Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions
Feast day: June 3
Saint Charles Lwanga and his companions, 22 martyrs of Uganda, many of them teenagers (03/06)
Who are they?
Saint Charles Lwanga and his companions were 22 Catholic Christians in the kingdom of Buganda, today in Uganda, Africa. They died for the faith between 1885 and 1887. Many of them were young men and teenagers serving in the king’s court. On 18 October 1964, Pope Paul VI declared them saints.
Their story
Catholic missionaries arrived in Buganda in 1879. Many young people in the king’s court heard about Jesus and asked to learn the faith. Charles Lwanga was born around 1860. He was baptized in 1885 and put in charge of the young pages.
King Mwanga II did not want the pages to become Christians. He even demanded that they do wicked things against God’s law. Charles protected the boys and taught them to keep themselves pure. At the end of 1885, the king had Saint Joseph Mukasa killed, the head of the pages before Charles, because he had dared to warn the king.
In May 1886, the persecution broke out. Knowing he was about to be arrested, Charles secretly baptized, that very night, several boys who were preparing for baptism, including Kizito. The next day, the king gathered the pages and gave the order: whoever follows the faith, step forward. Charles and his companions bravely stepped forward. They were tied up and marched on foot to Namugongo. Along the way, they prayed and encouraged one another.
On 3 June 1886, Charles and many of his companions were martyred at Namugongo, burned to death. Kizito, the youngest, was only about 14. It is said that they went to their death calmly, praying until the very end. Around the same time, many Anglican Christians also died for their faith.
Why are they saints?
They chose to be faithful to Jesus rather than obey the king in what was wrong. Their blood became a seed of faith: today Uganda has millions of believers, and every year huge crowds of pilgrims come to Namugongo on 3 June. Saint Charles Lwanga is the patron of Catholic youth in Africa.
A lesson for you
- Be a good friend who helps your friends stay away from what is wrong, like Saint Charles.
- When someone tries to get you to do something wrong, have the courage to say “no,” even if you are the only one.
Identifying marks
- A young adult man with his hand on a boy’s shoulder: Charles Lwanga was the head of the royal pages (the boys who served in the king’s court), and he protected the younger ones and taught them the faith, including the boy Kizito.
- Palm branches in both their hands: a sign that they won the victory by daring to die for the Lord (martyrdom).
- Long white kanzu robes: the traditional clothing of Ugandan men, as pictures and statues of the Uganda Martyrs usually show them.
- Green hills, a lake and banana trees behind them: their homeland in Buganda, by Lake Victoria, today in Uganda, Africa.
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