The majority of Filipino Catholics knew Saint Lorenzo Ruiz, the country’s first-ever Filipino canonized Saint. The whole nation rejoiced at the announcement, the beatification (held in Manila), and the canonization rites in the 1980’s. Numerous images, statues, books, novena booklets, prayer cards, and other religious paraphernalia are widely circulated up to this day, and after the canonization rites, schools, parishes, and chapels were immediately erected in his honor. But if we look at the official Church documents, he was not canonized alone for he was canonized together with a group of Spanish and Japanese priests and Japanese lay men and women and he was made the leader of this particular group of martyrs.
One common denominator of the group is that all of them died a martyr’s death because of their missionary efforts in the then feudal Japanese empire that bans Christianity, Catholicism to be exact. It is so saddening that the majority of the faithful did not seem to care much about who was his companion martyrs, even some churches dedicated to him have this historical hiccup. Thankfully, a parish in Navotas is dedicated to San Lorenzo and his companions and their images are prominent in the parish’s altar.
In the anniversary of this blog, it is appropriate that we have to re-introduce the companion martyrs of San Lorenzo Ruiz because each of them lived extraordinary brave lives that all of us should emulate which inspired our own Lorenzo to hold on to the faith. But first, we have to understand what was going on at that time and why Christian persecution was so rampant in Japan. These martyred Christians and missionaries would number a thousand and would later bathe the Land of the Rising Sun with their blood which would later blossom the Catholic faith in that country centuries later.
The Japanese Missions
The history of Christianity in Japan began with the arrival of St. Francis Xavier and the Jesuits in the 1540s and briefly flourished, with over 100,000 converts, including many daimyos in Kyushu. The shogunate and imperial government initially supported the Catholic mission and the missionaries, thinking that they would reduce the Buddhist monks’ power and help trade with Spain and Portugal.
The Persecution
However, the Shogunate was also wary of colonialism, seeing that the Spanish had taken power in the Philippines, after converting the population. It soon met resistance from the highest office holders of Japan. Emperor Ogimachi issued edicts to ban Catholicism in 1565 and 1568 but to little effect. Beginning in 1587 with imperial regent Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s ban on Jesuit missionaries, Christianity was repressed as a threat to national unity.
During Toyotomi rule, especially foreign missionaries were killed in Japan, some by Japanese-style crucifixion; most famously, the twenty-six martyrs of Japan headed by St. Pedro Bautista, a Franciscan missionary, were tortured and crucified on crosses outside Nagasaki to discourage Christianity in 1597. A multitude of Japanese Catholics and missionaries were brutally tortured and killed for their faith, thus becoming martyrs. Many of these martyrs have been canonized, and their liturgical memorial is celebrated each year in honor of their fidelity to Christ and his Church unto death. After the Tokugawa shogunate banned Christianity in 1620, it ceased to exist publicly. Many Catholics went underground, becoming hidden Christians (Kakure Kirishitan), while others lost their lives. Only after the Meiji Restoration, was Christianity re-established in Japan.
The “Gallows and Pit”
The majority of the Dominican Martyrs of Japan underwent the death torture known as the “Gallows and pit”. The “gallows and pit” torture or Tsurushi in Japanese is one of the infamous Japanese torture techniques used in the 17th century to coerce Christians to recant their faith.
The torture happens when the tortured is held by the feet with a rope, one of the hands would be held tight with a rope, but another would be left hanging freely so that a sign could be made by the tortured that he was willing to recant.
The technique was said to be unbearable for those who submitted to it. The body was often lowered into a hole, itself often filled with excrement at the bottom. Typically, a cut would be made in the forehead in order to let blood pressure decrease in the area around the head.
The Dominican Martyrs of Japan
The martyrdom continued with a group of missionaries and natives that belonged to the Philippine Province of the Dominican Order, called the Holy Rosary Province. The word “companion” here is loosely used as some of the members of this group did not actually or physically accompany San Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila in the latter’s missionary work in 1636, contrary to popular belief. Rather, the other martyrs of Japan in 1633 & 1634 were referred to as “companion martyrs” of said Filipino saint just because they were all beatified and canonized simultaneously owing to the basically similar circumstances surrounding their respective martyrdom and also to their common affiliation with the Dominican family.
Through the promulgation of a decree on martyrdom, these 16 Martyrs of Japan were venerated on 11 October 1980 and beatified on 18 February 1981, by Pope St. John Paul II. They were later canonized saints on 18 October 1987, by the same Pontiff.
The Martyrs of 1637
The First group of the Dominican Martyrs of Japan was the group led by Fray Antonio Gonzales, OP who led the secret mission to Japan since it was already forbidden by the colonial government to send more missionaries in the Land of the Rising Sun. This was the actual group that St. Lorenzo Ruiz joined in order to hide from the Spanish colonial authorities where he was accused of murder. He was a bit hesitant at first but he later resolved to help on the missionary work in Japan.
In 1636, the Dominicans of Manila organized a missionary expedition with the intention of helping the Christians in Japan. As soon as they arrived on the island of Okinawa they were arrested a month later and kept in prison for a year, after which they were transferred and condemned to death by the tribunal of Nagasaki and some suffered the death sentence of “gallows and pit” while others died in prison or beheading.
St. Antonio Gonzales
(1593 – 1637)
Dominican Priest
Nationality: Spanish
Fray Antonio was born in Leon, Spain in 1593. From his youth, he conceived a strong desire for martyrdom as the supreme expression of his love for God. He became a Dominican in his native country at the age of 16. Fray Antonio became a good theologian in his native Spain and later in the Philippines He sailed to Manila in 1631 where he joined the Holy Rosary Province. He taught at Colegio de Santo Tomas (now University of Santo Tomas) and later became its rector. In 1636 he led the group of missionaries going to Japan, but was soon arrested with the rest. He was a man of much prayer and penance. After a year, he died in prison having endured the tortures inflicted upon him by the persecutors at the age of 45.
St. Guillaume Courtet (Tomas de Santo Domingo)
(1589 – 1637)
Dominican Priest
Nationality: French
Fray Guillaume [William (English), Guillermo (Spanish)] was born to noble parents in Serignan, France in 1589. Even during childhood, he dreamt of becoming a missionary as attested by his views and writings. At the age of 15, went to Toulouse, France to study philosophy and theology and decided to become a Dominican friar in 1607. Fray Guillaume was named professor of theology at the University of Toulouse to begin his teaching career that would continue throughout his life He was a member of the Dominican Reformed Congregation of St. Louis but then joined the Holy Rosary Province in 1628 and went to the Philippines where he taught at Colegio de Sto. Tomas. When he moved to Spain, he took the religious name “Tomas de Santo Domingo”. He became a professor of theology at the Colegio de Santo Tomas (precursor of Universidad de Santo Tomas) in Manila for only one year but deeply impressed his colleagues and students with his assiduousness in study, pastoral spirit, profound humility, penitential practices, frugal diet, hard work, devout prayers, marvelous silence & seclusion, and reverent & pious celebration of the holy mass; Fray Tomas was held by all of his acquaintances with the highest regard and praises as a holy man.
Fray Tomas later joined the He also the secret mission group led by Padre Antonio Gonzales in 1636 yet the group was arrested a month and a half later. He was subjected to painful torture in order to renounce Is faith in exchange for his life for a year. Fray Tomas was sentenced to death through gallows and pit. He survived the torture pit and was removed on September 27, 1637, yet still stood up for his faith that he was beheaded on September 29, 1637 singing praise to the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary and psalms in the midst of torture at the age 47. St. Guillaume Courtet was considered the first Frenchman to visit and evangelize Japan.
St. Miguel Aozaraza
(1598 – 1637)
Dominican Priest
Nationality: Spanish
Fray Miguel was born in Onate, Spain in 1598. From his youth, he conceived a strong desire for martyrdom as the supreme expression of his love for God. He entered the Dominican Order initially as a member of the Dominican Province in Spain, particularly in the convent in Victoria then later in Madrid.
He joined his friend St. Guillaume Courtet on his journey In the Philippines in 1634. Fray Miguel arrived in 1635 in Manila and he was assigned as a parish priest, particularly in Abucay, Bataan. While in Bataan, he studied “Tagalog” with eager obedience in order to become an effective minister to the natives, and also the foreign tongue “Nippongo” out of his ardent desire to become a missionary to Japan.
His desire was fulfilled when he was chosen to join the secret missionary group of Fray Antonio Gonzales, OP, and set sail to Japan in 1636. The group was arrested a month after their arrival in Japan and was imprisoned for a year. Fray Antonio refused to become an apostate and accepted with joy such tremendous suffering from different kinds of torture. He was sentenced to die in the “gallows and pit” and was hanged for three days. When they found out he was alive, he was beheaded at the age of 39 in Nishizaka Hill, Nagasaki, Japan on September 29, 1637.
He is much honored by his fellow countrymen in Oñate, Spain, and in his mission post in Abucay, Bataan. In honor of his missionary work in Bataan in the 17th century, statues of San Miguel de Aozaraza were enshrined at the facade of the Church of Saint Dominic de Guzman in Abucay, Bataan, and at the patio of the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Balanga, Bataan.
St. Vincente Shiwozuka de la Cruz
(1576 – 1637)
Dominican Priest
Nationality: Japanese
Fray Vicente was born to a Japanese Christian family in 1576 in Nagasaki, Japan, and baptized as “Luis. At the age of 9, he started to study at the Jesuit College of Nagasaki to be trained as a catechist and entered the Jesuits as a “Brother Coadjutor”. Luis left Japan in 1614 in exile together with some friars and catechists, by virtue of an edict under the Tokugawa Shogunate. He later became a priest in Manila and worked among the Japanese exiles who then resided in Dilao (now Paco, Manila). Before returning to his native land, he joined the Dominican Order and joined the group of Fray Antonio Gonzales in 1636. Luis took the name “Vicente” in honor of St. Vincent Ferrer, the great Dominican preacher.
The group arrived on July 10, 1636, at Ishigaki-jima, Okinawa, Japan, and was arrested a month and a half later. The group was transferred to Nagasaki on September 13, 1637, and was later placed under trial by a tribunal. After a year of imprisonment, induced by tortures he apostatized, yet soon returned to the Catholic faith with the help of his superior, his companion friars and Lorenzo. He was later given the sentence to die on the gallows and pit and stayed for three days then he was removed from the pit alive and later beheaded on September 29, 1637. His remains were burned and his ashes were cast into the sea from the port of Nagasaki.
St. Lazaro de Kyoto
(unknown year – 1637)
Layman
Nationality: Japanese
Hermano (Brother in English) Lazaro was born on an uncertain date in Miyako (Meaco), which is now the modern-day city of Kyoto, Japan. He contracted leprosy and was deported to the Philippines with other lepers in 1632. Yet, they were received warmly in the Philippines and they were taken care of by the friars and the colonial government in their settlement in Dilao (now Paco, Manila). In 1636 he joined the secret mission group of Fray Antonio Gonzalez as his guide and interpreter. They were captured a month later and imprisoned and tortured for a year. Not resisting the tortures Lazaro apostatized for a few hours but then repented and died for Christ together with the others. Lazaro was sentenced to die at the “gallows and pit” and died together with St. Lorenzo Ruiz on September 29, 1637. Only the two laymen did not survive the punishment and died immediately. Their remains were later burned and thrown at the port of Nagasaki.
The Martyrs of 1634
The second group of Dominican martyrs was composed of Italian and Japanese Dominican priests and two women Dominican tertiaries who died in the “gallows and pit”, with the exemption of St. Marina de Omura who died by burning at the stake, on November 11 – 17, 1634.
St. Giordano Ansalone
(1598 – 1634)
Dominican Priest
Nationality: Italian
Fray Giacinto was born Giacinto Ansalone at Agrigento, Sicily, Italy in 1598. He was fascinated by the missionary ideals, and entered the Order of Preachers at the age of 17 as a member of the Dominican Province in Sicily, particularly at the convent of Agrigento, adopting the name “Giordano de San Esteban” (Jordan) then moved to Spain to finish his studies until he was ordained in Trujillo. He joined the Dominican Missions in the Orient where he stayed in Mexico for a year until he reached the Philippines in 1626. He was first assigned to Cagayan Valley for two years then later transferred to Parian (ancestor of Binondo, Manila) for four years administering the parish and hospital of San Gabriel. Fray Giordano took time to study the Chinese language, mindset, and custom and he wrote an opera uplifting the main religious beliefs and philosophical ideas of the Chinese while discussing them with the truths of the Catholic faith and doctrine for clarificatory comparison which was unfortunately lost at present.
He later set sail to Japan in 1632 worked there for two years and became the Vicar Provincial of said Japanese mission for a year. He was arrested in 1634 and had to undergo various tortures before dying on the “gallows and pit” on November 17, 1634, at the age of 36.
St. Tomas Hioji de San Jacinto
(1590 – 1634)
Dominican Priest
Nationality: Japanese
Fray Tomas was born in 1590 in Hirado, Kyushu, Japan to Christian parents who were later martyred. He became a student at the Jesuits’ college in Nagasaki. He immigrated to Manila in 1614 after being expelled on account of the persecution. He was admitted to the Dominican Order and studied at Colegio de Santo Tomas (now University of Santo Tomas) then ordained in 1626. He then became a Dominican missionary in Taiwan and worked tirelessly in his mission.
He returned later to Japan in 1629 in order to serve his Christian brethren there as a missionary. He accompanied Fray Giordano in his missionary endeavors and chronicled the martyrdom of his fellow Dominicans. Fray Tomas was arrested in 1634, together with Fray Giordano, and was subjected to different tortures for his refusal to recant He and Fray Giordano were sentenced to death by the “gallows and pit” and were hanged on November 11, 1634. He died while in the pit on November 11, 1634, at the age of 44.
St. Marina de Omura
(Unknown date – 1634)
Dominican Tertiary
Nationality: Japanese
Very few details are known about the birth, baptism, and family of this famous martyr of Japan. Her Dominican biographers claim that she was born in the first decade of the 17th century in the city of Omura, located at the far west end of Japan. Hermana Marina was known as a model of a virtuous life and described by her biographers as a good example for all Christians of Omura. She became sought after by her fellow Christians who were close to having their faith tested and who needed to recover their courage and strength. Hermana Marina also welcomed her fellow Japanese Christians to her home as their refuge, where their faith was celebrated, nourished, and strengthened She became a Dominican Tertiary in 1626 (some records state it 1625) upon the advice of her spiritual director Beato Luis Beltran de Barcelona.
Hermana Marina was arrested in 1634 upon learning of her help in furthering the missionary apostolate, arrested & imprisoned for her faith in 1634 together with other Christians. During the interrogation before the tribunal in Omura, she confessed that “she was a Christian and that she had used her house to give hospitality to missionaries and Christians” and she is prepared to suffer torture without any hesitation as her offering on the account of her consecration to God through the vow of chastity. Hermana Marina was subjected to public humiliation by being paraded completely naked through the villages of Omura, with her hands tied behind her back. She suffered patiently such a shameful ordeal without weakening as she strongly believed that her body was the dwelling place of God and that nothing could stain it and the residents of the village admired her the more with her remarkable spirit of modesty. She was transferred to Nagasaki where she was sentenced by the authorities to die by burning. She was tied to a stake and surrounded with wood that was to burn her to death slowly on November 11, 1634. While being consumed by fire, she prayed constantly for her fellow Christians not forgetting to ask pardon for her executioners giving a sublime example of a very strong woman. Her martyrdom earned her the respect of non-believers and even her executioners whom she was called “the valiant woman of Omura”.
St Magdalene of Nagasaki
(1611 – 1634)
Augustinian Recollect/Dominican Tertiary
Nationality: Japanese
Arguably the most famous “companion” of St. Lorenzo Ruiz due to the participation of her image at the Grand Fiesta Procession of Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario – La Naval de Manila held every Second Sunday of October. St. Magdalena de Nagasaki was born in 1611 to devout Christian parents who were later martyred in 1620 when she was a teenager. Around this time, the Augustinian Recollect Missionaries arrived in Japan. Upon meeting the Recollect missionaries, she presented herself to them and she became a committed catechist and interpreter. She became drawn to the Augustinian spirituality with its emphasis on the search for God, interior life, and community. She asked to be accepted into the Order of Saint Augustine, and in 1625 was formally received into the Augustinian Recollect Third Order then later made her profession.
Being a Christian in Japan became more and more difficult, and with the growth of Christianity, persecution became stronger. Magdalene fled to the hills, where she worked at bringing the Word of God to those who did not know Jesus and strengthening the faith of those who did. Unfortunately, in 1632, her Augustinian Recollect Spiritual directors and superiors were captured and died by burning. This only served to make Magdalene’s faith and commitment to Christ even stronger. Hermana Magdalena then met the Dominican priest Fray Giordano Ansalone and he became her spiritual guide she became a novice to the Dominican Third Order and she rejoiced in the fact that the Dominicans also followed a variant of the Rule of St Augustine.
She considered becoming a full-fledged Dominican sister, but the continued religious persecution kept her from doing so. Moved by her strong Christian conviction, and when she could hide no more, Hermana Magdalena voluntarily declared herself a follower of Jesus. She was arrested, threatened, ridiculed, and tortured, but her Christian witness was strong and unfailing. After 13 days of torture, wearing her Augustinian habit, Hermana Magdalena was suspended upside down in the “gallows and pit” and eventually died of her torture on October 15, 1634. Her remains were burned and her ashes were scattered at Nagasaki Bay.
St. Magdalena de Nagasaki is both honored by the Dominicans and the Augustinian Recollects. There were two known depictions of St. Magdalena de Nagasaki: the popular depiction is the Dominican iconography where she is presented wearing a kimono while holding the palm of martyrdom and a rosary and wearing a scapular of the Dominican Third Order. The Augustinian Recollects on the other hand presents her wearing the Augustinian Recollect habit, holding the palm, and carrying a bag filled with books. In the Dominican and the General Roman Calendar her feast is celebrated every September 28 while in the Augustinian Recollect Calendar, her feast day is designated every October 20. St. Magdalena de Nagasaki is the Patroness of the Secular Augustinian Recollect Fraternity (The Recollect Third Order).
The Martyrs of 1633
The third group of martyrs was composed of two Spanish and Japanese Dominican priests, two professed Brother Cooperators (Hermano Donado, similar to the status of St. Martin de Porres), and a lay catechist who died in the “gallows and pit” on August 14 and 17, and October 19, 1633.
St. Dominic Ibañez de Erquicia
(1589 – 1633)
Dominican Priest
Nationality: Spanish
Fray Domingo Ibáñez de Erquicia was born in Régil, Guipuscoa, Spain in 1589 (other accounts say it was 1591). Fray Doming entered the Dominican Order in 1605. He joined the mission on the Orient and in 1611, he arrived in the Philippines where he zealously worked as a missionary to Pangasinan and later as a Professor of Theology at the Colegio de Santo Tomas.
In 1623, he departed for Japan when the persecution was most violent together with his companion, guide, and interpreter Hermano Francisco Shoyemon. During ten years he displayed heroic priestly dedication in the care of the Christians, comforting them, reconciling the apostates, and administering the sacraments in painfully difficult circumstances. Constantly sought by the authorities, and desiring martyrdom, he and Hermano Francisco were captured on July 1633 and interned in the prison of Nagoya. Taken to Nagasaki, and after refusing to renounce his faith, he was placed in the torment of gallows and the pit on August 13, 1633, and gave his soul to God the following day. In addition to said two Dominicans, there were fourteen other Japanese Christians — including three women and one child — who shared their martyrdom in various ways but the torture of “gallows and pit” was reserved for said two religious men.
A parish under his patronage is located in Bayambang, Pangasinan.
St. Francisco Shoyemon
(unknown date – 1633)
Brother Cooperator
Nationality: Japanese
Hermano Francisco was born at an unknown time in an unknown place in Japan (most probably, also within the Nagasaki prefecture, the cradle of Christianity in that country). Hermano Francico became the devoted helper, catechist, companion, guide, and interpreter of Spanish Dominican friar, Fray Domingo Ibáñez de Erquicia de Regil shortly after the latter’s arrival in Japan for an apostolic mission. with his role as an interpreter, he was able to help Fray Domingo bring his apostolic message to the Japanese In Fray Domingo’s letters, he recalls that without the help of this Japanese saint as a faithful catechist, Padre Erquicia would never have accomplished his missionary labors in Japan under such difficult circumstances: “In life, they walked together, and in death, they were not separated.”
The pair were arrested in 1633 in Nagayo. While “behind bars” in Nagayo, he formally received from Father Erquicia (in his capacity as the then Vicar Provincial of the Dominicans in Japan) the Dominican habit with the distinctive black scapula (similar to those worn by San Martin de Porres) as a “cooperator brother”. Both have suffered severe hardships in prison, initially in Omura and later in Nagasaki. During those long hours in prison, Padre Francisco carefully prepared Hermano Francisco to die as an imminent martyr for Christ, and his imprisonment was transformed into a novitiate experience for him. Fray Domingo and Hermano Francisco were condemned to death for professing the Christian faith on August 13, 1633, through the “gallows and pit” and died the following day.
St. Jacobo Kyushei Tomonaga de Santa Maria
(1582 – 1633)
Dominican Priest
Nationality: Japanese
Padre Jacobo was born of a noble Christian family of Kyudetsu, in Kyushu, Japan in 1582. Jacobo studied at the Jesuits’ College in Nagasaki to be a catechist and he became a renowned catechist in his native land and “an exemplary man, chaste, moderate, and temperate”. He was expelled from Japan in 1614 because he was working as a catechist. Once he arrived in Manila, he studied at Colegio de San Juan de Letran and later entered the Dominican Order in 1624 and took the name “Jacobo (Santiago) de Santa Maria”. Padre Jacobo Fray Jacobo made his profession in 1625 and he was ordained as a Dominican Priest in 1626. Padre Jacobo collaborated with Fray Jacinto Esquivel, O.P. in translating into Spanish the book “Vocabulary of the Japanese Language” published in Portuguese including an extensive Appendix of Terms, and was published at the Dominican printing shop in Manila in 1630. He later carried out his priestly apostolate on the island of Formosa (Taiwan) until 1632
Padre Jacobo returned to Japan in 1632 to help his fellow Christians. He later met Fray Domingo Ibáñez de Erquicia de Regil and dedicated himself to the work that he had loved all his life. He also met St. Miguel Kurobioye and later worked together on assisting the spiritual needs of the new converts. He was arrested in 1633 and despite the painful tortures, he refused to recant and he was later sentenced to death that same year “because he was a religious and propagated the faith”. On August 15, 1633, he was paraded with San Miguel Kurobioye de Nagasaki and ten (10) other Christians (an Augustinian priest & nine Japanese laypersons) along the streets of said city, teeming with people. Fray Jacobo was tied with a rope tied around his neck and on his back, holding a board inscribed with his sentence: “For having followed the Gospel, for having proclaimed the Christian faith”. Fray Jacobo was hanged at the “gallows and pit”. He died on August 17, 1633, at the age of 51, making him the oldest of the group. His remains were burned and his ashes were thrown into the bay of Nagasaki.
St. Miguel Kurobioye
(unknown date – 1633)
Lay Catechist
Nationality: Japanese
Miguel was born on an unknown date in an unknown place in Japan but most probably within Nagasaki, the cradle of Christianity in that country. He was a companion and catechist of Fray Jacobo de Santa Maria. Miguel was arrested in 1633 and while he was imprisoned and tortured, he hesitantly revealed the hiding place of Fray Jacobo. Soon repenting of what he had done, he joined his companion in his martyrdom, confessing his faith.
On August 15, 1633, Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, he was paraded with Fray Jacobo and ten (10) other Christians (an Augustinian priest & nine Japanese laypersons) along the streets of said city, teeming with people. During such ordeal, continued to look heavenward, murmuring prayers & psalms and asking God to give their group the strength to endure their martyrdom. Upon reaching the place of execution on Nishizaka Hill in Nagasaki, Miguel asked his spiritual father to give him a blessing. He was tied in the “gallows and pit” and died on August 17, 1633, together with his companion Fray Jacobo. Miguel’s body was burned and his ashes were thrown into the bay of Nagasaki.
St. Lucas Alonso del Espiritu Santo
(1594 – 1633)
Dominican Priest
Nationality: Spanish
Fray Lucas was born in 1594 in Carracedo, Astorga, Spain. At a young age, he was very devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary as he learned from his parents how to pray the Holy Rosary at an early age. He entered the Dominican Order in 1610 and later left for Seville in 1617 in order to travel to the Philippines via Mexico with a group of volunteer missionaries. He was ordained in Mexico City that same year and took the religious name “Lucas del Espiritu Santo”. He arrived in the Philippines in 1618 and he was assigned first to Cagayan Valley In Northern Luzaon then later became a professor at Colegio de Santo Tomas (now University of Santo Tomas).
Fray Lucas went to Japan in 1623 together with Fray Domingo Ibañez de Erquicia and worked there, encountering great risks and hardships for ten years. Fray Lucas was able to send letters to Manila between 1628 and 1630, narrating the suffering of the Christians in Japan where they were executed by different methods. He was arrested while in Osaka in 1633 and suffered much torture. He was sentenced to die by the method of the “gallows and pit” and died on October 19, 1633. Fray Lucas’s body was burned and his ashes were scattered at the Nagasaki bay
St. Mateo Kohioye del Rosario
(1615 – 1633)
Lay Dominican/Catechist
Nationality: Japanese
Hermano Mateo was born in Arima, Japan in 1615 to a Christian family. At the age of 17, Hermano Mateo served not only as a catechist but also as a helper and companion of Spanish Dominican friar, Fray Lucas del Espiritu Santo in his apostolate and missionary travels. He was later received into the Dominican Order as a “cooperator brother” and took the religious name “Mateo del Rosario” in honor of the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary in Kyoto, Japan founded by the Dominicans in 1610. Despite being told by Fray Lucas to return home to avoid being captured and executed, he decided to wait for their persecutors and he is ready to die for Christ.
He was arrested at Osaka in 1633, and endured horrible torture but remained faithful to Christ until his death. On October 18, 1633, Hermano Mateo was paraded through the streets of said city to Nishizaka Hill, the so-called “Hill of Martyrs” and was hanged at the “gallows and pit”. He died at the age of 18 on October 19, 1633, in Nishizaka Hill in Nagasaki, Japan, together with his superior and companion Fray Lucas. His body was burned and his ashes were thrown into the sea of Nagasaki to prevent other Christians from gathering his sacred relics.
A Reflection
Throughout the history of the Church, martyrdom has always held a preeminent place because it has been viewed as the most sublime consummation of the Christian vocation and the greatest surety of obtaining eschatological hope. The experience of martyrdom should not be sought after nor should it be cowardly rejected. Rather it should be freely and courageously embraced as the crowning witness of a radical option for God and for the kingdom. In this way an individual becomes conformed to Christ, the faithful witness (Revelation 1:5). Thus the martyrs are constituted as a type of archetype of holiness with regard to the Christian life and their example reinvigorates the Church in its mission of evangelization, its mission of communicating the joy of salvation to all people and thus promoting a more human lifestyle.
Reflecting on the testimony of those who were impelled by the dynamic of love/self-sacrifice and who were convinced that if before others, indeed, they are punished, yet is their hope full of immortality (Wisdom 3:4), reflecting on the testimony of those who handed over their life for the cause of the kingdom, we are now able to believe that in as much as there is martyrdom, there will also be credibility; in as much as there is martyrdom, there will also be hope; in as much as there is martyrdom, there will also be conversion; in as much as there is martyrdom, there will also be efficacy. The grain of wheat dies and multiplies. The ultimate cries of love of so many witnesses from yesterday and today continue to echo and the blood of all these individuals continues to make fruitful the activity of all those persons who travel along the twisting and winding paths of history, who have committed themselves to follow Christ and who have kept their eyes focused on the goal (cf., Philippians 3:14), focused on the hope of the Easter resurrection.
References:
Boxer, C.R. “The Christian Century in Japan, 1549–1650”, Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 1951.
Gonzáles, Justo L., “The Story of Christianity”, 3rd edition. Prince Press/Hendrickson Publishers. Volume 1,, 2004.
Herbermann, Charles, ed., “Japanese Martyrs”. Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1913.
Pedrosa, Ceferino, “Witnesses of the Faith in the Orient: Dominican Martyrs of Japan, China and Vietnam”, Provincial Secretariat of Missions, Dominican Province of Our Lady of the Rosary, Hong Kong, 1989
Villarroel, Fidel, “Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila and Companions”, [Fourth edition] Quezon City: UST Press, 2011.
Photographs:
Bernardo, Frits Rinaldi
Gonzales, Hector, OAR
Lew, Lawrence OP – Prior of St. Dominic’s Priory, London, England
UST Miguel de Benavides Library
Paintings
Benedicte, Virginia S.
del Casal, Rafael
Salenga, Dom Angelico, OSB
Special thanks to Rev. Fr. Lawrence Lew, OP, Prior of St. Dominic’s Priory in London, England for the photograph of the altar of St. Lorenzo Ruiz and companions Parish in Navotas City.
This blog is dedicated to the later renowned historian-priest Rev. Fr. +Fidel Villaroel, OP (1929 – 2016), the Postulator for the Cause of Beatification and Canonization of St. Lorenzo Ruiz and Companions who helped me appreciate our history and one of my inspirations to begin “Pintakasi” in 2016.
+AM+DG+
Pintakasi 