Before I joined the friars, I was a member of the St. Anthony of Nagasaki Secular Franciscan Fraternity in Washington, D.C., and as a member of that Fraternity I learned the story of the 26 catholics martyred in Nagasaki, Japan, in 1597. Twenty-three were Franciscans (six friars and 17 secular Franciscans) and three were Jesuits.

I had the opportunity to visit the city of Nagasaki on August 9, 1995, the fiftieth anniversary of the dropping of a nuclear bomb on that city. While there, we visited the site where the martyrs were killed and were able to have a mass in the chapel next to the monument. Just as we began to pray the Agnus Dei, the sirens sounded to mark the exact moment that the bomb had been exploded fifty years before.

Images of the Monument to the Martyrs in Nagasaki, Japan (click any foto to see a larger view or order prints)

Nagasaki Martyrs Date: 11/28/2003 Views: 638	Nagasaki Martyrs Date: 11/28/2003 Views: 678	Nagasaki Martyrs Date: 11/28/2003 Views: 774
Trail of the Nagasaki Martyrs Date: 11/28/2003 Views: 1066	Nagasaki Date: 08/25/2008 Views: 67

In my time in South America, I have found numerous depictions of the Nagasaki Martyrs. The Spanish friars in Latin America were contemporaries of the friars martyred in Nagasaki, and so their martyrdom would have been as vivid to Latin American friars as was the martyrdom of the church women in El Salvador to the church in the U.S. in 1980. In fact the first saint born in the Americas, St. Felipe de Jesús, was a young Mexican Franciscan friar who was crucified at Nagasaki at the age of 24.

Images of the Martyrs in Sucre, Bolivia (La Recoleta)

Sucre Date: 08/27/2008 Views: 65

Sucre Date: 08/27/2008 Views: 66

Sucre Date: 08/27/2008 Views: 63

Images of the Martyrs in Cuzco, Perú (San Francisco)

Cuzco Date: 09/15/2004 Views: 546	Cuzco Date: 09/15/2004 Views: 532	Cuzco Date: 09/15/2004 Views: 551
Cuzco Date: 09/15/2004 Views: 602

Images of the Martyrs in Cuzco, Perú (La Recoleta)

Cuzco Date: 09/15/2004 Views: 550	Cuzco Date: 09/15/2004 Views: 603	Cuzco Date: 04/24/2004 Views: 1029
Cuzco Date: 09/15/2004 Views: 557

Images of the Martyrs in Lima, Perú (San Francisco del Niño Jesús)

Lima

Date: 05/17/2004 Views: 619

Images of the Martyrs in Lima, Perú (San Francisco Solano) 

I have also seen a large painting at the museum of the Discalced Franciscans (of the Provincia San Francisco Solano) in the Rimac district of the city of Lima. Unfortunately, photos of the paintings were not permitted.