Paul Miki

Saint Paul Miki was born around 1562 into a wealthy Japanese family. Educated by the Jesuits in Azuchi and Takatsuki, he came to know Christ deeply and entered the Society of Jesus. Gifted with clarity and warmth, Paul became a renowned preacher, drawing many in Japan to the Catholic faith at a time when the Gospel was taking root in new soil. As suspicion and fear of foreign influence grew, the ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi began a harsh persecution of Christians. Paul was arrested with fellow believers and, after imprisonment, was forced to march nearly 600 miles from Kyoto to Nagasaki, singing hymns of praise along the way. In Nagasaki, on February 5, 1597, he was crucified and pierced with a lance. From the cross he preached one last time, professing faith in Christ and forgiving his executioners. Canonized in 1862, he is honored among the Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan and is venerated as a patron of Japan. His feast day is February 6.