Saint Paul Miki and Companions
Feast day: February 6
Saint Paul Miki and Companions, 26 martyrs on Nishizaka Hill, Nagasaki, Japan, in 1597 (06/02)
Who is he?
Saint Paul Miki was a Japanese Jesuit, one of the 26 first martyrs of Japan. The Church celebrates him together with his 25 fellow martyrs: Franciscan friars from Spain, Mexico and India, two other Japanese Jesuits, and many Japanese lay people, including boys who served at the altar. On 8 June 1862, Pope Pius IX canonized them.
Life story
Paul Miki was born around 1562–1564, the son of a fairly well-off Japanese family that had become Catholic. He studied at the Jesuit fathers’ school and then asked to join the Jesuits. He understood the religions of Japan well and spoke very well, so he became a famous preacher and helped many people come to believe in God. He was preparing to become a priest.
At that time, the ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi feared the Catholic faith and ordered Christians to be arrested. At the end of 1596, Paul Miki and many others were arrested. They were marched on foot for several weeks, from the Kyoto area to Nagasaki, through many cities, so that everyone would see them and be afraid. Along the way, they prayed and sang hymns.
On 5 February 1597, they were taken up Nishizaka Hill, overlooking the bay of Nagasaki. There were 26 crosses there. Each of them went and embraced his own cross. The youngest was Louis Ibaraki, only 12 years old. Witnesses said that the boys stayed cheerful and steady.
Hanging on the cross, Paul Miki still preached to the crowd. According to an eyewitness, he said that he was Japanese and a Jesuit, that he was dying because he had preached the Gospel, and that he forgave the ruler and everyone who had caused his death, just as Jesus forgave on the cross (cf. Lk 23:34). They sang and prayed until the soldiers pierced them with spears.
Their blood did not put out the faith. From 1614, the Catholic faith was banned throughout Japan for more than two hundred years, but Japanese Christians quietly kept the faith and passed it on to their children and grandchildren.
Why is he a saint?
Saint Paul Miki and his companions died because they believed in Jesus. They were brave and joyful, and they forgave those who killed them. They bore witness that God’s love is stronger than fear and death.
A lesson for you
- Bravely let others know you are a Christian, through your good words and actions.
- When someone hurts you, practice forgiving them and praying for them.
Identifying marks
- A small cross held high: he was an eager preacher, and he preached Jesus from the cross itself before he died.
- A palm leaf: a sign that he died for the faith (martyrdom).
- A black Jesuit cassock: he was a Japanese Jesuit.
- A tall cross and two crossed spears behind him: the martyrs were hung on crosses and pierced with spears on Nishizaka Hill.
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