7. The Rosarians Of Japan
THE wonderful effect of the devotion of the Holy Rosary in Japan has been already mentioned. During the persecution it became one of the strongest defences of the Faith, and as its mysteries taught Christians the great truths of religion, so also the graces obtained by its recital fortified them against the attacks of the persecutor. The Rosary was the solace and support of those lingering for years in prison ; it hung round the neck of the martyr burning at the stake, it was clasped in the dying grasp of those who were tortured or beheaded. Often, indeed, the persecutors deprived the poor Christians of their beads, but the mysteries and prayers of the Rosary were beyond their reach. It is due to these heroic members of the Dominican Confraternity, to enter into some detail about a few of their number, which, for lack of space, must serve as specimens of the rest. Father Francis Carrero published a work called The Triumph of the Rosary in Japan which is full of examples of the heroic virtues displayed by the members. In proportion to the persecution God increased the devotion to the Rosary and the graces bestowed by its means. Its wide diffusion through the empire has already been mentioned. It was everywhere known and loved, and in whole districts nearly every Christian was a member. Of the two hundred and five martyrs beatified by Pius IX., Father Boero mentions more than sixty as members of the Rosary, besides all the Tertiaries and fathers of the Order, who were of course inscribed in the ranks of the Confraternity.
Among these Rosarians a noble family of Nagasaki deserves special mention, as sending up to God the sweet odour of many virtues, and furnishing numerous and heroic martyrs for the Faith. The head of this illustrious family was Anthony Toan, who was distinguished among his countrymen, not only for his noble birth, but also for his talents and mental accomplishments, which together with his uprightness of character won him the confidence of the emperor and the appointment of vice-governor of Nagasaki. But he was a Christian, and had harboured missionaries in his house. For these crimes, shortly after the appointment of Gonrocu as Governor, he was put to death, his wife sharing his martyrdom. He had five sons named Andrew, Francis, John, Peter, and Paul, all Christians, as their names sufficiently testify. The three lastnamed were beheaded for the faith shortly after their father. Francis had been educated for the priesthood, and for some time served a church in Nagasaki, when hearing of a battle about to take place in one part of the empire, he hastened to assist the dying Christian soldiers, and was himself killed in performing this office of charity. But the most illustrious martyr of the family was Andrew Tocuan, the host of Father Francis Morales, in whose house that father had been taken. He and his wife Mary were models of virtue to the whole city of Nagasaki. The Confraternity of the Rosary in that city was divided into two companies, and Andrew was the leader of the division for the men ; his wife was at the head of the women. They were both also members and zealous propagators of the Confraternity of the Holy Name of Jesus, and served God fervently amidst constant works of charity and self-denial, with frequent prayer and penance, in continual danger of death by sheltering the hunted missionaries. Andrew was the first to risk his life, by trying to recover the bodies of the martyrs out of deep reverence for their relics. When the officers seized Father Morales in his house, Andrew was absent, and his heroic wife, knowing her husband's desire to suffer for Christ, overcame her natural feelings and sent for him, that his long cherished hopes might be realized. Great was his exultation when he found the time had come, and he was impatient to reach his prison. In consideration of his high rank the satellites desired to carry him to prison in a closed chair, but he refused, saying that to walk to prison bound for Christ was the greatest honour they could offer him, and putting on his festive robes he willingly accompanied them. In spite of her . earnest entreaties his wife was left at liberty. He was arraigned before Ihe^ governor after three months' imprisonment with four companions, three like himself members of the Rosary Confraternity, the fourth, Leonard Chimura, a brother co-adjutor of the Society of Jesus. Leonard was the first questioned, and he answered that he had proclaimed to his countrymen the true faith. He was condemned to the flames. Dominic Georgi, a Portuguese, was next questioned, and boldly declared that he had given hospitality to Father Spinola, S.J., and for this crime had already suffered more than a year's imprisonment John Xoan confessed to having lodged Father Alphonsus de Mena, and Cosma Taqua, Fathers John of S. Dominic and Angelo Ferrer. Then Andrew Tocuan acknowledged that Father Francis de Morales had lived for a long time in his house, and they were all sentenced to be burnt alive. The judge expressed the pain he felt in seeing Andrew Tocuan in a situation so disgraceful and in being obliged to condemn him to death. " You obey your master," was Andrew's fearless answer ; " I obey mine ; only remember that outside the Christian Church there is no salvation." Before execution he wrote words of encouragement to his wife and kinsmen, and sent also a letter to Father Morales, then in prison, of which the following extract is quoted by Meynard :
'' I am thankful to you, dearly-beloved Father, because you have been the occasion of my life being given for God. I recommend to you Mary my wife, and Paul my son. When, by the mercy of God, I shall be in heaven, I will pray Jesus, my Master, for your reverence."
On the day of execution the stakes were planted near Nagasaki on a hill surrounded on three sides by the sea. This hill had been already sanctified by the crosses of the twenty-six protomartyrs of Japan. The slope of this hill was covered by an immense multitude, which crowded near the piles of faggots and stretched in dense masses down the hill-sides. Boats were scattered over the sea, and every point commanding a view of the terrible scene was crowded by anxious spectators. Nor were these only prompted by idle curiosity or hatred of the faith, for many among those twenty thousand spectators envied the lot of the five victims who were slowly mounting the hill, which to them was indeed a Calvary. Many were saying their rosary that the grace of constancy might be given to the martyrs. They themselves were rapt in earnest prayer as they walked to the place of torment, and they replied from time to time to the Christians who asked their intercession, bidding them a tender farewell and exhorting them to stand firm to the last. When arrived at the stakes they saluted them with words of joy as the instruments of their glory, and turning to each other they bade adieu until their meeting in paradise. So loosely were they bound to the stakes that they might easily have liberated themselves ; but such was the strength of God's grace in their hearts that they were not seen to move, or even to writhe in agony, or to change countenance, when the flames danced and played around them, and, leaping up, licked them with their long liquid tongues. They gazed stedfastly up to heaven. When the faggots had been kindled, the youths and maidens of the Confraternity of our Lady, who filled some boats on the sea, began to chant psalms in delightful harmony, a foretaste to the martyrs of the angelic songs. At the same moment a murmur ran through that immense throng ; the Christians were invoking the holy Names of Jesus and Mary. All wept with compassion, mingled with joy, and exhorted one another to be strong in the faith. Some even grew so excited that they were unable to restrain themselves, and would have rushed into the flames to share the martyrs' sufferings had they not been reminded that to do so would be tempting Providence. Amidst such scenes as these the martyrs went to their Lord : the flames sank and expired, and the charred bones which alone remained were broken into fragments and thrown into the sea. The faithful however managed to collect some portion of the holy relics without being able to distinguish to which of the five they belonged. This martyrdom took place on November 18, 1619.
Andrew Tocuan left behind him Mary his wife, with a little son, Paul. This woman wa s well worthy to be a martyr's wife, and, far from "lamenting "her "husband's fate as a calamity, she gloried in it, and earnestly prayed that she herself might receive a like crown. Three years afterwards this heroic desire was fully gratified, but in the meantime she had much to suffer owing to the confiscation of her property, by which she was reduced to the utmost poverty and became entirely dependent on the charity of others ; but such afflictions seem trifling to one of her spirit. Poverty knit more closely the ties that already united her to the Order of S, Dominic. Long and ardently had she desired to become a member of the Third Order, and now that God had deprived her of her husband and so many of her kindred, she sought a more numerous family among the children of S. Dominic. As the immediate cause of her husband's death had been his generous hospitality to the friars, the Order was bound to assist her, and the Father Provincial of the Philippine islands regarded her as his daughter. The advantage of the Order was the grand object of her life, and fervently did she pray in its behalf. The following letter, addressed to Father John of S. Hyacinth, shows the fervent spirit of this Japanese convert : -
" I thank you a thousand times, my Father, for the large alms you sent me, and still more for the letter which accompanied it. The holy instructions it contained are, indeed, most necessary in this time of trial. Most of the fathers of our Order are in prison and in daily expectation of martyrdom. The rest are hidden in different places on account of the persecution. What can I say of myself ? I have lost all my earthly possessions, my good husband and my property ; driven from my house, I am obliged to beg for food. Living in a little hut, I am supported by what you send me, and your fathers obtain for me. But all this is my joy and happiness, especially when I remember that I am persecuted for having given shelter to the servants of God - the children of our father S. Dominic. I would give my life a thousand times over for any one of them. After God my only consolation now is to serve them ; in them I seem to be serving the angels of heaven. . . . . If it be God's will, I have no other desire than to suffer martyrdom, and although I am a great sinner, I trust God will vouchsafe to give me this grace, through the intercession of Andrew Tocuan, my husband, and through the prayers of my fathers of the Order of S. Dominic, to whom I affectionately commend myself. Miserable as I am in myself, I feel a strong hope.
" Mary Tocuan.''
In another letter, too long for insertion, she begs for more missionaries to supply the place of those in prison, and announces with great joy that she has been received into the Third Order. Soon afterwards she was left quite alone by the death of her little son Paul, which, she says, happened as a punishment for her sins. Even in her impoverished condition she was a constant benefactress of the Order, and her example and fervent exhortations kept up the courage of the other Christians. Later she glorified God by a martyr's death.
These details are deeply interesting, as showing by the example of one family the saintly spirit which animated the members of the Rosary Confraternity. Many others might be mentioned as proofs of a similar spirit, but their narration would be too lengthy. I must confine myself to a brief mention of those other Rosarians who are enumerated amongst the martyrs beatified by Pius the Ninth. Only nine days after the martyrdom of Andrew Tocuan, the governor condemned eleven Christians to be beheaded on the plea that they were neighbours of those who had harboured the missionaries, and therefore might be supposed to have consented to their crime. Twelve were arraigned before the judge, but, as among the Apostles, one became an apostate, while the eleven resisted the promises as well as the threats of Gonrocu. They were all members of the Rosary Confraternity, and were beheaded in the presence of a great crowd on November 29, 16 19, on that hill which had already seen so many martyrdoms. The names of these eleven martyrs are given in the list of those beatified under the date of November 29. Lastly, the triumph of five Japanese Rosarians, who were crucified at Cocura in the kingdom of Bugen, must not be entirely omitted. The sufferers were Simon Quiota, a man venerable by age and virtue, to whom God had given peculiar power to deliver possessed persons ; Magdalen, his wifejjtnd their three guests, Thomas Guengoro, Mary, his wife, and James, their youthful son. Before the governor's tribunal they were stedfast in the faith, and rejoiced when sentenced to be crucified, like S. Peter, with their heads downwards. The little boy, James, was terribly beaten by[the executioners, but nothing could shake his courage, and all five were led to be crucified with their sentence, written in large letters, carried before them, declaring their crime to be an obstinate refusal to abandon the religion of Christ. Simon and Magdalen remained alive on their crosses till the middle of the next day, and Mary survived somewhat longer. Thomas, however, and his heroic little son, James, were alive three whole days, and were then despatched by the thrust of a lance. The virtue and courage of multitudes of Japanese members of the Holy Rosary must be concluded from these few samples. They were an honour to the Order, and true followers of S. Dominic, showing that the Rosary can plant the faith in a new soil as well as destroy a heresy infecting a Catholic people.