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O God, strength of all the Saints, who through the Cross were pleased to call the Martyrs Saint Paul Miki and companions to life, grant, we pray, that by their intercession we may hold with courage even until death to the faith that we profess.

The question of who was Saint Paul Miki is dealt with on Rome Reports today. The video gives a brief intro the life of the martyr and his companions.

From the cross, Paul said: "The sentence of judgment says these men came to Japan from the Philippines, but I did not come from any other country. I am a true Japanese. The only reason for my being killed is that I have taught the doctrine of Christ. I certainly did teach the doctrine of Christ. I thank God it is for this reason I die. I believe that I am telling only the truth before I die. I know you believe me and I want to say to you all once again: Ask Christ to help you to become happy. I obey Christ. After Christ's example I forgive my persecutors. I do not hate them. I ask God to have pity on all, and I hope my blood will fall on my fellow men as a fruitful rain."

The 2011 post on Saint Paul Miki and his companions

The 2010 post on Nagasaki martyrs Paul Mike, et al.

Today, we take inspiration from the life and work of a great missionary of the Church in the person of Saint Francis Xavier. He got of the classroom and did something for Christ and the Church. Let's take time today to pray for missionaries and a rejuvenation of the missionary work of the Church.

Saint Isaac Jogues wrote, "My confidence is placed in God who does not need our help for accomplishing his designs. Our single endeavor should be to give ourselves to the work and to be faithful to him, and not to spoil his work by our shortcomings"

Saint John de Brébeuf, pray for us. 

Saint Isaac Jogues, pray for us. 

Saint Gabriel Lalemant, pray for us. 

Saint Anthony Daniel, pray for us 

Saint Charles Garnier, pray for us. 

Saint Noël Chabanel, pray for us. 

Saint René Goupil, pray for us. 

Saint John de la Lande, pray for us.

Today's saint is special to me for many personal reasons, one of which is the fact that he gave himself to the Lord for his total and unreserved use. One can claim to like Bellarmine for his intellect, or the way he worked with controversial Catholic preachers and theologians and Protestants, or with Galileo, or his service to several popes, but what about his capacity to love the Lord and his neighbor, and what about his ability to know his limitations and his gifts, or his capacity to live the Beatitudes? 

Each time I am in Rome I make a path to St Ignatius's Church where Bellarmine is buried in the third chapel on the right as you face the main altar, near to his dear friend, Saint Aloyius Gonzaga, to pray for several intentions, among them are: theologians, the pope, the Jesuits, +Avery Robert Dulles and of course, myself.

The Roman Martyrology (2005) has this entry for Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621): 

The feast of St. Robert Bellarmine, from the Society of Jesus, Doctor of the Church and bishop, who was outstanding at arguing the theological controversies of his day. He resigned his red hat, then gave himself wholeheartedly both to pastoral ministry in Capua, with great success, and took up very many challenges in defense of the doctrine of the faith at the Holy See in Rome.

Today the Church liturgically remembers one of her missionary saints, Saint Peter Claver, (1580-1654) a Spainard who came from a very modest but known family heritage. Claver was influenced by what he heard and what he read in Jesuit houses of the missionaries. The brother porter-saint of Claver's Jesuit house of studies, Alphonsus Rodriquez, frequently spoke of the need great work he could do in sharing the Gospel in mission lands. So moved to serve the Divine Majesty in a distant land, he requested of his superiors to be sent on mission to the New World. In what is known today as Columbia, South America, Claver worked with the negro-slaves teaching them the faith, and attending to their human and spiritual needs. In Claver's eyes he took Saint Paul's teaching that there are no distinctions in the Kingdom between Jew and Greek, slave or free, man or woman: all are the adopted children of God. As one person put it, for 33 years Father Peter Claver lavished love on the slaves that transcended the natural order. It was a love that confounded his religious superiors and the leaders in civil society of his day. It is reported that the saint brought to Christ 300K souls.

Today's second reading for the 18th Sunday through the Year coheres with Saint Ignatius of Loyola's liturgical memorial we would have celebrated had it not been a Sunday. Saint Paul sets our sights on the fact that nothing can be a barrier to Christ's Love for us. But do we believe this? Do we live on the edge of Love or in Love's center? Listen again to the famous passage from the Apostle to the Gentiles and think of the spirituality of Loyola: 

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution, or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? No, in these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:30-39)

O blessed Aloysius, adorned with angelic virtues, I thy most unworthy suppliant recommend specially to thee the chastity of my soul and body, praying thee by thy angelic purity to plead for me with Jesus Christ the Immaculate Lamb, and His most Holy Mother, Virgin of virgins, that they would vouchsafe to keep me from all grievous sin. Never suffer me to be defiled with any stain of impurity; but when thou dost see me in temptation, or in danger of falling, then remove far from my mind all evil thoughts and unclean desires, and awaken in me the memory of eternity to come, and of Jesus crucified; impress deeply in my heart a sense of the holy fear of God; and kindling in me the fire of Divine love, enable me so to follow thy footsteps here on earth, that in heaven I may be made worthy to enjoy with thee the vision of our God for ever.

470 years ago on this date, another Easter Sunday, Ignatius of Loyola and his first companions elected Ignatius as the first superior of the new group, a year following the Church's approval of the society. Just two days before his election, the companions went to the Basilica of Saint Paul outside the Walls to profess their vows.

The Church observes the liturgical memorial of Saint Paul Miki and his companions, martyrs for believing in Jesus. The only thing a person of true faith in Christ can say is what the Apostle Paul said in his letter to the Galatians: "I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me."

A beautiful for the feast

O Christ, the source of endless life,

We bring you thanks and praise today

That martyrs bold your name confessed

And, through their pain, held to your Way.

 

The gospel preached within Japan

Converted both adult and child,

And flourished there by your rich grace

Despite oppression fierce and wild.

 

When hatred for this infant church

Broke out in persecution's might,

Your martyrs knew you as their Lord

Who shined in darkness as their light.

 

O Father, Son, and Spirit blest,

To you all glory now is due.

As were the Martyrs of Japan,

May we to Christ be ever true!

 

J. Michael Thompson

Copyright © 2010, World Library Publications

LM; TALLIS' CANON, BRESLAU"

With eyes fixed squarely on the Lord, Francis Xavier left the companionship of the early founders of the Society of Jesus in Europe to go on mission, preaching the Gospel and bringing new life through the sacraments. Because of his zeal for the salvation of souls many came to know Jesus and thus were saved. Let us pray for missionaries and the work of evangelization through Saint Francis Xavier's intercession.

Today is the first time the Jesuits and Spain celebrate the liturgical memorial of the new beatus, Blessed Bernard Francis de Hoyos. When Blessed Bernard was lifted to the altars in April, I posted on him, and here. For me, he's an attractive contemporary apostle of the Sacred Heart Jesus. The second reading for the Office of Readings of the Divine Office follows:

From the Instruction of Blessed Bernard Francis de Hoyos to Brother Ignatius Osorio

(Vallalodid, 14 September 1732, nn. 40-41; MS 1596, University Library of Salamanca.)

A divine and heavenly peace in your heart

Try to have, my beloved brother, a divine and heavenly peace in your heart. I do not speak of peace with others, called by another name, charity; for that I repeat (the words) of the Apostle to the Thessalonians: Now concerning love of the brothers, you do not need to have anyone write to you, for your yourselves have been taught by God to love one another (1 Thessalonians 4:9).  I speak of peace within one's own heart, which often is the greater struggle for us, arousing in the soul a thousand disturbances, anguishes, and disquiet with which the demon succeeds in his aim of thwarting us in the way of perfection.  The distinguishing characteristic of the friends of God consists in this interior peace, which Christ so often recommended to his disciples, repeating: Peace be with you (Luke 10:5; 24:36) for he is called "Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6).  Disturbance, on the contrary, is characteristic of reprobates: There is no peace for the wicked. (Isaiah 48:22).  Jesus cannot abide where there is no peace. The soul is a mirror; it is a crystal-clear steam which reflects all the beauties placed before it; in which the image of our God is reflected: into the same image we are being transformed (2 Corinthians 3:18), so long as the waters of this stream are nit disturbed or agitated, so long as the clarity of this mirror is not dimmed or obscured.

The Church in North America was built, in part, by the pouring of the blood of Jesuits and laymen in the 17th century. Men who followed Christ to a perfect end. That is, not for their glory but for the greater glory of God. Saint Paul's 2nd Letter to the Corinthians captures this foundation well: "For while we live we are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh."