St. Paul Miki and Companions: The Martyrs of Japan, Patron Saints of Japan, Feast Day (February 6) and Prayer

St. Paul Miki (about 1562–1597) was a Japanese Jesuit and gifted preacher who, with twenty-five companions, was crucified on a hill outside Nagasaki on February 5, 1597, for the faith; from his cross he preached his last sermon and forgave his executioners. The twenty-six martyrs of Japan included Jesuits, Franciscan friars from Spain, Mexico and India, and Japanese laymen and boys as young as twelve. They are among the patrons of Japan, together with St. Francis Xavier, who first brought the Gospel there in 1549. Their feast day is February 6. Below are their story, the hidden Christians of Japan, and prayers to St. Paul Miki and companions.

A short prayer to St. Paul Miki, written for this page:

Who were St. Paul Miki and his companions?

Paul Miki was born into a wealthy Japanese family and was educated by the Jesuits, who had arrived with St. Francis Xavier in 1549. He entered the Society of Jesus and became known as an eloquent preacher who could explain the faith to Buddhist listeners. By the 1590s there were hundreds of thousands of Christians in Japan, but the ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi had turned against the missionaries.

In December 1596 Paul Miki, two other Japanese Jesuits, six Franciscans and seventeen Japanese lay Christians, among them catechists, a doctor, and the boys Louis Ibaraki, Anthony and Thomas Kozaki, were arrested in Kyoto and Osaka. Their left ears were cut off, and they were paraded through towns and marched hundreds of miles in winter to Nagasaki. There, on February 5, 1597, they were tied to crosses on Nishizaka hill and killed with lances. According to the eyewitness accounts, they sang psalms and hymns, and Paul Miki, from his cross, told the crowd that he was dying for preaching the Gospel, that he forgave the ruler and all who had a part in his death, and that he prayed they would be baptized. Pope Pius IX canonized the twenty-six martyrs in 1862.

The words of Christ that they lived (Matthew 10:32, Douay-Rheims):

The hidden Christians of Japan

Persecution grew fiercer in the following decades, and thousands more Japanese Catholics were martyred. Christianity was banned for more than two centuries, but in villages around Nagasaki “hidden Christians” kept the faith in secret, baptizing their children and praying in disguise without priests. In 1865, when a French priest opened a new church in Nagasaki dedicated to the twenty-six martyrs, a group of villagers quietly approached him and told him they shared his faith, one of the most moving moments in the history of the Church.

Patron saints of Japan

• St. Francis Xavier, who brought the Gospel to Japan in 1549, is the principal patron. See the St. Francis Xavier prayer.
• St. Paul Miki and companions, the first martyrs of Japan.

Prayers

Written for this page.

For persecuted Christians

For the Church in Japan

Feast day

The memorial of Sts. Paul Miki and Companions, martyrs, is February 6, the day after their martyrdom.

Frequently asked questions

How did St. Paul Miki die?

He was tied to a cross and killed with lances on a hill outside Nagasaki on February 5, 1597, with twenty-five companions.

Who is the patron saint of Japan?

St. Francis Xavier is the principal patron of Japan, with St. Paul Miki and the martyrs of Japan.

When is the feast of St. Paul Miki?

February 6.

More saints

• St. Francis Xavier prayer
• Patron saint of the Philippines
• Vietnamese Martyrs
• St. Ignatius of Loyola prayer
• Patron saints of countries
• Saint of the day

Texts and sources

• Matthew 10:32 (Douay-Rheims).