"At 11:02 AM, two-thirds of Japan's Catholics were annihilated; ... more Japanese Christians were slaughtered than had been martyred in four centuries of brutal persecution" - The Holy City Nagasaki
I need to do penance.
Monday, August 09, 2010
Nagasaki
"At 11:02 AM, two-thirds of Japan's Catholics were annihilated; ... more Japanese Christians were slaughtered than had been martyred in four centuries of brutal persecution" - The Holy City Nagasaki
I need to do penance.
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from the Wikis:
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On May 26, 1592, the Spanish governor in the Philippines sent Gonsalo on a diplomatic mission back to Japan along with Baptista.[1] After working for four years, the Japanese shogun suspected the missionaries of sedition and were placed under house arrest in their monastery in Miaco (Kyoto) on 8 December 1596. A few days afterwards, when they were singing vespers, they were arrested, manacled and immured.[1]
On January 3, 1597, the left ears of twenty-six confessors among them Garcia, were exscinded; but were then collected in reverence by the local Christians. On February 5, Garcia was crucified on Nagasaki Hills with twenty six of his companions. St. Garcia was the first to be extended on, and nailed to, the cross, which was then erected in the middle of those of his companions. Fr. Gonsalo, the first to arrive, went straight to one of the crosses and asked "Is this mine?". The reply was "It is not". Then he was taken to another cross, where he knelt down and embraced it. The others, one after another, started doing the same. "That was quite a sight, the way Br. Philip was embracing his cross. . . " comments one of the witnesses.[1] [3] Two lances impaled his body through his heart. While being nailed, Garcia sang praises of God, earning him the martyr's title.[1]***END***
Saint Father Gansalo Garcia was murdered by the Japanese. While he was being martyred, someone in the crowd remarked “Because you have killed him, Nagasaki will one day stand in ruins’.
When the A-bomb was ordered to Japan, its first target was to be Kyoto. A cloud cover quickly appeared over Kyoto, and Nagasaki’s skies opened up for a perfect shot at a major Japanese city.
The Japanese Catholics did not raise a hand to defend the Priests.
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John Bird's video of the whole "Akita" phenomenon...including this absolutely horrendous event in Japaneses Catholic history has given me such a profound love for the Japanese Catholics, the martyrs (in the 1600's as well as those who died in WWII), our Lady's call for prayer, penance, conversion...the beautiful community of the Sisters of the Handmaids of the Holy Eucharist, where our Lady's statue perspired, cried, and emitted blood from a wound in her hand, as well as the "messages" she gave to Sr. Agnes all point to the need we all have to love the Lord, make reparation, esp. in the presence of the Most Blessed Sacrament, to pray the Rosary with love and devotion, esp. for our bishops and priests...
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I just finished reading "a song for Nakasaki." Possibly one of the best books I have ever read!! I highly recommend it!
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