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 Macau, China.
• 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.

A Song for Nagasaki

+ J.M.J.A.T

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam et Immaculata

For me, the truth makes me free. 

(And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.)

Et cognoscetis veritatem, et veritas liberabit vos.

John 8:32

The reason why this book resonates with me is because I can identify with the life of Dr Takashi Nagai and his wife, Midori, especially that of their married life. I understand and can imagine and feel how Midori must have felt, having to wait long hours for her husband to come back home from the lab, especially when it was apparent to everyone (her the most) that he was suffering from leukaemia because of what he was so passionate about: his research on X-Rays. 

His passion for x-rays and his love for the scientific endeavour can be gleaned from these quotes:

"Microscopes brought a breakthrough into the vast microscopic world, once thought the ultimate frontier, but the atomic world is utterly smaller. The size of planet earth is to an apple what an apple is to an atom! Will x-rays make it possible for us to see this ultramicroscopic world?"

Dr Takashi Nagai experienced "a sense of exhilaration because we are in pursuit of truth, which is eternal! He believed that our laboratory is actually the threshold of the house of God, who created the universe and its very truth."

On one occasion, while studying a kidney case and looking at the brilliant formation of urine crystals, he "felt a great urge to kneel". I feel the same!!! Dr Takashi Nagai clearly saw "that a laboratory could be the same as the cell of a monk."

A snip from Angelus Press's website about the book (press book image for link):

On August 9, 1945, an American B-29 dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan, killing tens of thousands of people in the blink of an eye, while fatally injuring and poisoning thousands more. Among the survivors was Takashi Nagai, a pioneer in radiology research and a convert to the Catholic Faith. Living in the rubble of the ruined city and suffering from leukemia caused by over-exposure to radiation, Nagai lived out the remainder of his remarkable life by bringing physical and spiritual healing to his war-weary people.

A Song for Nagasaki tells the moving story of this extraordinary man, beginning with his boyhood and the heroic tales and stoic virtues of his family's Shinto religion. It reveals the inspiring story of Nagai's remarkable spiritual journey from Shintoism to atheism to Catholicism.

Mixed with interesting details about Japanese history and culture, the biography traces Nagai's spiritual quest as he studied medicine at Nagasaki University, served as a medic with the Japanese army during its occupation of Manchuria, and returned to Nagasaki to dedicate himself to the science of radiology. The historic Catholic district of the city, where Nagai became a Catholic and began a family, was ground zero for the atomic bomb.

After the bomb disaster that killed thousands, including Nagai's beloved wife, Nagai, then Dean of Radiology at Nagasaki University, threw himself into service to the countless victims of the bomb explosion, even though it meant deadly exposure to the radiation which eventually would cause his own death. While dying, he also wrote powerful books that became best-sellers in Japan. These included The Bells of Nagasaki, which resonated deeply with the Japanese people in their great suffering as it explores the Christian message of love and forgiveness.

Deus propitius esto mihi peccatori.

Jesu mitis et humilis corde, Fac cor nostrum secundum Cor tuum. (ter)

Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Anne, Therese, I love You; Save Souls!