September 10th, the Great Martyrs of Japan

The Great Martyrs of Japan

Welcome to the Saint of the Day. Today, the 10^th of September, the Church celebrates the feast of the Great Martyrs of Japan.

On the 10^th of September, The governor of Nagasaki picked 52 prisoners including 21 monks, some of whom had been imprisoned for many years in very cruel conditions. The governor ordered all of them to be sentenced to death by beheading. This execution order also included the prisoners' children.

On September 10, 1622, prisoners carried crosses in their hands, and came to the execution grounds and many of the crowd that came to watch those included Christians, reportedly crying and wailing to see their priests who had converted them. The priests in answer to this told the crowd that God would give them other teachers and that they needed to keep their faith until death.

. Four Japanese lay Christians who had entertained priests in their houses, as well as twenty-five priests and monks, European and Japanese, were given a stake where he or she was to be burned. Each priest kissed the stake he was given many times, and their example was followed by the Japanese Christians.

As the preparations for execution were conducted, Father Espinola asked one of the mothers, Isabel Fernandez going to be beheaded: where her son was. The mother lifted the five year-old child, named Ignacio, in her arms and answered Father Espinola:

“Father, here is my son. I will offer him to God; he will become a martyr with me.”

In order to dishearten the priests and monks, who are going to be burned at the stake, the men and women and children, most of them under 10, were beheaded first. This was a heart renting scene for the priests and monks to see their folks brutally murdered before their eyes.

The burning took place over several hours, and it was claimed that Father Ouimura lasted three hours alive. After the end of the burning, many local Christians, estimated up to 50,000 in the vicinity of Nagasaki, attempted to gather relics, but they were beaten by the guards. However, no atrocious, brutal and barbarous measure could wipe out Christianity from Japan, which was planted by the missionaries and watered by the blood of infants, lay persons, priest and monks.

Today there are an estimated half a million Catholics in Japan spread over 16 dioceses, 1500 priests and 850 parishes.