Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs

Paul Miki was a convert to Catholicism and a Jesuit scholastic studying for the priesthood when he and twenty-five others died for their faith at Nagasaki, Japan. Of this group of twenty-six, Paul Miki became the best known. As he was dying on the cross, Paul, who was native Japanese, preached to the crowds and prayed for his executioners. The people who had them killed were trying to wipe out Christianity in Japan but many people did hold on to their faith because of the witness of this saint.

Like many other martyrs, Paul forgave and prayed for his slayers. It is never easy to forgive those who have hurt us in some way, but if Paul could forgive those who killed him, can’t we forgive those who have caused us to suffer in some lesser way?