Diocesan Resources
Catholic Current Saint of the Week sample (2018)
Catholic Current Saint of the Week sample
Paul Miki and Companions, Memorial February 6
Toyotomi Hideyoshi, ruling Japan in the name of the emperor, became alarmed at the growth of Christianity resulting from St. Francis Xavier’s mission, begun in 1549. Because of Hideyoshi’s orders, 26 Christians were arrested, had their left ears cut off as a sign of disrespect, were marched through towns, and were crucified and pierced with lances on a hill outside Nagasaki on February 5. While the public procession and execution was meant to instill fear in Japanese Christians, the joyful witness of the soon-to-be martyrs—who sang hymns on arriving to the hill where their crosses awaited them—evoked compassion and conversion instead. The martyrs were Franciscans, Jesuits, Japanese laymen, and one Korean. Paul Miki, a distinguished preacher, who was the son of a samurai, was the most prominent of the Japanese Jesuits. The martyrs were canonized in 1862; their feast was added to the General Roman Calendar in 1969.