BLESSEDS ADRIAN AND JOANNA TAKAHASHI MONDO, MARTYRS - 7 OCTOBER

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN OCTOBER 

Saints celebrated on the 7th of October

Prayer to the Angels and the Saints

Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.

In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.

Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.

Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.

BLESSEDS ADRIAN AND JOANNA TAKAHASHI MONDO, MARTYRS 

Among the valiant victims of anti-Catholic persecution that swept through Japan in 1613 stands a married couple, Adrian and Joanna. Adrian Takahashi Mondo was a Catholic officer whose prince he served commanded him and seven others to deny their faith or incur the death penalty. Adrian and two fellow officers steadfastly refused, whereupon they were condemned to die by immolation in Arima together with their families.

Adrian’s wife Joanna was among those to be executed in the flames. When, on October 7, 1613, the martyrs were led out to die, their executioners begged for their forgiveness, a forgiveness that was joyfully granted by Adrian and his companions. A fellow Catholic among the spectators named Gaspar held up an image of the scourging of Christ to give the martyrs courage.

The condemned Catholics as well as the faithful among the onlookers recited together the Creed, the Our Father, and the Hail Mary. Afterward, the martyrs’ remains were buried at the foot of a cross in a cemetery of the Jesuit missionaries.

“Who can overcome the world? Only the man who believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” (1 John 5:5)