Today February 6

Today is the feast of St. Paul Miki and Companions, 26 in all, died 1597. St. Paul Miki was a noble Japanese man, great preacher, and Jesuit priest. It is surprising -- or maybe not so surprising -- that such an isolated, repressed, but highly civilized country like Japan took so quickly to Christianity, so foreign a religion. But I think its purity, its mysticism and its truth appealed to the driven and logical Japanese. St. Francis Xavier planted Christianity on its shores and by 1597 there were over 200,000 Christians in Japan! In 1588, Emperor Kambakundono ordered all the missionaries out (most left, but some stayed behind, in disguise) and in 1596 Emperor Takosama had today's martyrs crucified on a hill in Nagasaki (at one time, the most Christian city in Japan). It is said he was reacting to the inappropriate boast of a Spanish captain that the Christian missionaries were there to soften up the people in advance of a combined Spanish and Portuguese invasion.

The martyrs were as follows: 3 Jesuits (including our hero) - all native Japanese, 6 Franciscans (Spaniards, Mexicans, 1 Indian), and 17 laymen - Japanese (plus 1 Korean). They included a soldier, a doctor, catechists, interpreters and even young altar boys. They had their left ears cut off, their cheeks either impaled or simply marked with blood; and chained, they were marched from town to town til they were fastened to their (stationary) crosses, buckled with iron collars, and then speared in unison. Their clothes and blood were collected by the faithful and venerated as relics. Much has been made of the tenacity of the faith of these Catholic Christians, who maintained their faith, priestless, for decades -- baptizing, marrying and teaching, including the reading of the Scriptures -- until the country was opened up again. It gives one hope. And the witness of these brave men (among many others as well) must have helped sustain them in their darkest days. St. Paul Miki, pray for us.