St Paul Miki and Companions are also known as Martyrs of Nagasaki.
They were twenty-six Franciscan and Jesuit missionaries and Japanese converts who were crucified together on February 5 1597 at Tateyama (Hill of Wheat), Nagasaki, Japan by order of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
We celebrate their feast day on February 6 every year in the Catholic Church.
| St Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs Biography | |
|---|---|
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| Date of Birth | 1562 AD |
| Place of Birth | Japan |
| Profession | Roman Catholic Japanese Jesuit seminarian |
| Place of Work | Japan |
| Date of Death | February 5 1597 |
| Place of Death | Nagasaki, Japan |
| Feast Day | February 6 |
| Beatification | By Pope Urban VIII on September 14 1627 |
| Canonization | By Pope Pius IX on June 8 1862 |
| Patron Saint of | Japan |
St Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs Life History
Paulo Miki was born into a wealthy Japanese family. He was the son of a Japanese military leader. Born in Tounucumada, Japan, he was educated by the Jesuits in Azuchi and Takatsuki.
He joined the Society of Jesus and became a well-known and successful preacher gaining numerous converts to Catholicism.
The local daimyō, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, began persecuting Catholics for fear of the Jesuits’ influence and intentions, and possibly that of European visitors.
Miki was arrested and jailed with his fellow Catholics, who were later forced to march 966 kilometres (600 miles) from Kyoto to Nagasaki; all the while singing the Te Deum.
On arriving in Nagasaki, which today has the largest Catholic population in Japan, Miki had his chest pierced with a lance while tied to a cross on February 5 1597.
He preached his last sermon from the cross, and it is maintained that he forgave his executioners, stating that he was Japanese.
Companions
St Paul Miki and Companions are also known as Martyrs of Nagasaki. They were twenty-six Franciscan and Jesuit missionaries and Japanese converts. They are;
- Saint Antony Deynan
- Saint Thomas Xico
- Saint Thomas Kozaki
- Saint Peter Sukejiroo
- Saint Pedro Bautista Blásquez y Blásquez
- Saint Paul Suzuki
- Saint Paul Miki
- Saint Paul Ibaraki
- Saint Michael Kozaki
- Saint Matthias of Miyako
- Saint Martin of the Ascension
- Saint Louis Ibaraki
- Saint Leo Karasumaru
- Saint Kichi Franciscus
- Saint John Soan de Goto
- Saint John Kisaka
- Saint Joachim Saccachibara
- Saint James Kisai
- Saint Gundisalvus Garcia
- Saint Gabriel de Duisco
- Saint Francis of Saint Michael
- Saint Francis of Nagasaki
- Saint Francis Blanco
- Saint Felipe of Jesus
- Saint Cosmas Takeya
- Saint Bonaventure of Miyako
After they were arrested, they were taken to the public square of Meako to the city’s principal temple.
They each had a piece of their left ear cut off, and then paraded from city to city for weeks with a man shouting their crimes and encouraging their abuse.
The priests and brothers were accused of preaching the outlawed faith of Christianity, the lay people of supporting and aiding them.
They were each repeatedly offered freedom if they would renounce Christianity. They each declined.
The Japanese style of crucifixion was putting iron clamps around the wrists, ankles and throat, a straddle piece was placed between the legs for weight support, and the person was pierced with a lance up through the left and right ribs toward the opposite shoulder
Today’s St Paul Miki and Companions Quote:
Crucified alongside him were Joan Soan (de Gotó) and Santiago Kisai, also of the Society of Jesus; along with twenty-three other clergy and laity, all of whom were canonized by Pope Pius IX in 1862
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