06 February — historically, on February 6th is the date of commemoration of Martyrs in Japan, among them, the name of Paul Mikki stands out from the others. Jesuit priest persecuted, Paul Miki died on the cross in Japan on February 6th 1597.
Paul Miki was famous for his ability to preach and his unfailing courage, even crucified he continue to preach up to his dying breath. Only 30 years after the passage of saint François-Xavier in Japan, we count already 1 500 000 converted to Christianity. In 1582, the Jesuit missionaries were evicted but resisted all the more as Franciscan missionaries came to the rescue to evangelize. Worried that Christianity would destabilize the kingdom, the Emperor ordered the arrest of the Christians in December 1596. Persecuted, hunted down, many of the faithful were crucified in 1597, among them 26 were canonized in 1862: 6 Franciscan religious from Spain, 17 Japanese laypeople, including 3 children, 3 religious of the Society of Jesus, among whom Paul Miki was one.
Saint Amand lived towards the end of the 6th and the beginning of the 7th. Born in 1584 to a family from Aquitaine in south-west France, Amand entered an abbey on the Ile d'Yeu in the Vendée at the age of 20 and lived as a hermit in Bourges for 16 years. Ordained a priest and then a bishop, he went to Rome. Shortly after this journey, he realised that his vocation was to proclaim the Gospel while on the move, he travelled constantly, travelling through "Belgian Gaul". As soon as a community was founded, Amand left it to the care of the others and went to found another one elsewhere. In 1646 he was appointed bishop of Maastricht in Holland but only stayed there for three years, preferring to go where Christ was never proclaimed. The Christian communities he founded were well established because he always founded an abbey at the same time and nearby, which served as a centre for evangelisation and the propagation of the faith. He spent much effort on evangelization and was adamant about the integrity of the faith and unity with the Church of Rome and the Pope. Amand died in 1676.
