Paul Miki was born to a wealthy family at Tsunokuni in Japan. His father Miki Handayu was a military leader.

St. Francis Xavier brought the Good News of Jesus to Japan in 1549. Many received the Word and were baptized by St. Francis himself. Although Francis later left to continue his mission in other countries, the faith had grown in Japan.

Paul Miki felt the call to follow Jesus. He studied at the Jesuit college at Azuchi and Takatsuki and became a Jesuit priest in 1580. He too worked hard as a Catechist and was able to bring many people to Jesus.

By 1587 there were over two hundred thousand Catholics. Missionaries from various religious orders came to work in Japan. Japanese priests, religious and lay people lived the faith joyfully.

In 1597, forty-five years after St. Francis Xavier came to Japan, a powerful Japanese official, Hideyoshi, listened to the gossip and lies of a Spanish merchant. The merchant said that the missionaries were traitors of Japan who would cause Japan to be defeated by Spain and Portugal.

Hideyoshi overreacted and had twenty-six people arrested. The group included six Franciscans from Spain, Mexico and India; three Japanese Jesuit catechists, including St. Paul Miki; and seventeen Japanese Catholic lay people, including children.

The twenty-six were led to the place of execution outside Nagasaki. Each of them was tied to a cross with chains and cords and had iron collars clamped around their necks. Then they were killed with spears. They died almost immediately.

These twenty-six martyrs are sometimes called the martyrs of Nagasaki and the martyrs of Japan. Their blood-stained clothes were treasured by the Christian community and miracles happened through their intercession.

Each martyr was a gift to the Church. Before he died on February 5, 1597, St. Paul Miki fearlessly gave a sermon from the cross as he encouraged the Christian community to be faithful until death.

At Alexandria in Egypt, in 249 during the reign of Emperor Philip, an angry mob rose against the Christians. The pagans (non-believers) of Alexandria started making the Christians suffer under instructions of a magician of that city.

Metras, an old man, was the first to die. His eyes were pierced with reeds, and he was stoned to death. A woman named Quinta was next. She was led to a temple and told to worship the false gods there; when she refused she too was stoned to death.

After this the houses of the Christians were robbed and destroyed; but the Christians accepted their suffering with joy.

A holy virgin, Apollonia, who also lived in Alexandria, had spent her whole life serving God. Now that she was growing old, she was not about to take time to rest. She bravely put her own life in danger to comfort suffering Christians in prison. “Remember that your trials will not last long,” she would say. “But the joys of heaven will last forever.”

Not long after, Apollonia, too, was captured. When the judge asked her name, she boldly said, “I am a Christian and I love and serve the true God.”

Angry people tortured Apollonia, trying to force her to give up her faith. First, all her teeth were smashed and then knocked out. Strangely enough, that is why people often pray to St. Apollonia when they have a toothache. But even though this was very painful Applolonia’s faith remained strong.

They then lit a huge fire and she was told that if she did not deny Jesus, she would be thrown into the fire. She was silent for a moment, and then, with special strength she received from the Holy Spirt, she walked into the fire and died in its flames rather than give up her faith in Jesus.

When the pagans saw how heroic she was, many were converted. The judges themselves were amazed at the huge number of Christians who came on their own to die for Jesus and receive the crown of martyrdom.