February 5, 2024 / 01:02 AM
On this day, in 1597, the unifying ruler of Japan, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, known as Taikosama, ordered the Jesuit Saint Paul Miki and 25 other religious and lay people to be crucified on Nishizaka Hill, Nagasaki. It was the first collective crucifixion in 15 centuries.
The group of the 26 martyrs of Japan, as they are known, is made up of three Jesuits, six Franciscans, and lay people among foreigners and Japanese.
They were Saint Paul Miki, Saint Paul Suzuki, Saint Francis (a carpenter from Kyoto), Saint Cosme Takeya, Saint Thomas Kozaki, Saint Peter Sukejiro, Saint Michael Kozaki, Saint Leon Karasumaru, Saint Diego Kisai, Saint Paul Ibaraki, Saint John of Gotoo, Saint Joaquín Sakakibara, Saint Luis Ibaraki, Saint Anthony, Saint Matthias, Saint Francis (doctor of Kyoto), Saint Thomas Dangui, Saint John Kinuya, Saint Ventura, Saint Peter the Baptist, Saint Martin of the Ascension, Saint Philip of Jesus, San Gonzalo García, San Francisco Blanco, San Francisco de San Miguel and San Gabriel.