July 9th marks not only the martyrdom of 26 Franciscans in China during the Boxer Rebellion but also 19 martyrs of Gorkum in Holland. I thought I would take the opportunity to also highlight some of the other Franciscan martyrs, who are celebrated in January.
January 16
OFM protomartyrs: St. Berard and Companions
d.1220
Preaching
the gospel is often dangerous work. Leaving one’s homeland and adjusting to new
cultures, governments and languages is difficult enough; but martyrdom sometimes
caps all the other sacrifices.
In 1219 with the blessing of St.
Francis, Berard left Italy with Peter, Adjute, Accurs, Odo and Vitalis to
preach in Morocco. En route in Spain, Vitalis became sick and commanded the
other friars to continue in their mission without him.
They tried preaching in Seville,
then in Moslem hands, but made no converts. They went on to Morocco where they
preached in the marketplace. The friars were immediately apprehended and
ordered to leave the country; they refused. When they began preaching again, an
exasperated sultan ordered them executed. After enduring severe beatings and
declining various bribes to renounce their faith in Jesus Christ, the martyrs
were beheaded by the sultan himself on January 16, 1220.
These were the first Franciscan martyrs.
When Francis heard of their deaths, he exclaimed, “Now I can truly say that I
have five Friars Minor!” Their relics were brought to Portugal where they
prompted a young Augustinian canon to join the Franciscans and set off for
Morocco the next year. That young man was Anthony of Padua (June 13). These
five martyrs were canonized in 1481.
QUOTE:
Before St. Francis, the Rule of religious orders made no mention of preaching
to the Moslems. In the Rule of 1223, Francis wrote: “If any of the friars is
inspired by God to go among the Saracens or other unbelievers, he must ask
permission from his provincial minister. The ministers, for their part, are to
give permission only to those whom they see fit to be sent.” (Chp. 12)
COMMENT:
The death of Berard and his companions sparked a missionary vocation in Anthony
of Padua and others. There have been many, many Franciscans who have responded
to Francis’ challenge. Proclaiming the gospel can be fatal, but that has not
stopped the Franciscan men and women who even today risk their lives in many
countries throughout the world.
January 21 protomartyr of the USA: Juan de Padilla
1492-1542
Juan didn’t
know where preaching the gospel of Jesus would lead him, but he trusted God to
give him the strength to match a missionary vocation. Juan’s vocation led to
his martyrdom in Kansas, part of the New World “discovered” the year he was
born.
Juan came from southern Spain where
he also became a Franciscan. In 1526 he left for Mexico where he worked as a
missionary in the states of Hidalgo and Jalisco. In 1540 he accompanied
Coronado’s expedition to New Mexico. The next year Juan went with the
expedition to Kansas; there he met the Quivira Indians. Juan remained to work
among them after the explorers returned to Mexico.
Juan was killed by several Quivira
Indians as he made his way to the Kaws, traditional enemies of the Quiviras. He
was the first of at least 77 Franciscans martyred in the United States.
QUOTE: An
ad for missionaries in a 19th-century Paris newspaper also applied
to Juan’s work: “We offer you no salary, no recompense, no leadership, no
pension, but much hard work, a poor dwelling, small consolation, many
disappointments, frequent sickness, a violent or lonely death and an unknown
grave.”
COMMENT:
We are sometimes uncomfortable when people mention martyrs for the faith. How could
people do that? Are they mentally stable? Juan de Padilla was motivated more by
a desire to spread the gospel than by fear for his own life. He reminds us that
we do not have very much choice about how we will die; however, we have a lot
of choice about how we shall live.
July 9 St. Nicholas Pick and Companions
d.1572
It is not
always possible to choose when and where we will witness to our faith
In 1568 the Netherlands revolted
against Spain. In the northern part of the Netherlands the revolt was also
directed against Catholicism. This rebellion ultimately led to the recognition
in 1648 of an independent Republic of United Provinces (Holland).
Nicholas and his companions (11 Franciscans
and eight diocesan priests) are also known as “the martyrs of Gorcum,” where
they were arrested by Calvinist soldiers. They were taken to Briel and urged to
renounce the Roman Catholic teaching on Christ’s presence in the Eucharist and
on the primacy of the pope. They refused and were hung from crossbeams. The execution
was clumsily handled; it took two hours for some of them to strangle. They were
canonized in 1867.
QUOTE: “‘The
hour is now at hand,’ Father Nicholas said, ‘to receive from the hand of the
Lord the long desired reward of the struggle, the crown of eternal happiness.’
He encouraged them not to fear death nor to lose through cowardice the crown
prepared for them and soon to be placed on their brows. Finally he prayed that
they would joyfully follow the path on which they saw him leading the way. With
these and similar words, he joyfully mounted the ladder without ceasing to
exhort his companions until strangulation deprived him of the use of his voice.”
(a contemporary account of the martyrdom)
COMMENT:
Notice which teachings were presented to these martyrs. Turning the Eucharist into some vague remembrance
of Christ and denying the leadership of the successor of Peter might have seemed
easy. Nicholas and his companions knew these teachings were part of God’s plan
for God’s people, and so they would not deny their faith. Both the Eucharist
and the successor of Peter will eventually be instrumental in restoring unity
among Christians.
The three
entries above were all written by Patrick McCloskey in Franciscan Saint of
the Day. St. Anthony Messenger Press, 1981.
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