On this day in 1597, twenty-six Christians gave their lives for Christ in Nagasaki, Japan. They included six Spanish Franciscan missionaries—Peter Baptist, Martin of the Ascension, Francis Blanco, Philip of Jesus, Francis of Saint Michael, and Gonzalo Garcia (the last born in the East Indies); three Japanese Jesuits—Paul Miki, John Soan of Goto, and James Kisai; and seventeen Japanese laymen: Cosmas Takeya, Michael Kozaki with his son Thomas, Paul Ibaraki, Leo Karasuma, Louis and Anthony (two boys, aged eleven and thirteen), Matthias, Bonaventure, Joachim Sakakibara, Francis of Meaco, Thomas Dangi, John Kinuya, Gabriel de Duisco, Paul Suzuki, Francis Chichiyemon, and Peter Sukejiro.
We have the testimony of an eyewitness to their martyrdom. Among them, Paul Miki stood out for his heroic witness during the torment of crucifixion.
They are the first canonized martyrs of the Far East, raised to the altars in 1862 by Pope Pius IX.
