The group was comprised of three native Jesuits, six foreign Franciscans, and several lay Catholics including some children.

Sentenced to die by crucifixion and lancing, they first marched 600 miles to the city of Nagasaki.

During the journey, they underwent public torture meant to terrorize other Japanese believers in Christ.

But all of the 26 held out courageously, even singing the hymn of praise “Te Deum” when they arrived at the hill where they would be crucified.

Three of the best-known martyrs of Nagaki are Saints Paul Miki, John of Goto, and James Kisai.

Though none were priests, all were associated with the Jesuits: Miki was training for the priesthood, Kisai was a lay brother, and John of Goto was a catechist preparing to enter the order.

Paul Miki offered an especially strong witness to his faith during the group's month-long march to Nagasaki, as he joined one of the captive Franciscan priests in preaching to the crowds who came to mock the prisoners.

The son of a wealthy military leader, Miki was born in 1562 and entered the Church along with the rest of his family.

He joined the Jesuits as a young man and helped many Buddhists to embrace Christianity.

His last act of evangelism took place as he hung on his cross, preaching to the crowds.

“The only reason for my being killed is that I have taught the doctrine of Christ,” he announced. “I thank God it is for this reason that I die. I believe that I am telling the truth before I die.”

“After Christ's example, I forgive my persecutors. I do not hate them. I ask God to have pity on all, and I hope my blood will fall on my fellow men as a fruitful rain.”

St. Paul Miki and his 25 companions were stabbed to death with lances on 5 February 1597, at the site that became known as “Martyrs' Hill.”

The Martyrs of Nagasaki were beatified by Pope Urban VIII on 14 September 1627 and canonized by Pope Pius IX on 8 June 1862.

[tinyshe]

More Saints of the Day February 6

St. Paul Miki

St. Alfonso Maria Fusco

St. Amand

St. Antholian

St. Anthony Dainan

St. Bonaventure of Miako

St. Cosmas

Bl. Diego De Avezedo

St. Dorothy

St. Francesco Spinelli

St. Francis Nagasaki

St. Francis of St. Michael

St. James Kisai

St. John Soan de Goto

St. Martin de Aguirre

St. Martin Loynaz of the Ascension

St. Matthias of Meako

St. Mel

St. Michael Kozaki

St. Mun

St. Peter Shukeshiko

St. Relindis of Maaseik

Sts. Saturninus, Theophilus, & Revocata

St. Tanco

St. Theophilus the Lawyer

St. Thomas Danki

St. Thomas Kozaki

St. Vedast

St. Vedas

[thelivesofthesaints]

February 5 - The Martyrs of Japan - 16th & 17th Century A.D

See the triumph of the martyrs of Japan, by F. Trigault, from the year 1612 to 1620, the history of Japan, by F. Crasset, to the year 1658, and that by the learned F. Charlevolx in nine volumes: also the life of F. Spinola, &c.

The empire of Japan, so called from one of the islands of which it is composed, was discovered by certain Portuguese merchants, about the year 1541. It is generally divided into several little kingdoms, all which obey one sovereign emperor. The capital cities are Meaco and Jedo. The manners of this people are the reverse of ours in many things. Their characteristic is pride, and an extravagant love of honor. They adore idols of grotesque shapes, by which they represent certain famous wicked ancestors: the chiefest are Amida and Xacha. Their priests are called Bonzas, and all obey the Jaco, or high-priest. St. Francis Xavier arrived in Japan in 1549, baptized great numbers, and whole provinces received the faith. The great kings of Arima, Bungo, and Omura, sent a solemn embassy of obedience to pope Gregory XIII. in 1582: and in 1587 there were in Japan above two hundred thousand Christians, and among these several kings, princes, and bonzas, but in 1588, Cambacundono, the haughty emperor, having usurped the honors of a deity, commanded all the Jesuits to leave his dominions within six months: however, many remained there disguised. In 1593, the persecution was renewed, and several Japanese converts received the crown of martyrdom. The emperor Tagcosama, one of the proudest and most vicious of men, was worked up into rage and jealousy by a suspicion suggested by certain European merchants desirous of the monopoly of this trade, that the view of the missionaries in preaching the Christian faith was to facilitate the conquest of their country by the Portuguese or Spaniards. Three Jesuits and six Franciscans were crucified on a hill near Nangasaqui in 1597. The latter were partly Spaniards and partly Indians, and had at their head F. Peter Baptist, commissary of his Order, a native of Avila, in Spain. As to the Jesuits, one was Paul Michi, a noble Japanese and an eminent preacher, at that time thirty-three years old. The other two, John Gotto and James Kisai, were admitted into the Society in prison a little before they suffered. Several Japanese converts suffered with them. The martyrs were twenty-six in number, and among them were three boys who used to serve the friars at mass; two of them were fifteen years of age, and the third only twelve, yet each showed great joy and constancy in their sufferings. of these martyrs, twenty-four had been brought to Meaco, where only a part of their left ears was cut off; by a mitigation of the sentence which had commanded the amputation of their noses and both ears. They were conducted through many towns and public places, their cheeks stained with blood, for a terror to others. When the twenty-six soldiers of Christ were arrived at the place of execution near Nangasaqui, they were allowed to make their confession to two Jesuits of the convent, in that town, and being fastened to crosses by cords and chains, about their arms and legs, and an iron collar about their necks, were raised into the air, the foot of each cross falling into a hole prepared for it in the ground. The crosses were planted in a row, about four feet asunder, and each martyr had an executioner near him with a spear ready to pierce his side, for such is the Japanese manner of crucifixion. As soon as all the crosses were planted, the executioners lifted up their lances, and at a signal given, all pierced the martyrs almost in the same instant; upon which they expired and went to receive the reward of their sufferings. Their blood and garments were procured by Christians, and miracles were wrought by them. Urban VIII. ranked them among the martyrs, and they are honored on the 5th of February, the day of their triumph. The rest of the missionaries were put on board a vessel, and carried out of the dominions, except twenty-eight priests, who stayed behind in disguise. Tagcosama dying, ordered his body should not be burned, as was the custom in Japan, but preserved enshrined in his palace of Fuximi, that he might be worshipped among the gods under the title of the new god of war. The most stately temple in the empire was

built to him, and his body deposited in it. The Jesuits returned soon after, and though the missionaries were only a hundred in number, they converted, in 1599, forty thousand, and in 1600, above thirty thousand, and built fifty churches; for the people were highly scandalized to see him worshipped as a god, whom they had remembered a most covetous, proud, and vicious tyrant. But in 1602, Cubosama renewed the bloody persecution, and many Japanese converts were beheaded, crucified, or burned. In 1614, new cruelties were exercised to overcome their constancy, as by bruising their feet between certain pieces of wood, cutting off or squeezing their limbs one after another, applying red-hot irons or slow fires. flaying off the skin of the fingers, putting burning coals to their hands, tearing off the flesh with pincers, or thrusting reeds into all parts of their bodies, and turning them about to tear their flesh, till they should say they would forsake their faith: all which, innumerable persons, even children bore with invincible constancy till death. In 1616, Xogun succeeding his father Cubosama in the empire, surpassed him in cruelty. The most illustrious of these religious heroes was F. Charles Spinola. He was of a noble Genoese family, and entered the Society at Nola, while his uncle cardinal Spinola was bishop of that city. Out of zeal and a desire of martyrdom, he begged to be sent on the Japanese mission. He arrived there in 1602; labored many years in that mission, gained many to Christ, by his mildness, and lived in great austerity, for his usual food was only a little rice and herbs. He suffered four years a most cruel imprisonment, during which, in burning fevers, he was not able to obtain of his keepers a drop of cold water out of meals: yet he wrote from his dungeon. “Father, how sweet and delightful is it to suffer for Jesus Christ! I have learned this better by experience than I am able to express, especially since we are in these dungeons where we fast continually. The strength of my body fails me, but my joy increases as I see death draw nearer. O what a happiness for me, if next Easter I shall sing the heavenly Alleluia in the company of the blessed!” In a long letter to his cousin Maximilian Spiuola, he said: “O, if you had tasted the delights with which God fills the souls of those who serve him, and suffer for him, how would you contemn all that the world can promise! I now begin to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, since for his love I am in prison, where I suffer much. But I assure you, that when I am fainting with hunger, God hath fortified me by his sweet consolations, so that I have looked upon myself as well recompensed for his service. And though I were yet to pass many years in prison, the time would appear short, through the extreme desire which I feel of suffering for him, who even here so well repays our labors. Besides other sickness. I have been afflicted with a continual fever a hundred days without any remedies or proper nourishment. All this time my heart was so full of joy, that it seemed to me too narrow to contain it. I have never felt any equal to it, and I thought myself at the gates of paradise.” His joy was excessive at the news that he was condemned to be burnt alive, and he never ceased to thank God for so great a mercy, of which he owned himself unworthy. He was conducted from his last prison at Omura to Nangasaqui, where fifty martyrs suffered together on a hill within sight of that city— nine Jesuits, four Franciscans, and six Dominicans, the rest seculars: twenty-five were burned, the rest beheaded. The twenty-five stakes were fixed all in a row, and the martyrs tied to them Fire was set to the end of the pile of wood twenty-five feet from the martyrs, and gradually approached them, two hours before it reached them. F. Spinola stood unmoved, with his eyes lifted up towards heaven, till the cords which tied him being burnt, he fell into the flames, and was consumed, on the 2d of September, in 1622, being fifty-eight years old. Many others, especially Jesuits, suffered

variously, being either burnt at slow fires, crucified, beheaded, or thrown into a burning mountain, or hung with their heads downward in pits, which cruel torment usually put an end to their lives in three or four days. In 1639, the Portuguese and all other Europeans, except the Dutch, were forbid to enter Japan, even for trade; the very ambassadors which the Portuguese sent thither were beheaded. In 1642, five Jesuits landed secretly in Japan, but were soon discovered, and after cruel tortures were hung in pits till they expired. Thus hath Japan encouraged the church militant, and filled the triumphant with glorious martyrs: though only the first-mentioned have as yet been publicly declared such by the holy See, who are mentioned in the new edition of the Roman Martyrology published by Benedict XIV. in 1749.

[canonizedandotherwise]

Litany of the Saints and Blessed of the Society of Jesus

(in an expanded form of that used first by Jesuits in the concentration camp at Dachau)

Lord, have mercy, Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy, Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy, Lord, have mercy. Christ, hear us, Christ, graciously hear us.

God, our Father in heaven, Have mercy on us. God the Son, Redeemer of the World, Have mercy on us. God the Holy Spirit, Have mercy on us. Holy Trinity, one God, Have mercy on us.

Holy Mary, Mother of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Pray for us. Holy Mary, Mother and Queen of our Society, Pray for us. Holy Virgin of Montserrat, Pray for us. Our Lady of the Way, Pray for us.

Holy Father Ignatius, Pray for us. St. Francis Xavier, first companion and missionary, Pray for us. St. Francis Borgia, model of renunciation, Pray for us. St. Stanislaus Kostka, model and patron of novices, Pray for us. Sts. Edmund Campion, Robert Southwell and companions, martyrs of Christ in England, Pray for us. St. Aloysius Gonzaga and St. John Berchmans, models and patrons of our scholastics, Pray for us. Sts. Paul Miki, James Kisai and John Soan de Goto, martyrs of Christ in Japan, Pray for us. St. Peter Canisius and St. Robert Bellarmine, doctors of the church, Pray for us. St. John Ogilvie, martyr of Christ in Scotland, Pray for us. Sts. Bernardine Realino, John Francis Regis and Francis Jerome, missioners to people in town and country, Pray for us. St. Alphonsus Rodriguez, model and patron of our brothers, Pray for us. Sts. Melchior Grodziecki and Stephen Pongrácz, martyrs of Christ in Košice, Pray for us. Sts. Roch Gonzalez, Alphonsus Rodriguez and John del Castillo, martyrs of Christ in Paraguay, Pray for us. Sts. John de Brébeuf, Isaac Jogues and companions, martyrs of Christ in North America, Pray for us. St. Peter Claver, defender of the slaves in South America, Pray for us. St. Andrew Bobola, martyr of Christ in Poland, Pray for us. St. John de Brito, martyr of Christ in India, Pray for us. St. Claude La Columbière, faithful friend and apostle of the Sacred Heart, Pray for us. St. Joseph Pignatelli, hallowed link of the old and the restored Society, Pray for us. Sts. Leo Mangin and companions, martyrs of Christ in China, Pray for us. St. Joseph Rubio, apostle of Madrid, Pray for us. St. Peter Faber, first companion and apostle of the Spiritual Exercises, Pray for us. St. Joseph de Anchieta, apostle of Brazil, Pray for us. St. James Berthieu, martyr of Christ in Madagascar, Pray for us. St. Alberto Hurtado, agent of social change in Chile, Pray for us.

All you Saints of the Society of Jesus, Pray for us. Blessed Ignatius de Azevedo and companions, martyred while sailing for Brazil, Pray for us. Bl. Thomas Woodhouse, Ralph Ashley and companions, martyrs of Christ in England, Pray for us. Bl. Rudolph Acquaviva, Francis Aranha and companions, martyrs of Christ in India, Pray for us. Bl. James Salès and William Saultemouche, martyrs of the Eucharist in France, Pray for us. Bl. Charles Spinola, Sebastian Kimura and companions, martyrs of Christ in Japan, Pray for us. Bl. Dominic Collins, martyr of Christ in Ireland, Pray for us. Bl. Diego Luis de San Vitores, martyr of Christ in Micronesia, Pray for us. Bl. Julian Maunoir and Anthony Baldinucci, zealous preachers of God’s Word, Pray for us. Bl. James Bonnaud and companions, martyrs of Christ in France, Pray for us. Bl. John Beyzym, servant of Lepers in Madagascar, Pray for us. Bl. Miguel Pro, martyr of Christ in Mexico, Pray for us. Bl. Francis Garate, humble doorkeeper who found God in all things, Pray for us. Bl. Rupert Mayer, apostle of Munich and fearless witness of truth, Pray for us. Bl. Tomás Sitjar Fortiá and companions, martyrs of Christ in Valencia, Pray for us.

All you Blessed of the Society of Jesus, Pray for us.

Jesuit saints

Fathers and Brothers, Scholastics and Novices of the Society who have preceded us in the service of the Lord, Pray for us.

Let us pray:

Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, though we are sinners, you have called us to be his companions and to engage in the crucial struggle of our time, the struggle for faith, justice and love. Bring to completion in us the work you began in Ignatius and so many of his followers. Place us with your Son, as you placed them, and take us under the banner of the Cross to serve him alone and his Church. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

[silvestromedia]

SAINTS FEBRUARY 06-2022

St. Mel. He is said to have been the son of Conis and Darerca, the sister of St. Patrick, whom he accompanied to Ireland and helped to evangelize in that country. According to the Life of St. Brigid, he is said to have had no fixed See, which might fit in his being a missionary. St. Patrick himself built the church at Ardagh and to this he appointed his nephew, Mel. Acting upon the apostolic precept, he supported himself by working with his hands, and what he gained beyond bare necessities, he gave to the poor. For sometime, he lived with his aunt Lupait, but slanderous tongues spread serious accusations against them, and St. Patrick himself came to investigate their conduct. Mel was plowing when he arrived, but he cleared himself of the charge by miraculously picking up a live fish from the ground as if from a net. Lupait established her innocence by carrying glowing coals without burning herself or her clothing. St. Patrick was satisfied, but he told his nephew in future, to do his fishing in the water and his plowing on the land, and he moreover, enjoined them to avoid scandal by separating, living and praying far apart.

St. Tanco, 808 A.D. Irish Benedictine abbot and bishop, also called Tancho and Tatta. Tanco became a monk and served as abbot of the Benedictine abbey of Amalbarich, Saxony, Germany. Successful as a missionary in Cleves and Flanders, Belgium, he was named bishop of Werden, Germany. He was stabbed to death by a mob of pagans for destroying their pagan statues, and is venerated as a martyr.

St. Mun, 5th century. Bishop and hermit on an island in Lough Ree, Ireland. Mun was a nephew of St. Patrick.

St. Dorothy, Roman Catholic Martyr. she refused to sacrifice to the gods during Emperor Diocletian's persecution of the Christians, was tortured by the governor and ordered executed. On the way to the place of execution, she met a young lawyer, Theophilus, who mockingly asked her to send him fruits from "the garden" she had joyously announced she would soon be in. When she knelt for her execution, she prayed, and an angel with a basket of three roses and three apples, which she sent to Theophilus, telling him she would meet him in the garden. Theophilus was converted to Christianity and later was martyred. Her feast day is February 6th.

The twenty-five Martyrs of Japan, crucified on Februay 5. including St. Francis Nagasaki, St. Anthony Dainan, St. Thomas Danki, St. Thomas Kozaki, St. Francis of St. Michael, St. James Kisai, St. John Soan de Goto, St. Martin de Aguirre, St. Martin Loynaz of the Ascension, St. Matthias of Meako, St. Michael Kozaki, St. Peter Shukeshiko,

St. Paul Miki, Roman Catholic Japanese Martyr. He was crucified on Februay 5 with twenty-five other Catholics during the persecution of Christians under the Taiko, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, ruler of Japan in the name of the emperor. Feastday February 6

[cappiestuff]

Feb. 6: Sts. Peter Baptist, Paul Miki and Companions - the Nagasaki (Japan) Martyrs

In 1592 the persecution was renewed, and several Japanese converts received the crown of martyrdom. The emperor Tagcosama, one of the proudest and most vicious of men, was worked up into rage and jealousy by a suspicion suggested by certain European merchants desirous of the monopoly of this trade, that the view of the missionaries in preaching the Christian faith was to facilitate the conquest of their country by the Portuguese or Spaniards. Three Jesuits and six Franciscans were crucified on a hill near Nagasaki in 1597. The latter were partly Spaniards and partly Indians, and had at their head F. Peter Baptist, commissary of his order, a native of Avila, in Spain. As to the Jesuits, one was Paul Miki, a noble Japanese, and an eminent preacher, at that time thirty-three years old. The other two, John Gotto and James Kisai, were admitted into the Society in prison a little before they suffered. Several Japanese converts suffered with them. The martyrs were twenty-six in number, and among them were three boys who used to serve the friars at mass; two of them were fifteen years of age, and the third only twelve, yet each showed great joy and constancy in their sufferings. Of these martyrs, twenty-four had been brought to Meaco, where only a part of their left ears was cut off, by a mitigation of the sentence, which had commanded the amputation of their noses and both ears. They were conducted through many towns and public places, their cheeks stained with blood, for a terror to others. When the twenty-six soldiers of Christ were arrived at the place of execution near Nagasaki, they were allowed to make their confession to two Jesuits of the convent in that town, and being fastened to crosses by cords and chains about their arm. and legs, and an iron collar about their necks, were raised into the air, the foot of each cross falling into a hole prepared for it in the ground. The crosses were planted in a row, about four feet asunder, and each martyr had an executioner near him with a spear ready to pierce his side; for such is the Japanese manner of crucifixion. As soon as all the crosses were planted, the executioners lifted up their lances, and at a signal given, all pierced the martyrs almost in the same instant; upon which they expired, and went to receive the reward of their sufferings. Their blood and garments were procured by Christians, and miracles were wrought by them. Urban VIII ranked them among the martyrs, and they are honored on the 5th of February, the day of their triumph.

The "sacrifice" Peter Baptist referred to in his words bore fruit. In the 1860’s, Christian missionaries were again allowed into Nagasaki and found there a small but strong Catholic community which had begun in the time of the Franciscan martyrs. Coming together regularly, these Catholics read the Scriptures and prayed the rosary as a way of keeping their faith alive. Missionaries always work with trust that God will complete their beginnings. A good work—in the missions or elsewhere—is never wasted.

Today a new era has come for the Church in Japan. Although the number of Catholics is not large, the Church is respected and has total religious freedom. The spread of Christianity in the Far East is slow and difficult. Faith such as that of the 26 martyrs is needed today as much as in 1597.

[iprayunceasingly-blog]

St. Paul Miki and Companions

New Post has been published on https://pray-unceasingly.com/catholic-living/saint-of-the-day/st-paul-miki-and-companions/

St. Paul Miki and Companions

On Feb. 6, the Catholic Church honors the 26 Martyrs of Nagasaki, a group of native Japanese Catholics and foreign missionaries who suffered death for their faith in the year 1597.During the 16th century, the Catholic faith reached Japan by the efforts of the Jesuit missionary Saint Francis Xavier (1506-1552). Jesuit outreach to the Japanese continued after his death, and around 200,000 Japanese had entered the Church by 1587.Religious tensions led to a period of persecution during that year, during which many churches were destroyed and missionaries forced to work in secret. But few episodes of martyrdom took place during this time, and within a decade 100,000 more Japanese became Catholic despite the restrictions.During 1593, Franciscan missionaries came to Japan from the Philippines by order of Spain’s King Philip II. These new arrivals gave themselves zealously to the work of charity and evangelism, but their presence disturbed a delicate situation between the Church and Japanese authorities.Suspicion against Catholic missionaries grew when a Spanish ship was seized off the Japanese coast and found to be carrying artillery. Toyotomi Hideyoshi, an powerful imperial minister, responded by sentencing 26 Catholics to death.The group was comprised of three native Jesuits, six foreign Franciscans, and several lay Catholics including some children. Sentenced to die by crucifixion and lancing, they were first marched 600 miles to the city of Nagasaki.During the journey they underwent public torture meant to terrorize other Japanese believers in Christ. But all of the 26 held out courageously, even singing the hymn of praise “Te Deumâ€� when they arrived at the hill where they would be crucified.Three of the best-known martyrs of Nagaki are Saints Paul Miki, John of Goto, and James Kisai. Though none were priests, all were associated with the Jesuits: Miki was training for the priesthood, while Kisai was a lay brother and John of Goto was a catechist preparing to enter the order.Paul Miki offered an especially strong witness to his faith during the group’s month-long march to Nagasaki, as he joined one of the captive Franciscan priests in preaching to the crowds who came to mock the prisoners.The son of a wealthy military leader, Miki was born in 1562 and entered the Church along with the rest of his family. He joined the Jesuits as a young man and helped many Buddhists to embrace Christianity. His last act of evangelism took place as he hung on his cross, preaching to the crowds.“The only reason for my being killed is that I have taught the doctrine of Christ,â€� he announced. “I thank God it is for this reason that I die. I believe that I am telling the truth before I die.â€�“After Christ’s example, I forgive my persecutors. I do not hate them. I ask God to have pity on all, and I hope my blood will fall on my fellow men as a fruitful rain.â€�St. Paul Miki and his 25 companions were stabbed to death with lances on Feb. 5, 1597, at the site that became known as “Martyrs’ Hill.â€� Pope Pius IX canonized the Martyrs of Nagasaki in 1862. CNA – Saint of the Day

[thepastisalreadywritten]

SAINTS OF THE DAY (February 6)

On February 6, the Catholic Church honors the 26 Martyrs of Nagasaki, a group of native Japanese Catholics and foreign missionaries who suffered death for their faith in the year 1597.

During the 16th century, the Catholic faith reached Japan by the efforts of the Jesuit missionary Saint Francis Xavier (1506-1552).

Jesuit outreach to the Japanese continued after his death and around 200,000 Japanese had entered the Church by 1587.

Religious tensions led to a period of persecution during that year, during which many churches were destroyed and missionaries forced to work in secret.

But few episodes of martyrdom took place during this time, and within a decade, 100,000 more Japanese became Catholic despite the restrictions.

During 1593, Franciscan missionaries came to Japan from the Philippines by order of Spain's King Philip II.

These new arrivals gave themselves zealously to the work of charity and evangelism, but their presence disturbed a delicate situation between the Church and Japanese authorities.

Suspicion against Catholic missionaries grew when a Spanish ship was seized off the Japanese coast and found to be carrying artillery.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a powerful imperial minister, responded by sentencing 26 Catholics to death.

The group was comprised of three native Jesuits, six foreign Franciscans, and several lay Catholics including some children.

Sentenced to die by crucifixion and lancing, they were first marched 600 miles to the city of Nagasaki.

During the journey, they underwent public torture meant to terrorize other Japanese believers in Christ.

But all of the 26 held out courageously, even singing the hymn of praise “Te Deum” when they arrived at the hill where they would be crucified.

Three of the best-known martyrs of Nagaki are Saints Paul Miki, John of Goto and James Kisai.

Though none were priests, all were associated with the Jesuits:

Miki was training for the priesthood. Kisai was a lay brother. John of Goto was a catechist preparing to enter the order.

Paul Miki offered an especially strong witness to his faith during the group's month-long march to Nagasaki, as he joined one of the captive Franciscan priests in preaching to the crowds who came to mock the prisoners.

The son of a wealthy military leader, Miki was born in 1562 and entered the Church along with the rest of his family.

He joined the Jesuits as a young man and helped many Buddhists to embrace Christianity.

His last act of evangelism took place as he hung on his cross, preaching to the crowds.

“The only reason for my being killed is that I have taught the doctrine of Christ,” he announced.

“I thank God it is for this reason that I die. I believe that I am telling the truth before I die.”

“After Christ's example, I forgive my persecutors. I do not hate them. I ask God to have pity on all, and I hope my blood will fall on my fellow men as a fruitful rain.”

St. Paul Miki and his 25 companions were stabbed to death with lances on 5 February 1597 at the site that became known as “Martyrs' Hill.”

Through the promulgation of decree on martyrdom, these first Martyrs of Japan were beatified on 14 September 1627 by Pope Urban VIII.

They were canonized on 8 June 1862 by Pope Pius IX.

[tinyshe]

More Saints of the Day February 6

St. Paul Miki 

St. Alfonso Maria Fusco 

St. Amand 

St. Antholian 

St. Anthony Dainan 

St. Bonaventure of Miako 

St. Cosmas 

Bl. Diego De Avezedo

St. Dorothy St. Francesco Spinelli 

St. Francis Nagasaki 

St. Francis of St. Michael 

St. James Kisai 

St. John Soan de Goto 

St. Martin de Aguirre 

St. Martin Loynaz of the Ascension 

St. Matthias of Meako

St. Mel 

St. Michael Kozaki 

St. Mun 

St. Peter Shukeshiko

St. Relindis of Maaseik 

Sts. Saturninus, Theophilus, & Revocata 

St. Tanco 

St. Theophilus the Lawyer 

St. Thomas Danki 

St. Thomas Kozaki 

St. Vedast 

St. Vedast

[tinyshe]

More Saints of the Day February 06

 St. Paul Miki 

Bl. Alfonso Maria Fusco 

St. Amand St. Antholian 

St. Anthony Dainan 

St. Bonaventure of Miako 

St. Cosmas 

Bl. Diego De Avezedo 

St. Dorothy 

St. Francis Nagasaki 

St. Francis of St. Michael 

St. James Kisai 

St. John Soan de Goto 

St. Martin de Aguirre 

St. Martin Loynaz of the Ascension 

St. Matthias of Meako 

St. Mel 

St. Michael Kozaki 

St. Mun 

St. Peter Shukeshiko 

St. Relindis of Maaseik 

Sts. Saturninus, Theophilus, & Revocata 

St. Tanco 

St. Theophilus the Lawyer 

St. Thomas Danki 

St. Thomas Kozaki 

St. Vedast 

St. Vedast