On 5th February 1579, St Paul Miki and twenty-five Companions were executed for their Christian faith by crucifixion and spearing, at Nagasaki, Japan. They included 17 Japanese laymen (amongst them 3 boys, the youngest 12yrs old), 3 Japanese Jesuits, 4 Spanish, 1 Mexican and 1 Indian.
By the end of the sixteenth century, Japanese rulers had started to view Christianity as a threat of colonisation, so they banned the religion and persecuted the believers. St Paul Miki and his twenty-five companions were marched to their place of martyrdom, fixed to crosses and pierced through the thorax with spears.
Many other thousands of Christians suffered the same sad fate for their faith during this Japanese repression. However, more than two hundred years later, when missionaries returned to Japan, they discovered a still thriving but secret, Christian community.
Their Feast Day is 6th February.
St Paul Miki & Companions:
Pray for us that we will remain firm in our faith regardless of the many challenges.
Glory be to the…
