St. Paul Miki, Jesuit Martyr
by VP
Posted on Friday February 06, 2026 at 12:00AM in Saints
Martyrdom of Paul Miki and Companions in Nagasaki
LORD JESUS Christ, Who didst dedicate the first-fruits of the faith among the people of Japan in the blood of Thine holy martyrs Peter Baptist, Paul, and their companions, so that they were conformed to Thy likeness through the death of the cross, grant that we, who this day keep their festival, may be stirred up by their ensample. Who livest and reignest with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen. SourceThe Roman Breviary: Reformed by Order of the Holy Oecumenical Council of Trent, 1908
"The martyrs on the cross were silent in prayer, save Paul Miki, who addressed the crowd, saying: "Because of my teaching of the true religion of God I am now to die, but the death I am about to taste shall never make me regret what I did." Then, when he was pierced by a spear, together with his twenty-five brethren, he cried, "Lord, I give over my soul to thee," and died. " Source: The Economic Aspects of the History of the Civilization of Japan 1930
"Six Franciscans, three Jesuits, Fathers Paul Miki, John Soan de Gotto, and James Kasai, as well as ten Japanese Christians, were imprisoned, and Taicosama passed upon them the following sentence of death:
"Whereas, these men, coming here from the Philippines, under the name of ambassadors, have, against our orders, preached the Christian faith, built churches, and abused our bounty, we order that they be executed, together with the Japanese who have embraced their religion. They shall be crucified at Nangasaki; and we again prohibit this faith, wishing that all should be aware of it. Whoever infringes this, our prohibition, shall, together with his family, suffer the penalty of death. "The 20th of the 11th Moon."
When the sentence was about to be executed, on the 5th of February, 1597, Father Paul Miki, being unable to restrain his excessive joy, threw himself into the arms of each of the Franciscans, and thanked them, with an overflowing heart, for the happiness for which he was indebted to them. To die the same death as our Saviour, Jesus, was, for these men, an unhoped-for glory, which filled them with a holy gladness, an ineffable consolation. The holy martyrs welcomed their fate with so much joy, that the Emperor was constrained to acknowledge that he had been mistaken in his calculations." Source: History of the Society of Jesus; 1865
"TAICOSAMA, the Emperor of Japan, suspecting that the Franciscan Fathers, who came to him as ambassadors of Portugal, were preparing the way for Portuguese conquest, ordered them to be put to death. A happy error made three Japanese of the Society of Jesus sharers in their crown. Paul Miki was thirty-three years old, and though not yet a priest, was one of the most successful preachers of the Christian faith. John, a youth of nineteen, and James, an old man of sixty-four, were catechists and novice lay-brothers in the Jesuit house at Meaco. With the other twenty-three martyrs, their left ear was mutilated, and they were placed on carts, as a moving pillory, and paraded through the country. At last they sailed for Nagasaki, where, on a long-backed hill over the city, twenty-six crosses were reared; a dense crowd was gathered all around. On the way up John and James took their vows of religion. John's father was awaiting him, but only to encourage him to die. Then he took his stand beneath his son, and saw the double lance-thrust, which dyed him with the blood of his child. Paul preached from his cross to those beneath him, and encouraged his fellow martyrs with burning words. The venerable old brother James rejected the signs of honour he received from the crowd, saying, 'I am but a sinner.' With the words, 'Jesus and Mary,' he received his death-stroke." Source: Miniatures Lives of the Saints, for Every Day in the Year; Burns and Oates, 1883
