Saint Paul Miki and companions, martyrs

Today we celebrate the memorial of the martyrdom of Paul Miki and twenty-five of his companions who were of various religious congregations and lay people. Paul Miki himself was a Japanese Jesuit brother who had preached very successfully in Japan in the fifteen hundreds. He was arrested by the order of the Emperor in 1597 and was martyred in Nagasaki along with twenty-five others who were pierced with spears while hanging on crosses. How their martyrdom resembled so closely that of their savior Jesus Christ! We believe that as with their death they will also resemble their savior Jesus Christ in their resurrection on the last day. During their last moments they were full of joy even though they suffered gruesomely. It is said that they sang hymns, prayed the Psalms, invoked the Blessed Virgin Mary and Jesus and Paul Miki even preached to those who had gathered to witness the executions. It is said that all of them were joyful during their final moments which is a testimony to their faith and showed forth the grace that God had bestowed on them. They had in a sense already started to experience glimpses of heaven and the beatific vision of God while on earth which is why they were joyful even in their suffering. Nagasaki is also where there were the most number of Japanese Christians until 1948 when they were mostly wiped out after the atomic bombing during World War II. 
Saint Paul Miki and companions, pray for us and especially for the people of Japan and Asia where Christians are a minority and suffer from religious discrimination and persecutions everyday!