Saint Paul Miki, Priest & Martyr
and his companions, martyrs
Memorial
February 6th
Unknown artist
The Martyrs of Nagasaki
In 1597 Saint Paul Miki and twenty-six companions, who had been converted to Christianity by the great Jesuit missionary, Saint Francis Xavier, were martyred by crucifixion in Nagasaki, Japan.
See The Nagasaki Martyrs, by James Hitchcock.
Collect:
God our Father, source of strength for all Your saints,
You led Paul Miki and his companions through the suffering of the cross to the joy of eternal life.
May their prayers give us the courage to be loyal until death in professing our faith.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. +Amen.
First Reading: Galatians 2:19-20
For I through the law died to the law, that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Gospel Reading:Matthew 28:16-20
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw Him they worshipped Him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age."
Related Page: The Twenty-six Martyrs of Nagasaki -- by Joanna Bogle, Voices, Michaelmas 2007