Three Missionary Martyrs and their Stories of Courage
Introduction
This blog post features three missionary martyrs: St. Paul Miki and companion martyrs of Japan; St. Charles Lwanga and companion martyrs of Uganda; and St. Peter Mary Chanel, a missionary to Oceania;
St. Paul Miki and Companion Martyrs
Paul Miki was the son of a Japanese military leader. He was born in 1562 in Tounucumada, Japan. Educated by the Jesuits, he entered the Society in 1580 at a young age. As a Jesuit, he was known for his eloquent preaching of the Gospel.
In 1588, Emperor Cambacundono claimed that he was god, and ordered all missionaries to leave Japan within six months. Some obeyed this order, but Bro. Paul Miki and many others remained secretly behind. In 1597, Paul Miki was discovered and arrested along with twenty-five companions. Paul Miki was crucified on February 5 with his companions. They were all canonized as the Martyrs of Japan in 1862.
The story of their suffering and death tell us of their great faith, fidelity, and very rare courage. It was said that the martyrs were paraded through the towns with part of their left ears cut off to terrify other Christians. Then they were chained to crosses with iron collars around their neck. Each of these twenty-six martyrs was killed by the thrusts of the lance by twenty-six separate executioners.
Before St. Paul Miki passed away, he said to the people: "I am a Japanese by birth and a Jesuit by vocation. I am dying for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I do gladly pardon the Emperor and all who have sought my death. I beg them to seek baptism and be Christians themselves."
St. Charles Lwanga and Companion Martyrs
St. Charles Lwanga is one of the twenty-two Catholic martyrs of Uganda in East Central Africa who belonged to the Bantu tribe. They were martyred for their Catholic faith by Mwanga, a debauched king, who burned most of them to death on a flaming pyre. Half of these martyrs were teenage pages of the royal court.
The story of these twenty-two protomartyrs of Uganda begins when the Missionaries of Africa, popularly known as the 'White Fathers', came to evangelize Uganda in 1879. King Mutesa, who welcomed them, was soon succeeded by King Mwanga, who was the opposite of Mutesa; Mwanga despised the Christians and feared them as a threat to his power. King Mwanga's household was headed by Mukasa, who was a Catholic convert. Mukasa, true to his Catholic faith, dared to reproach Mwanga for his seduction of some of the young pages at his court and for the murder of a Protestant missionary bishop. Because of this, Mukasa was burned alive on November 15, 1865.
After Mukasa's death, the Christians looked to Charles Lwanga for leadership, since Charles was the 20 year old master of the pages. Charles continued to protect the pages and encouraged them to embrace the Faith. But King Mwanga's anger eventually led to the savage attack of Sebuggwawa, his personal attendant, because Sebuggwawa dared to teach catechism to one of the king's favorite pages. Sebuggwawa was speared to death by Mwanga himself.
The king assembled all his pages and ordered the Christians to form a separate group. Charles Lwanga was the first to step forward, together with Kizito, a 13 year old page who was one of those Lwanga baptized the night before. Fifteen, all under twenty five year of age, joined them; so did others and some soldiers. King Mwanga asked them if they wished to remain Christians. They answered, "until death!" All twenty-two were then taken to Namugongo, wrapped in mats of reeds, and burned alive on June 3, 1886. These twenty-two martyrs were canonized in 1964 by Pope Paul VI as the protomartyrs of Uganda.
St. Peter Mary Chanel
Peter Chanel was born in 1803 of peasant stock at Cluet, near Belley in France, and was a shepherd boy. The parish priest of nearby Cras took Peter as a pupil because of his intelligence and piety. Peter studied until he was ordained a priest in 1827.
Because Peter longed for the life of a foreign missionary, he joined the recently founded Marist Fathers in 1831. After teaching five years at the seminary in Belley, Peter was sent together with a few companions to the Marist mission in the New Hebrides Islands of Oceania in 1836.
Journey at sea at that time was more than six months. Eventually Fr. Chanel and a Marist brother reached the island of Futuna on November 12, 1887. His apostolate would last only three years because there were two warring factions on the island and the missionaries were caught in the middle.
On the eve before St. Peter Chanel's death, there were signs that their preaching had begun to bear fruit. The chief's son asked to be baptized. News of this angered the chief that he sent warriors with orders to kill. One of them clubbed Peter to the ground and the others cut up his body with axes and knives. That was April 28, 1841.
On the day before his martyrdom, St. Peter Chanel was noted to have said: "It does not matter if I die. Christ's religion is so deeply rooted on this island that it cannot be destroyed by my death."
Less than a year later the whole of Futuna became Christian.
St. Peter Chanel was canonized by Pope Pius XII in 1954 - the first Marist martyr and the first martyr of Oceania.
