ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JANUARY
Saints celebrated on the 11th of January
BLESSED MICHAEL MITSUISHI HIKOEMON, MARTYR
Blessed Michael Mitsuishi Hikoemon (c.1559-1609), a Japanese Catholic husband, father, and catechist, was arrested for his faith around 1604 at the command of a pagan Japanese prince. Two fellow Catholic laymen, (Blesseds) John Hattori Jingoro and Joachim Watanabe Jirozaemon, shared his fate.
THEY PRAYED IN JAIL
A partition separated the three Catholics from the pagan prisoners in the jail, a circumstance that made it possible for them to pray in peace and converse with Catholics who visited them. They drew inspiration from sacred images smuggled into their cell and from books of saints’ lives that Michael had transcribed.
A PRIEST CAME TO HEAR THEIR CONFESSIONS
At the hour when Mass was celebrated somewhere outside the prison, the three prisoners would turn themselves toward the place where they knew Mass was taking place, so as to attend in spirit. A priest came to hear their confessions. On August 26, 1606, Joachim died in prison. Michael and John were to remain prisoners for several years more. On Christmas night of 1606, they celebrated the solemnity by reading the Gospel account of Christ’s birth. Two years later, on January 11, 1609, Michael and John were beheaded.
“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” (Ps 118:105)
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