20th Jun - B FRANCIS PACHECO, SJ (1565-1626)

 Pacheco was born in Ponte di Lima, near Braga, Portugal. As a youth, he heard of the exploits of missionaries in Japan and dreamed of imitating them. 

    While at the Jesuit school in Lisbon, he also watched the annual departure of the Jesuit missionaries and this further strengthened his resolve to be one and thus he decided to 

    join the Society in 1585. His request to go to the missions was only granted seven years later and his first stop was Goa, India where he continued his studies. He then went on 

    to Macau to further continue his studies before being ordained.

    Fr Pacheco finally set forth for Japan in 1604 and spent four years in the capital of Osaka, Miyako before taking up his next appointment as head of the Jesuit college in Macau. 

    In 1614, he returned to Japan and became vicar general to Bishop Luis de Cerqueira, and was based in Nagasaki until the promulgation of the shogun’s decree in 1614 banishing all 

    foreign missionaries and forbidding Japanese Christians to practice their religion. Fr Pacheco’s exile in Macau was a short one as he returned secretly to Japan the following year, 

    disguised as a merchant, and took up missionary work at Takaku and the islands of Amakusa and Kani. During those years of fierce persecution he sadly saw thousands of Christians 

    give up their religion under governmental pressure and fear of torture. He also witnessed the terrible deaths of his brother Jesuits and hundreds of Christians who remained 

    steadfast in their faith, though it meant beheading or death by slow fire. Fr Pacheco knew that the longer he remained in Japan the closer was his martyrdom.

    Following his appointment as the Jesuits’ provincial superior, Fr Pacheco moved his residence from Nagasaki to the seaport of Kuchinotsu in Arima which had better security 

    and better contact with the Jesuits in Japan. The search for Jesuit missionaries was intensified when more spies were recruited by Shogun Iyemitsu. Fr Pacheco was betrayed by his 

    former host, an apostate who because of the reward money and hoping to gain favour with the district governor revealed where he was staying. With 200 soldiers surrounding the 

    house Fr Pacheco and two of his catechists, Paul Kinsuke and Peter Kinsei were arrested with two others staying in the next house. The Jesuits, the catechists, 

    their hosts and families were all arrested and placed in a dungeon in Shimabara where they had to endure the damp and cold winter. Within a few days, Fr John Baptist Zola and his 

    catechist, Vincent Kaun were added to their number.

    While in prison, Fr Pacheco admitted the four catechists into the Society and transformed his group of prisoners, including the lay persons into a quasi-religious community 

    with set time for rising, prayer, meditation, fasting and doing penance to prepare and strengthen them for the martyrdom to come. Their greatest sorrow was their inability to 

    celebrate Mass, recite the breviary and recite the rosary as all these had been taken away from them. Finally, on June 20, 1626, 

    the prisoners were brought to Nagasaki where two other prisoners, Fr Balthazar de Torres, SJ and his catechist, Michael Too were included. 

    The final number was nine Jesuits and nine Christians and all were escorted to the Martyrs’ Hill where the executions were to take place. The Jesuits rejoiced in seeing each other 

    and embraced for the last time. They were the first to die. Pacheco and his eight Jesuit companions, together with the nine Christians were included among the 205 martyrs beatified 

    by Pope Pius IX on May 7, 1867.






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

09 FEB - OUR MOTHER OF THE BELLS (FRANCE)

Image
 The town of Saintes, France was originally a thriving settlement in ancient Gaul located along the Charente River. The town takes its name, Saintes,      due to Mary Salome and Mary Jacob were forced to flee the Holy Land about the year 45 AD. They left taking a boat with no sail and were miraculously transported across      the Mediterranean Sea, making land near the place which became known as Saintes Maries de la Mer and considered a holy place.      This tradition was carried on by the Celts and then the Romans. It is recorded, on the octave day of the Purification, the bells in the Cathedral of Saintes,      rang out most sweetly of themselves. The sacristans, having run to the Church, saw what appeared to be several unknown men holding lighted candles and melodiously      chanting hymns in honor of the Blessed Virgin, Our Mother of the Bells, who was venerated in a Chapel of this Church. Approaching softly,      the men who had run to the Church to give them one in proof of the
Read more

09 FEB - SAINT OF THE DAY [S MIGUEL FEBRES CORDERO MUNOZ (1854-1910)]

Image
 Miguel was born to a prominent family in Ecuador with an unknown disability, he was unable to stand until age five when he received a vision of Our Mother.      At age 8, he was miraculously protected from being mauled by a wild bull. He enrolled in a school run by the Christian Brothers,      an Order which had only recently come to Ecuador and joined the Brothers at age 13. He became a school teacher at Quito, a position he held for 32 years.      A gentle, dedicated, and enthusiastic teacher.      Wrote his own textbooks and some were adopted by the government, and used throughout the country.      He was elected to the Ecuadoran Academy of Letters in 1892, and to the Academies of Spain, France, and Venezuela.      He was sent to Europe in 1905 to translate texts from French to Spanish for use by the Order; worked primarily in Belgium. His health began to fail and he was transferred to the school near Barcelona, Spain.      In addition to being a religious role model, Miguel is con
Read more

23rd May - OUR MOTHER OF MIRACLES OF BRESCIA (ITALY)

Image
 This north Italian shrine in Lombardy originated with a painting of the Blessed Virgin on the outside of a house. During an epidemic of plague that devastated Brescia in 1478,      it became the occasion of miracles of healing. The symptoms of the plague began with a severe headache, and then the lymph glands would become swollen.      The victim’s body would literally decay before they would suddenly die. The plague began in March of the year and continued until July the next year.      200 people died per day in the town, while the population of the city dropped from just under 40,000 to somewhat less than 4,000 during that perilous time.      The Church of Our Mother of Miracles in Brescia was built to honor the image of the Blessed Virgin before which so many people were miraculously healed.      Construction began in 1488 in thanksgiving to the Blessed Virgin for those who survived, but work was not completed until 1500.      The image that was once seen on a house near the Churc
Read more

14 FEB - OUR MOTHER OF BOURBOURG (BELGIUM)

Image
 During the middle ages, the site of the Chapel was occupied by lepers and one of them sculpted a statue of the Blessed Mother with the Infant in her arms.      The leper was healed at once and several miracles had been attributed to the image. The king of France and all the lords of his army, with their attendants,      entered Bourbourg. The Bretons began to plunder the Church. A barbarian stood upon an altar with the intent of forcing out a precious stone that was in the      crown of an image of Our Mother. As he reached to steal the stone, the image suddenly turned about, and the robber in his fright fell from the altar and was instantly struck      dead. Another aggressor came with a similar intent of robbing the image; but all the bells began a peal without any one touching them, for no one could have rung them,      the bell-ropes being drawn up and fastened. On account of these miracles, the Church was visited by large crowds. St. Peter Canisius, SJ in 1580 spent his life prea
Read more

19 FEB - TODAY IN SJ HISTORY

Image
 The election of Fr. Claudio Acquaviva, SJ (1543-1615) as the 5th General in the 4th General Congregation.      He was only 37 years of age and a Jesuit for only l4 years. He was General under 8 Popes. He had been a fellow Novice with St. Stanislaus Koska.      Acquaviva was born in Atri, Abruzzo, from a noble family illustrious at the court of Naples for its patronage of humanist culture.      He had heard of the Society of Jesus through his friendship with Fr. Francis Borgia and Fr. Juan de Polanco. He was particularly impressed by the works of the      Early Companions during the Plague in 1566 and decided to join the Order at the age of 24. With the blessing of Pope Pius V he asked the then Superior General,      Fr. Francis Borgia, to be admitted to the novitiate. After completing his studies, he was very soon given positions of important responsibility,      his administrative gifts marking him out for the highest posts. He soon became the Provincial Superior of Naples and then o
Read more