St. Paul Miki: and the Companions of the Cross

I do gladly pardon the Emperor and all who have sought my death. I beg them to seek baptism and be Christians themselves.

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (Catholic Online) - Paul Miki was Tounucumada, Japan in 1562. At the age of 20, in order to give his whole life to the Lord whom he loved so dearly, he joined the Society of Jesus. His family was well off; his father was a military leader of high rank. The entire family became Christians and soon thereafter young Paul knew that he wanted to be a soldier for Christ.

Brother Paul was known for his wonderful gift of preaching and his zeal for evangelization. He regularly won Buddhists to faith in Jesus Christ and to membership in the Catholic Church. Japan had been privileged to host the great evangelist and missionary, Francis Xavier who had arrived in 1549. However, after that arrival and as a result of the growing number of conversions, the emperor feared that the Spanish were seeking to conquer his Nation. He turned against the Christians, even those who, like Paul, were Japanese. He banished all "foreign ministers'. Somehow, the Jesuits were able to continue their work due to a lack of enforcement of the edict. However, from that point on they lived under extraordinary threat of persecution.

Paul was arrested, along with his companions and condemned in the public square to be executed by crucifixion. Then their left earlobes were severed. This treatment was intended to shame them into recanting their faith and make them a witness and warning to the crowd. They were then forced to walk to Nagasaki. The trip on foot took an entire month. Along that "way of the Cross", they were mocked and maltreated. In spite of the treatment, Brother Paul and a Franciscan priest regularly preached the Gospel to the hostile crowds. On the morning of their execution in Nagasaki, they were taken to a hill outside of the City where crosses awaited each of them. Together they sang a "Te Deum", after discovering that they were to die in imitation of the Savior. They were all crucified. While hanging on the Cross, they had their chests pierced with a lance. Paul Miki preached to the crowd who had gathered and I set below an eyewitness account:

From an account of the martyrdom of Saint Paul Miki and his companions: You shall be my witnesses

The crosses were set in place. Father Pasio and Father Rodriguez took turns encouraging the victims. Their steadfast behaviour was wonderful to see. The Father Bursar stood motionless, his eyes turned heavenward. Brother Martin gave thanks to God's goodness by singing psalms. Again and again he repeated: "Into your hands, Lord, I entrust my life." Brother Francis Branco also thanked God in a loud voice. Brother Gonsalvo in a very loud voice kept saying the Our Father and Hail Mary.

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Our brother, Paul Miki, saw himself standing now in the noblest pulpit he had ever filled. To his "congregation" he began by proclaiming himself a Japanese and a Jesuit. He was dying for the Gospel he preached. He gave thanks to God for this wonderful blessing and he ended his "sermon" with these words: "As I come to this supreme moment of my life, I am sure none of you would suppose I want to deceive you. And so I tell you plainly: there is no way to be saved except the Christian way. My religion teaches me to pardon my enemies and all who have offended me. I do gladly pardon the Emperor and all who have sought my death. I beg them to seek baptism and be Christians themselves."

Then he looked at his comrades and began to encourage them in their final struggle. Joy glowed in all their faces, and in Louis' most of all. When a Christian in the crowd cried out to him that he would soon be in heaven, his hands, his whole body strained upward with such joy that every eye was fixed on him.

Anthony, hanging at Louis' side, looked toward heaven and called upon the holy names - "Jesus, Mary!" He began to sing a psalm: "Praise the Lord, you children!" (He learned it in catechism class in Nagasaki. They take care there to teach the children some psalms to help them learn their catechism).
Others kept repeating "Jesus, Mary!" Their faces were serene. Some of them even took to urging the people standing by to live worthy Christian lives. In these and other ways they showed their readiness to die.

Then, according to Japanese custom, the four executioners began to unsheathe their spears. At this dreadful sight, all the Christians cried out, "Jesus, Mary!" And the storm of anguished weeping then rose to batter the very skies. The executioners killed them one by one. One thrust of the spear, then a second blow. It was over in a very short time.

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