Today, pause and think about a 25-year-old, handsome, kind, and thoughtful Ugandan who was full of life and shared his love for Christ and His Church undeniably until his and his companions’ unthinkable torturous death by fire. Praise be to God for St. Charles Lwanga.
On June 3rd honor the memorial for St. Charles Lwanga and his companions. The story of these brave martyrs of Uganda is almost impossible to imagine.
The story of St. Charles (Kaloli) Lwanga dates back to the late 1800s after the first Catholic missions began in Uganda and Central Africa. Under the rule of King Mtesa missionaries were welcomed and preached and many believed in Christianity. However, Mtesa’s successor, King Mwanga despised Christians in Uganda and tables turned quickly and severly.
Charles Lwanga was in his late teens and served as a page in the court of King Mwanga. Secretly, Charles was praying and encouraging others to be a Christian. When the king found out he was infuriated, so he summoned all the pages. He separated the ones who stood proud as Christians then ordered his soldiers to march the younmen, reportedly as young as 13, more than 30 miles to Namugono, an area of execution.
Despite the relentless mocking and evil treatment, the group continued to praise Jesus Christ even during their torture. Witnesses said Lwanga was made to build his own funeral pyre of wood and was burned alive.
During this horrific scene when they began burning his feet, Lwanga was quoted as saying, “It is as if you are pouring water on me. Please repent and become a Christian like me.” After that he stayed silent until just before he died, saying, “My God.”
While King Mwanga and other pagan rulers wanted to end Christianity, their actions procured the opposite. It was one of the earliest Christians in Africa, Tetrullian (or in Latin – Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus) who said, “The blood of the Martyrs is the seed of Christians.” Tertullian lived in 155-240 AD.
To this day millions of people make the pilgrimage to Namugono to honor Lwanga and his companions. It is there where a shrine in the shape of a funeral pyre sits in victory.
