Saint Cosmas Takeya

Cosmas Takeya was a katana blacksmith from Owari. He was baptized by Jesuit missionaries and became a member of the Third Order of Saint Francis. At the time of his arrest and execution, Cosmas was known to be working as a catechist and translator for Franciscan missionaries in Osaka. In 1597, Hideyoshi, an influential Japanese ruler, heard the incitement of a Spanish merchant who whispered that the missionaries were traitors to the Japanese nation. The merchant added that these traitors would cause Japan to be conquered by Spain and Portugal. Although this incitement was false and irrational, Hideyoshi reacted excessively, arresting 26 people he deemed traitors. Those arrested consisted of six Franciscan friars from Spain, Mexico, and India; three Japanese Jesuit catechists; and seventeen Japanese lay Catholics, including children. On February 5, 1597, Cosmas Takeya and the twenty-five other martyrs were taken to the execution site outside the city of Nagasaki. Bound, they were forced to walk in a procession to serve as a spectacle and a lesson to the public. Throughout the journey, they continued to chant the Te Deum. They were tied to their respective crosses with chains and ropes, and iron shackles were placed around their necks. Each cross was then hoisted and its base planted into a pre-dug hole. Spears were then thrust into each person, and they died at nearly the same time.