A CRUEL CRUCIFIXION
St. Gonsalo Garcia (St. Gundisalvus
Garcia in Latin) was born in 1557 in
Vasai (Bassein) , a coastal town of western India, about 30 miles north of
Bombay (Mumbai). He was the first Indian to attain sainthood. He was one of the
26 Christian martyrs crucified on
5th February, 1597 at Nagasaki in
Japan. Nagasaki was the site of the second nuclear bombing (on 9 August 1945) during
the final stages of World war II.
He joined the school of Jesuits at Vasai at the age of seven after the
death of his parents. Rev. Fr. Sabastian Gonsalves, S.J. was his teacher,
friend and guide throughout his life. He learned from this Father about the
missions in Japan and decided to proceed to Japan as a missionary. He learned the
Japanese language and started his voyage to Japan along with Rev. Father
Gonsalves in 1572.Garcia learned the Japanese language and culture and they
worked together in a mission station near Nagasaki for eight years. Garcia
served as a catechist. His firm faith, amiable nature and proficiency and fluency in the Japanese
language drew a large number of people to Christianity. Later he joined the
Franciscan order and was ordained as a Friar (lay brother).
As
a member of the Spanish mission, he continued his missionary services in Japan.
His simple life style and zeal to serve the poor, sick and lepers influenced
many and drew them to Christian faith. The ruler of Japan, Toyotomi Hideyoshi
(Taikosama) was misled by the words of the boastful Captain of a Spanish ship.
The ruler suspected that the missionaries were agents of the king of Spain and
were attempting to overthrow him from the throne. His physician, who hated
Christians, exploited the situation. The ruler ordered that the Christian missionaries
shall be arrested and killed.
On 8 December, 1596, Garcia was arrested along with 25 Christians and
they were force-marched to the city of Nagasaki. They were tortured on the way.
They reached a hill in Nagasaki in the morning of 5 February, 1597. While Garcia, chained to his cross, sang hymns
praising God, the assassins pierced him with two spears which passed through
his heart and killed him. The others were also crucified and pierced with spears (lances).
The 26 martyrs included 6 Franciscan missionaries (including Garcia), 3 Jesuits
and 17 lay Christians including three young children. Their martyrdom inspired
the remaining Christians and drew a large number of Japanese people to
Christianity. The site of their crucifixion is venerated as a sacred place. The TWENTY SIX MARTYRS were beatified by Pope Urban VIII on 14 September 1627 and
canonized by Pope Pius IX on 8 June 1862. The feast of St. Gonsalo Garcia is
celebrated on 6 February every year.
St.
Peter teaches us, "However, if you suffer because you are a Christian,
don't be ashamed of it, but thank God that you bear Christ's name" {1 Peter 4: 16}.
.............................................................................................................
© By: Dr. Babu Philip,
Professor, Cochin University of Science & Technology, Fine Arts Avenue,
Kochi-682016, Kerala, India, Prof.
Mrs. Rajamma Babu, Former Professor, St. Dominic's
College, Kanjirappally, Leo. S. John, St. Antony's Public
School, Anakkal, Kanjirappally and Neil
John, Maniparambil, Ooriyakunnath, Kunnumbhagom, Kanjirappally,
Kottayam-686507, Kerala, India.
For more moral stories, parables and
anecdotes for students, catechists, teachers and preachers, kindly visit
our web-sites:
This is Story No. 260 in the second site. Please click ‘Older Posts’ at the bottom of a page to read previous stories
and click 'Newer Posts' at the
bottom of a page to read newer stories in these sites. Please click on a word
in the 'Story Themes' to read
stories on that theme.
No comments:
Post a Comment