Friday, December 12, 2014

Christian Martyrs of Nagasaki


Martyrs in Nagasaki, 1622; (Housed in the Church of the Gesù of Rome.)
Taken from Wikipedia:

While there were many more martyrs, the first 26 missionary and convert martyrs came to be especially revered, the most celebrated of whom was Paul Miki. The Martyrs of Japan were canonized by the Roman Catholic Church on June 8, 1862, by Pope Pius IX,[2] and are listed on the calendar as Sts. Paul Miki and his Companions, commemorated on February 6, since February 5, the date of their death, is the feast of St. Agatha

In 1587, Japan’s most powerful daimyo, Hideyoshi Toyotomi, issued an edict expelling Jesuit missionaries. In 1597, he had 6 missionaries and 20 laypeople crucified on a hill in Nishizaka, Nagasaki.

Here is a list of the 26 martyrs of 1597:
  • Saint Antonio Dainan
  • Saint Bonaventura of Miyako
  • Saint Cosme Takeya
  • Saint Francisco Branco
  • Saint Francisco of Nagasaki
  • Saint Francisco of Saint Michael
  • Saint Gabriel de Duisco
  • Saint Gaius Francis
  • Saint Gundisalvus (Gonsalvo) Garcia
  • Saint James Kisai
  • Saint Joaquim Saccachibara
  • Saint Juan Kisaka
  • Saint Juan Soan de Goto
  • Saint Leo Karasumaru
  • Saint Luis Ibaraki – Born in Owari (Nagoya). He was pressed by a samurai for apostasy, but declined it clearly. 12 years old, the youngest.
  • Saint Martin of the Ascension
  • Saint Mathias of Miyako
  • Saint Miguel Kozaki
  • Saint Paulo Ibaraki
  • Saint Paul Miki or Saint Paulo Miki – Born in Japan in 1562, he joined the Society of Jesus in 1580 and was the first Japanese member of any Catholic religious order. He died one year before his ordination to the Catholic priesthood. Miki's remaining ashes and bones are now located in MacauChina.
  • Saint Pablo Suzuki
  • Saint Pedro Bautista or Saint Peter Baptist – He was a Spanish Franciscan who had worked about ten years in the Philippines before coming to Japan. St. Peter was a companion of St. Paul Miki when Christianity was made illegal.[6]
  • Saint Pedro Sukejiroo
  • Saint Philip of Jesus - Born in Mexico in 1572 (at the time "New Spain"). Upon his martyrdom he became the first Mexican saint and the patron saint of Mexico City.
  • Saint Thomas Kozaki
  • Saint Thomas Xico
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Japanese depiction of Francis Xavier, dated to the 17th century.
From the Kobe City Museum collection.

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