Tortured and then crucified in Nagasaki

[Rob2]

St Paul Miki and Companions​

Celebrated on February 6th

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They were martyrs of Japan. St Francis Xavier brought Christianity to Japan in 1549. By the time he left a few years later, there were about 2,000 Christians there. The Christian community continued to grow. in the ensuing years. This angered the Emperor Hideyoshi who embarked on a brutal persecution of Christians and their families.

Paul Miki came from a Japanese aristocratic family. He became a Jesuit priest and notable preacher. The other 25 martyrs included two Jesuit lay brothers, six Franciscans, (four of these were Spanish, one Mexican and one from India) and one Korean layman. The other 17 were all Japanese lay people - among them a doctor, a catechist, soldier and three young boys. They were tortured and then crucified in Nagasaki in 1596 (the city is also the setting of the opera Madame Butterfly and the city destroyed by an atomic bomb in 1945).

These martyrs were canonised in 1862. Many hundreds of Japanese Christians died in later persecutions especially in 1613, 1630 and 1632.

(from ICN)

 

[Tis_Bearself]

St. Paul Miki and the Japanese martyrs, pray for us!

It’s also the feast day on various calendars of

• St. Titus, the companion of St. Paul and bishop of Crete
• St. Dorothy, an early Christian virgin and martyr who is in the Roman Martyrology
• St. Vedast, a French bishop in the 500s
• St. Amandus, a French bishop in the 600s.

May all of them pray for us as well.

 

[Limoncello4021]

Shusaku Endo’s Silence was carefully researched and based on the historical record of these missionaries to Japan. It is not an easy read: the tortures the Shoguns invented are haunting.
I did not see the movie, but have read the book several times and recommend it.