The Story of the 26 Martyrs of Japan
by Sister Katherine Maria, M.I.C.M.
The story of Paul Miki and the Japanese martyrs is the story of twenty-six uncompromising heroes of the Faith who gave their lives for preaching the Gospel of Christ. Six of them were Franciscan priests, three were Jesuit affiliates, fourteen were laymen and three were children. The government made a showcase execution of them, parading them 300 miles through villages and towns, and then crucifying them on a hill in Nagasaki. The emperor Toyotami Hideyoshi wanted to terrorize new converts into apostasy, but instead the crowds swelled in support. Paul Miki, the son of a samurai and an eloquent speaker used his death march as a pulpit, preach- ing all the way to his cross. He even converted some of his guards. After the death of the twenty-six, a reign of terror began and lasted for 250 years in an attempt to obliterate the last traces of Catholicism. But through the good training of the priests, the Faith survived in secret with no clergy and only one sacrament, Baptism!
Japan
The Land of the Rising Sun, also known as Japan, is almost 2,000 miles east of China. It consists of six large islands and 600 smaller ones. Mountains cover two-thirds of the island, three chains of which contain 100 active volcanoes. The very ground seemed to move with mysterious life. Sometimes three earthquakes in a day shook the villages and towns, split- ting open the roads. The beautiful coastline, blest with many enviable bays and ports, was discovered in 1543, by European merchants, whose ships were scouring the seas, seeking trade with Asian nations. It was not until one of these ships harbored in Japan that the nation first heard of Jesus Christ.
On August 15, 1549, the Jesuit missionary, Saint Francis Xavier, arrived on a trade ship in the port of Kagoshima in Kysushu. Another priest and a brother accompanied him; both remained after his departure two years later. What a wonderful sight befell Saint Francis when he first encountered this unique country. Unlike his other mission in India, he found the Japanese exceptional in their cleanliness, order, social etiquette and refinement. In re- action, the Japanese were fascinated by this group of long-nosed, tall, wide- eyed strangers in their funny clothes.
As was his usual strategy, Saint Francis endeavored to meet the local king first, hoping, if he won him over, that the people would follow. Thinking like a European, instead of an oriental, he unknowingly insulted the king when, in an attempt to appear humble and sub- missive, he tried to have an audience dressed like a pauper, barefoot and poor.
Disappointed at the rebuff, he continued his journey to other cities, but made little advance in his missionary work. Japan was not a united country, but a land of many petty kingdoms, all rivaling with each other for land and power. It was still under feudal control and peppered with a series of honorifics that entangled society, almost making it impenetrable to those outside its system. Finally, he realized his initial mistake: to visit the king it was required to dress appropriately, with refinement and dignity. A well-dressed Francis Xavier made a second visit to the king with much more success.
Before long, converts were made in the surrounding towns. He even won the favor of Oda Nobunaga, the reigning shogun or military dictator of two-thirds of the country. Nobunaga had gained control of most of Japan’s main island, Honshu, through conquest. Although he was known for his brutality to those who opposed him with his innovative military tactics, he was a good leader, and promoted the arts. Under the reign of Nobunaga, the missionaries were well received and churches were built for the ever-increasing number of converts.
Trade with European merchants was welcomed and ships from various countries also brought in missionaries from other orders to spread the Faith. Most of them could only speak through the example of their charitable works as they struggled to master the difficult Japanese language. Totally disconnected from the romantic languages of Europe, the tremendous language barrier was further complicated by a system of honorifics allowing certain salutations according to relation or rank.
Thanks to the early arrival of Xavier, the Jesuits had an advantage over the other missionaries. He taught mainly through the help of a samurai named Anjiro, who acted as his translator. Years before, Anjiro had been on the run from the police for murder when he made his way to the Portuguese merchant ships, and begged to board and accompany them to India. 
The captain, a friend of Saint Francis Xavier, took him to Malacca and in 1547, introduced him to the saint. Anjiro, who had picked up some of the Portuguese language on ship, was catechized and converted. When Saint Francis arrived in Japan, Anjiro came with him and acted as a translator to the mission. It helped somewhat, but one story relates that Anjiro was mistranslating the word for Trinity; he used Dainichi which is a type of Buddha. When he discovered the mistake, the embarrassed Saint Francis had to undo his preaching tour and correct the terrible error. But Saint Francis Xavier did not stay long in Japan. On November 20,1551, he left to pursue his original destination – China. He left behind missionaries and promised to send more in the future. The Cross of Salvation had been planted in the heart of the Land of the Rising Sun.
Paul Miki
In 1564, during Nobunaga’s welcoming reign, Paul Miki was born. His parents were of nobility, and lived at court with Nobunaga. His father, Michi Fandoidono, was greatly esteemed by the shogun for his military prowess. It was at court that Paul’s father became acquainted with the Jesuits when they frequently visited Nobunaga. In 1568, the entire family was converted and baptized. Paul was four-years-old at the time. Life at the royal castle was typically worldly and corrupt, but through the grace of God, Paul managed to keep his innocence and virtue despite his daily interaction with idolaters. Everyone at the court acknowledged Paul’s modest demeanor and keen intellect. It seemed natural that when he turned eleven his parents sent him to study at the Jesuit school in Kyoto. He was put under the guidance of Father Organtino Soldi, a very revered priest among the Catholics, who served in Japan for thirty-six years.
As soon as an opening was available, Father Soldi sent Paul to the seminary boarding school he had founded in Anzuciama, the center of Nobunaga’s government. Once crumbling ruin, Nobunaga rebuilt this city and fortified it as his stronghold. Nobunaga was more than welcoming to the missionaries arriving on the ships encouraging a flourishing trade. He extended an invitation to the Jesuits to open a church and residence in the capital, where they could meet all the important people of the country. Then to secure good relations with the Europeans, he gave the Jesuits a large sum of money and property across from his palace to build a center for their work.
Thrilled with the opportunity, Father Soldi and all the Christians in the area dismantled their previous building and used the lumber to rebuild their new residence. This became the seminary, instructing twenty-five converts from noble lineage, including Paul Miki. Nobunaga was a frequent visitor there, interacting with the students. Paul again drew attention to himself for his remarkable dignity and command of words, when he was preaching there. After two years he decided to become a Jesuit. But Nobunaga’s reign was not destined to last much longer.
In 1582, a group of rebels under the leadership of a servant who had once been humiliated by Nobunaga attacked the city. Setting fire to the castle, Nobunaga committed seppuku, or ritual suicide before he could be captured. The city was set ablaze by the besieging army leaving no survivors. The seminarians, however, left in enough time to make it to the shore, where they hailed a boat to rescue them. Taking his passengers ten miles to a desolate island, the captain of the boat ceremoniously robbed them of everything they had and re-boarded them with the intention of killing them all on another island. But God in His divine mercy sent a Christian nobleman in an armed vessel, which rescued the twenty-eight priests, seminarians and students and brought them to a safe place with papers of protection from the new rulers.
After thirteen days, the murderer of Nobunaga and the usurper of the throne, Akechi Mitsuhide was killed and his allies defeated. Toyotomi Hideyoshi, an old friend of Oda Nobunaga, subdued all opposition and took control of the country. Eventually he united the whole of Japan under one government, crowning himself with the title Taicosama the Supreme Monarch. At first he did not show hostility toward the 200,000 Christian converts and their missionaries. In fact he continued to befriend them, but as one historian relates, “he was a foul beast in morality and a cruel tyrant vacillating between Buddhist monks called bonzes and Christians, propelled by personal ambition and lust.” Although he had welcomed the Jesuits into his country, his anger began to fester when he saw many Buddhist temples give way to churches. He declared that no more churches were to be built. The 134 Jesuit priests then began to meet in homes or private chapels. They did not abandon their flock and continued to make converts.
Gathering Storm
Hideyoshi’s problem with the Catholic Church was not doctrine, but morals. Father Thomas Flynn, SJ, said he had over 300 concubines and the temple bonze supplied him with whatever he wanted to gratify his immorality. Father Giuseppe Boero, SJ, wrote in one of the earliest chronicles of the martyrs, “On the night of the twenty-fourth of July, 1587, after having been a considerable time meeting with Father Gaspar Coeligio, SJ, in a place called Facata, the emperor returned to his palace, where he drank a quantity of Portuguese wine, and then summoned to his presence a bonze named Jacuin (who had become his personal physician) — a shameless wretch who acted as caterer to his imperial master’s revolting appetites. Jacuin informed the tyrant that the Christian women of Arima had indignantly refused to prostitute themselves; and seasoning his narrative with many inventions of his own, he launched out into a bitter tirade against the Christian religion and the Fathers who were propagating it. But this was not all; for, the bonze set about proving, with perverse ingenuity, that the emperor would never be safe on his throne as long as he tolerated in his dominions a race of men who taught the people a law which must finally subvert the gods, traditions, and usages of the country.
Taicosama Hideyoshi, who was always filled with sinister suspicion and now stimulated by lust and fumes of wine, flew into a rage, swearing a solemn oath that he would extirpate the Christians. On that very night he pronounced sentence of exile against [Giusto Ucondono,] the Christian general of his army and on the following morning sent word to Father Coeglio that all preachers of the Gospel must, within a given period, quit Japan at the risk of their lives.” A proclamation was issued the next morning that all priests were to leave the kingdom. In an attempt to look like they complied, the Jesuits, in their black clerics filed on board a Portuguese ship. Little did the emperor realize that once inside the ship, the priests changed into native costumes and went back ashore, returning to their flock of converts.
This was a first and feeble attempt by the king to exercise his authority over the Church and it was half-hearted. It would intensify and become an obsession as his reign continued. Paul and his companion novices fled their obvious location and settled in another town to continue their studies. Paul showed remarkable zeal during these tumultuous times by utilizing every opportunity to preach the Faith. His eloquence and remarkable insights gave the Jesuit authorities the opportunity to waive the extended time of training for the seminary required for converts.
In 1586, when his father died in battle while defending a Christian king, the Jesuits admitted Paul, age twenty-two, to the Society of Jesus. He was sent to the seminary in Nagasaki, where he exhibited the energy of the apostle for whom he was named. Two years later Paul professed his three vows as a Jesuit, awaiting his future ordination to the priesthood. The rages of persecution had not touched all provinces at that time so he was able to enroll in a flourishing university where he was noted as an exemplary student, impressing teachers and classmates. His ability to understand and explain theology was incredible. He had a particular interest in the study of the core beliefs of Shintoism, the national religion of Japan, and other pagan practices. He wrote treatises refuting them and even debated the bonzes of the local temples where his ability to capture concepts revealed his noble lineage. This gifted speaker drew many listeners and his explanations of the truths of the Faith, which were delivered with wit and an extensive vocabulary, made many converts. Paul was the main speaker on a twenty-mile tour of the countryside, instructing, debating, preaching, but always accompanied by a priest who could fulfill the mission by administering the sacraments.
The mission was full of enthusiasm, but dangerous signs began to appear that would impede the continuation of the work. Father Boero, SJ, relates in his book that Paul Miki made more converts in 1593, and the following two years, than the foreign missionaries made in forty-five years. He goes on to relate how in the city of Osaka, a pagan criminal had been sentenced for execution. Paul was standing on the road as the sorrowful procession of executioner and prisoner drudged to the site to be killed. He was so moved with pity at the sight of the condemned man that he pushed through the crowd and police and following alongside of him, explained the way of salvation in Jesus Christ and the necessity of Baptism. When they finally reached the place of execution, the poor man begged to be baptized, which Paul gladly accommodated and then he was swiftly executed, yielding his soul to God.
Paul, being a native of the land, understood well the twelve principal Buddhist sects that opposed the teaching of Christ. Taking them apart logically and exposing their fallacies, Paul would then explain the doctrine of Jesus Christ. When Father Valignani brought the printing press to Japan, Paul’s writings were put into book form and distributed to the public. In the “Act of Canonization” these writings were attested to as having continued to make converts even after Paul’s death. More importantly, Paul’s personal life was also a source of edification to his fellow religious. When he was not studying or preaching, he could be found in the chapel praying. He showed such patience and kindness to all that his demeanor converted even the rabid bonzes.
At his canonization, Father Ribadeneira testified, “I have known silence and modesty. His every act clearly proved how admirably he practiced religious perfection during the eleven years that he lived in the Society.” The Christians regarded this Paul as a most efficient preacher: “and it was almost proverbial among them that he did more for the Faith than any of his colleagues: for, his zeal did not show itself so much in words as results… he sought nothing but the salvation of his neighbors’ souls and his own advancement in virtue.” Paul, now having spent eleven years studying for the priesthood, began preparing for ordination at the age of thirty-three. But God’s ways are not our ways. Bishop Peter Martinez who arrived in 1596, would as Father Boero writes “instead of ordaining him, would be venerating him as a martyr.”
Company of Jesuit Martyrs
Another Jesuit, John Soan de Goto, was fourteen years younger than Paul and had been born off the coast of Nagasaki in the archipelago kingdom of Goto. Two Jesuits had evangelized the islands and when the prince of the kingdom embraced the Faith, the entire islands followed him. John’s parents were converts and passed the Faith on to their son.
The security of the island did not last, however. When the Christian prince died, his brother who was not kindly disposed toward the Christians usurped the throne with military force. Soon his dislike was fanned to hatred through the influence of a fanatical bonze, and he began to purge the islands of Christians. John’s family fled to Nagasaki, where the Jesuits were still flourishing at the beginning of the reign of Hideyoshi.
When John turned fifteen he entered the Jesuit associates as a catechist, a title that required a virtuous life and intellectual ability. At a dramatic ceremony after Mass, John knelt at the foot of the altar and cut off his traditional Japanese hair to show his disdain for the world. He was then given the Jesuit habit and took up residence with the Society in a house of formation. John’s first assignment sent him to Osaka, where he met Paul Miki. James Kisai, the third native Jesuit associate in the list of martyrs, was a number of years older than the previous two mentioned. James was thirty-one years older than Paul Miki and forty-five years older than John Soan de Goto. In the annals of canonization he was referred to as “a very old Christian”!
James was converted when he was sixteen years old and was well known for his beautiful calligraphy that he had learned from a bonze. He had married a convert and they had one son. His weak wife could not withstand the pressure of the local bonze though, and apostatized. James was beside himself and tried in every way to bring her back to the Faith, but to no avail, resulting in a separation of the two. James then devoted his life to the Church and became a catechist with the Jesuits, helping to prepare souls for Baptism. He lived with the Jesuit community and held the position of guest master.
The Persecution
In 1593, Taicosama Hideyoshi’s disposition toward Christians started to take a turn when a ship arrived from the Philippines with some Franciscan friars. Full of zeal and struggling with translations they presented Hideyoshi with gifts, asking permission to start a mission there. Innocently they left the court and began to construct a chapel… with no idea of the intrigue that the bonzes had launched against the Christians. They were walking targets as they worked in their Franciscan robes. Christian relatives of the emperor intervened on their behalf, and he looked away for two years until “the last straw” broke his tolerance when a Spanish ship called the San Felipe, on its way to Manila ran aground in Port Urado in 1596. The ship had barely survived a perilous journey and was beyond repair, breaking in half on the Japanese coast. There were two hundred and forty passengers on board.
The emperor ordered the confiscation of all the goods on board. Suspicion mounted when the guards assigned to remove the contents of the ship discovered a map of the coastline of Japan. The captain was taken for questioning and when asked how they planned to take over the countries, he answered “by force of arms.” When asked how he would do this since there were no military on board, he made matters worse by replying that they would first convert them through the missionaries and then conquer.
Whether he was arrogant or subject to panic, it was too late. This was all the emperor needed to light the fire of hatred, already boiling in his mind. On December eighth, 1596, the persecution was unleashed when he issued an edict to find and arrest all preachers of the Gospel. There were over one hundred Jesuit priests in Japan at the time. Some fled to Kyoto leaving behind two priests and Paul Miki, John de Goto and James Kisai in Osaka. Knowing this was no light threat, the priests and associates began to prepare for death. They put away their disguise of native kimonos and returned to their clerical garb, awaiting their discovery. Six Franciscans had already been arrested, as they were easy to spot in their brown habits. As news of the edict spread among the Christians, they courageously prepared to stay strong and die rather than give up their Faith. Several attempts were made to legally rescue the situation by Christian leaders, but all failed.
The Hour Has Come
There is no detailed record of how the actual arrests were made, but it seems that a dragnet was sent out to get a showcase of victims, not to just kill them, but to terrorize the Christians into apostasy by their example. The final total of twenty-six victims were not all arrested at the same time. Among the captured religious were our two Jesuit seminarians and one lay associate and six Franciscan friars, three born in Spain, two in Mexico and one Portuguese, born in India. The rest of the martyrs were all Japanese. Twelve of the laymen were affiliated to the Franciscans, one a friend of the Jesuits and three children.
Almost all of the captured Christians were seized in Osaka and Kyoto. The hand of Providence showed itself many times in those chosen to die. When the Franciscans were called, on the list of condemned was their cook. His name was Matthias. But he was nowhere to be found, as he was out shopping for groceries. When the police kept calling his name another helper by the same name answered. He joyfully volunteered to take the place of the cook and was arrested in his stead.
On the first day of the year 1597, Paul Miki, James Kisai and John de Goto were arrested with four other Japanese laymen who were catechists and preachers. Paul, being a prize victim, having come from noble lineage and the court of Nobunaga, was loaded with the heaviest chains of all. Instead of dampening his spirits, Paul felt blest at the prospect of dying at the same age as Our Lord, being crucified and transfixed with a sword at the hand of his own nation. He would die resembling Christ, to Whom he had dedicated his life. His demeanor and joy were so astounding that two of his jailers converted and he baptized six people in the first jail of his captivity.
The emperor’s sentence was to cut off the noses and ears of the Christian captives and to parade the gruesome figures through the streets from Osaka/ Kyoto to Nagasaki, a trek of over 300 miles during the coldest season, from December to February. Once they reached Nagasaki, they were to be crucified like common criminals. On January 3, 1597, the death march began after the guard and executioner, a sympathizer with the Christians, would not do as he was ordered and only cut off part of the left ear of each of the captives. With blood running down the side of their faces, and the cold wind of winter penetrating their bones, they began the long journey. The well-catechized Christians they passed collected the relics of these future saints and brought them to the other Jesuits. Paul’s friends and converts traveled with them, desiring also to die in testimony of the truth. This included not only men, but also their wives and even children. Victor Nodahensuchi, secretary of the governor, was so devoted to Paul that he spent voluntary time in prison with his wife and children. When the prisoners gave him letters to deliver to their families, he refused to leave them lest he jeopardize his chance of martyrdom!
Father Boero, SJ, tells an endearing story of a Christian named Andrew Ongasava, who was a mathematician and archer. He, his wife and child eventually gave their lives for the Faith. But when he first told his eighty-year-old father of the persecution and how they should prepare to die rather than deny Christ, his father became angry. A professional swordsman all his life, he would hear nothing of hiding. He pulled out two swords which he swirled around in a dramatic poise saying, “I will hew them down until nothing remains in my grasp but the sword hilt, even until my arms fall powerless by my side…then let them slay me and I will die like a brave martyr.” It took time to convince the old man to go into hiding and prayerfully prepare for God’s will. Finally he threw away his swords and joined the family in spiritual preparation for martyrdom.
When the death march began there were only twenty-four prisoners. A caravan of eight carts, each holding three captives, began the month-long trip to Nagasaki. A soldier walked before the carts carrying a sign stating the reason for their punishment and the type of execution they were going to meet at the end. In the Japanese culture, this was a dramatic form of punishment, humiliation before the public.
Way to Calvary
Rain or shine, the martyrs stood, a pathetic sight with the same clothes they were captured in, rain-soaked and worn, dried blood sticking to their faces. It was a sentence designed to strike fear in the hearts of all who beheld them, but to the amazement of the guards, the majority of the spectators were praying, following them, and moved to compassion by the peace of the martyrs. Only a few citizens heckled and mocked the holy men as the procession continued. Each night the captives were locked up in existing prisons or makeshift ones constructed for the event by the government. Sometimes they were even put in cages. The escorting guards were baffled by their behavior, especially when they saw Paul Miki embrace the Franciscans and thanked them for being allowed to be crucified with them.
Frustrated by not achieving the desired reaction, Taicosama Hideyoshi lengthened the journey by using a slower route. To make it even more dramatic, he had the captives heavily guarded. But the new plan backfired when the guard, so impressed by the behavior of the prisoners, broke rank and provided comfort to them in the bitter cold.
Father Boero relates that in a village in the kingdom of Amacusa “they were committed to the custody of an idolatrous official, who hated the very name of Christian, so much that he treated them in the most inhuman manner, flinging them into so foul a dungeon that it was not even fit for animals.” Paul Miki sought this man out and through a conversation, not only softened his heart, but completely won him over. “You can now understand that ours is not an affected joy,” Paul Miki explained to him, “but rather a deep sense of consolation, which has its source in our hearts. We are not criminals consigned to death for violation of the emperor’s laws, and the only crime laid to our charge is, that we adore the one true God, Creator of the Universe, Whom we love, and Whose religion we preach. Taicosama, your emperor, knows not that religion; and he has, therefore, condemned us for announcing it.” (Fr. Boero, SJ, 1862) Thanks to this conversion, the prisoners were allowed to write letters, some of which are still treasured in the archives.
There was an amazing camaraderie among the condemned, encouraging each other to hold fast to the Faith, and keep their eyes on Jesus. One of Paul Miki’s letters to a friend, who was trying to get a reprieve from the emperor, insisted that he stop, as it would deprive him, Paul, of his martyrs’ crown. He also wrote to a friend that he had accomplished more in this last journey and received so much more consolation than during his years of religious life. “And now that I am condemned to death,” he wrote in another letter, “solely because I have preached the law of Christ, I will continue to preach it with my last breath.”
Twenty-six Martyrs
The bonzes were furious at the reaction of the populace, who instead of being repulsed, identified with the holy men. Father Boero, SJ, recorded the furious reaction of the bonzes to Paul Miki’s preaching; “This is not uprooting Christianity from where it was, but rather disseminating it where it was not. Nay, more, had they never uttered a word, their very example, and the joy that animates them, in prospect of the eternal happiness which, they say, is in store for them after death, would be quite enough to infect the people. The nearer to death, the greater their joy! What madness to have allowed them opportunity for addressing the multitudes, whom curiosity brings out to listen to them!”
The last two souls to be added to the ranks of the martyrs were taken and condemned at one of the stops. A newly baptized friend of the Franciscans, and an elderly friend of the Jesuits, were sent by Father Organtino Soldi, SJ, to catch up to the martyrs and to provide for their needs. The guards became annoyed at their constant presence and asked if they were also Christians. When they answered in the affirmative, they were immediately arrested, and even though their names were not on the list, they were crucified, just the same.
In one of his letters to his mother, Paul Miki enclosed a devout picture with the note to give it to her, “In order that it may help her to fix her heart on Heaven, as I cannot be bodily with her. It will enable her to raise her thoughts to God, into Whose presence I am going to beg consolation for her.” (Fr. Boero, SJ.) To one of the priests, he wrote, “We are sentenced to die on the cross. Let not your paternity be troubled about us; for through God’s infinite goodness we find consolation and joy in Him and our only desire now is that some day before reaching Nagasaki one of the Jesuits might come and hear our confessions. This is more necessary since Franciscan priests do not speak enough Japanese.”
The martyrs approached the city of Nagasaki by boat, spending the cold night on the deck with their hands tied behind their back and uncomfortably tied to each other. The last part of the journey was a torturous march into the city where they saw not twenty-six but fifty crosses erected in the place of public execution. Thinking these would terrify the crowds that now followed the procession of death, the guards were baffled to learn that instead of being afraid, the faithful were praying that the extra crosses were for them, so eager were they to profess their Faith. Along the route, even children prayed and testified their willingness to die for Christ. The last league of the march was done on foot before boarding a boat to Nagasaki.
Despite their sickly, tattered appearance, their hearts were filled with joy. At one point the Franciscan priest, Father Peter Baptist, could not withhold his tears, which the guards speculated came from fear and cowardice. Paul Miki however set them straight explaining that it was devotion that propelled such an outbreak of emotion. The deputy governor, a friend of Paul Miki, was commissioned to act as executioner and awaited their arrival. When he saw Paul and heard him preaching he broke down and cried. “You have no reason to weep,” Paul told him, “but you should rather envy me my death, opprobrious as it may seem to you. Remember that the only crime I am charged with is that I preached the law of Christ–a law known to you–and my only crime has been saving souls from eternal ruin, pointing out the one way that leads to everlasting blessedness. So instead of tears and sympathy, which my death does not require, grant me as a pledge of your affection the privilege of confession and receiving Holy Communion.”
The governor said he would try to get a Jesuit to come and hear confession and bring Communion. He also promised that they would be executed on Friday, as they had symbolically requested. Then turning to Louis, the eleven year- old boy, the deputy governor tried to convince him to apostatize. With the conviction of a man, the boy refused. Then Father Rodriguez, a Jesuit who was a captive at the court of Taicosama as his translator, pushed his way through the crowd, bursting into tears when he found the group. Embracing each captive, he gave them words of encouragement telling them how he envied them. Paul responded by saying, “Remember that during our thirty days’ journey I was continually preaching and listened to attentively. This will redound to the benefit of the Faith. In the prison at Osaka I baptized six pagans who urged me to urgently baptize them in order that they might hold in remembrance that they were born Christians in a dungeon and brought to spiritual life by someone about to die for the Faith they just received… These are undoubtedly signs that the Faith has power to convert idolaters, a power which will keep Christians from abandoning it through fear of death.”
Then Father Rodriquez turned to the people surrounding the martyrs and addressed them; there was not a dry eye to be seen. As the crowd around the prisoners began to swell to large numbers, the executioner decided that they must begin immediately and not wait until Friday, lest the people attempt to set them free. Disregarding the traditional site for execution, he erected the twenty- six crosses side by side, three feet apart on a hill so all could see them. A Japanese-speaking Jesuit snuck past the guards and succeeded in hearing their confessions as they passed him. He also received the vows of three catechists. Overjoyed, John de Goto cried out, “Congratulate me, congratulate me, for I am now a religious of the Society of Jesus and I am about to die in the service of God—a witness for the truth.”
As they were climbing past the crowds, the people began to hail the twenty-six victims by calling “Blessed” and “Martyrs!” But the condemned replied, “No, we are sinners. Regard us as such and pray to God that our blood may wash every stain from our souls.” It was with great grief that the executioner had to perform this unpleasant task and he expressed this to all, especially Paul, his good friend. On the way up the hill, three Portuguese sailors threw themselves at Paul’s feet, embracing him. He freed himself with great difficulty, saying, “Why would you afflict me at this crucial moment? Give to God these acts of humility of which I am unworthy. If you love me, ask God to pardon me, a sinner, for so I am. Implore Him to accept my miserable life, which I willingly offer to Him on the cross in atonement for my sins; that God may accept it. Pray, I ask you, that my cross and my death may be united to that of Our Lord Jesus Christ.”
It is Finished
The visible joy and resignation of the martyrs as they reached the place of crucifixion brought the bystanders to tears. Paul continued to exhort his fellow Japanese to embrace the Faith. The standard form of crucifixion in Japan was a cross with a second crossbar for the feet, the victim spread like an X. His weight was borne on a little seat-like piece of wood that stuck out. He was bound to the cross by iron rings and fastened at the waist, legs, arms and neck. After the victim was crucified the executioners gave a signal, and two soldiers standing on either side would thrust a spear under the ribs crossing each other, coming out at the shoulder. It was instant death. The bodies would be left hanging until they decomposed or were devoured by beasts. Each of the prisoners knew exactly what to expect.
Nineteen-year-old John Soan (de Goto) in his last conversation with his father, who stood at the foot of his cross told him, “Obey the laws of God and secure for yourself everlasting life by living a good life.” His father looked up and tearfully responded to him, “Die joyfully and with that fixed purpose that you lay down your life for Christ, as a witness of the Faith. Your mother and I envy you and should at any time God select us for the same honor you are about to enjoy, we will gladly give our blood for the same holy cause.”
The crosses were each labeled with the name of the victim to hang upon it. Anxiously, the martyrs sought their own. Numbered among the twenty-six were three children. In the long row of crosses were three smaller ones made for them. Young in years but mature in soul, the children ran to embrace their crosses! The signal was given and the martyrs were fastened to them. The crowds were so enormous that the soldiers formed an enclosure around the victims. Once fastened to their crosses, the soldiers raised them and dropped the cross into their sockets in the ground. The governor ordered the prisoners to be treated with respect. As they hung on display, each gave testimony of their cause. Little thirteen year- old Anthony started singing the Latin hymn Laudate Pueri Dominum (Children, Praise the Lord.) and little Louis, on being encouraged by the crowd, began to dance with the motion of his hands and feet.
Father Boero writes that, “John de Goto, on being exhorted by a witnessing priest ‘to be mindful of Heaven, where you soon will be,’ responded that that was ‘the dearest thought of my heart.’ ” His poor father, not being allowed to comfort his son, encouraged him at a distance to “persevere to the end.” After his son was obviously dead, and reflecting that now he was the father of a martyr, he overcame his fear and ran up to the cross, embraced and kissed it, taking relics of his clothing home for his family to treasure.
Paul Miki, using his cross for a pulpit, discredited the political motivation for their condemnation that was written on the placard, “Hear me, I implore you. I am not a stranger; nor have I come from the Philippine Islands. I am one of you; a Japanese, and a member of the Society of Jesus. I have been condemned to this cross, not for any crime, but solely because I have preached the law of Our Lord Jesus Christ. And I esteem it a great happiness and honor to die for that law; and I thank the Lord for having thus crowned my labors. Now approaching, as I am, the close of my days, and in that would deter me from deceiving you, I here protest and declare that there is no other way of attaining salvation, than that which the Christians profess. And, since that law commands us to pardon our enemies, and return good for evil, I pardon Taicosama and all those who have had a hand in my death. Nor should anyone suppose that I entertain hatred or resentment to those I have named; for, indeed, my dearest wish and most fervent prayer is that they all, and with them the whole Japanese nation, may become Christians, and thus save their immortal souls.”
Now approaching, as I am, the close of my days, and in that would deter me from deceiving you, I here protest and declare that there is no other way of attaining salvation, than that which the Christians profess.
As the executioner was about to give the signal to pierce the sides of those hanging, the twenty-six heroes called out “Jesus” and “Mary” so loudly that they could be heard in the city below. Paul Miki’s sides were pierced by a renegade Christian who had orchestrated the capture, conviction and sentences of the martyrs. When he heard Paul pardoning his enemies and then pray for them, he burst into tears and publicly renounced his apostasy. The blood flowing down the bodies caused frenzy as the faithful rushed to soak their cloths or even robes to get relics of the martyrs. The guards reacted, beating and threatening them all the way down the hill. The bodies of the martyrs were left to hang until they decomposed as was the custom, but because of the crowds that gathered there, the government erected a palisade around to keep the Christians from stealing the bodies.
Father Boero wrote, “The various miracles whereby God was pleased to show that the death of these holy men was precious in His sight, served to augment the number of those who hastened to venerate their remains. Indeed, the birds of prey and wild beasts that abound in that region, never ventured to profane the bodies of the holy martyrs.”
The bodies hung there for two months in the cold. When the warm days approached they began to decompose and fall to the ground. The faithful Christians collected the relics and brought them to the priest. The relics were then sent out of the country. Hideyoshi, the persecutor, died shortly after the execution at the age of sixty-one. He was followed by another persecutor, Takagawa Ieyasu, and then another and another. Edicts were issued and enforced; “As long as the sun will continue shining on the nether worlds, let no Christian be foolhardy enough to come to Japan. May all know that the king of Spain or God of the Christians or even Shaku transgress this prohibition will be decapitated.”
The Sakoku, an edict issued in 1636, listed eighteen prohibitions, the breaking of which resulted in death, prison or deportation. Rewards for the capture of priests, Christians, or those who sheltered them, were listed. The True Faith was being stamped out. The last priest in Japan was executed in 1634.
The Jesuits left a Manual of Martyrdom, which they circulated among the faithful during persecution. “When martyrdom is imminent, you have to prepare yourself with confession. When a formal confession is impossible, you have to repent by recalling all your offenses. Then you should ask pardon in appealing to the grace of God, making up your mind never to commit any mortal sin; also pray for valor and grace so that you can endure the pangs of martyrdom.
“Never cherish an evil thought toward the officer passing the sentence of death, or the executioner, but pray to God that they may be led to the way of truth, since it is their deeds that take you on the road to Paradise. “While being tortured, visualize the Passion of Jesus. Think intently that Santa Maria (Holy Mary), and many Angels are awaiting the coming of your soul with the crown in their hands. Hope and confidence should occupy your mind, since at that moment God shall tender a special help. If possible say something that would benefit the soul of the bystanders. Say, for instance, ‘There is no way besides the religion of Christ which can save you in the future life. I am now going to sacrifice my life as a testimony to the truth of this religion. There is no joy greater than this, because this is the way to infinite bliss.’ Say something like this with ‘flowers of words.’ But never think that you are compelled to say that. God will certainly guide you as to what to do and what to say, so trust everything to His guidance.”
Some historians speculate that there were almost as many martyrs as during the ages of ancient Rome. After 250 years of persecution the reign of terror finally ended in 1854, when Japan opened its ports to western countries for trade. The missionaries came back and were reluctantly welcomed. Prohibition was still enforced for the Japanese citizens.
The priests of the Paris Foreign Mission Society, after many appeals, were finally given permission by the government to build a church in Nagasaki—but for the foreign businessmen only, not the Japanese.
On March 17, 1865, less than a month after this first church was consecrated, Father Bernard Petitjean found three old Japanese women kneeling in the pews. Encouraged by their presence, thinking it was out of curiosity, he knelt at the altar rail and recited the Our Father aloud. To his surprise, the three women approached him. “We have the same heart as you,” they said, and immediately asked three specific questions, “Is it the King of Rome who sent you?” “Do you have children?” And, “Where is Mother Mary’s picture?” they asked.
Father Petitjean answered that, yes he had been sent by the Pope, and no he did not have children and yes, the blessed Mother was there, pictured in the church. Satisfied that he was indeed a legitimate priest and not one of the previous ministers who answered all the questions wrong, they revealed their secret to him: they were hidden Christians!
The Faith had survived in Japan, fulfilling a prophesy by “Bastian,” a martyr and catechist, who predicted that the Catholic Faith would return after seven generations or 250 years! The Jesuits and Franciscans had done such a wonderful job training their catechists that not a beat was skipped in passing on the Faith without the help of the clergy and the graces of only one sacrament, Baptism. Even without a priest, Catholics were following the liturgical calendar, celebrating Christmas and the “Season of Sadness” every year and passing on rosaries, medals and the prayers that went with them. They knew that when the fathers of the True Faith returned they would be recognized by three distinct signs: their loyalty to Rome, their lives of celibacy and their devotion to the Mother of God.
The strength of the Catholic families passed on the Faith to their children without compromise… After seven generations, the True Faith had finally returned. The martyrs were canonized on June 8, 1862, the same year as Father Boero’s book was translated into English from which the facts of this story were taken.
May the example of these men strengthen us in times of adversity and persecution. May the Hidden Christians who passed on the love and devotion of the Catholic Faith through their families for 250 years inspire us to do the same! Saint Paul Miki and companions, pray for us.
