Franciscan Martyrdom

As we remember the death of John the Baptist by beheading, I am reposting about some Franciscan martyrs who are celebrated in January.

OFM protomartyrs: St. Berard and Companions d.1220

January 16

            In 1219 it was ten years after the first Rule for the Order had been put into place. With the blessing of St. Francis, Berard, who spoke Arabic, left Italy with five companions: Peter, Adjute, Accurs, Odo and Vitalis to preach in Morocco. They specifically wanted to convert Muslims. While en route in Spain, Vitalis became sick and encouraged the other friars to continue in their mission without him.

            They preached in Seville, then in Muslim hands, but made no converts. They went on to Morocco where they preached openly in the marketplace. They refused to leave the country when the friars were apprehended. The sultan ordered them executed. After enduring severe beatings and declining to renounce their faith in Jesus Christ, the martyrs were beheaded at Marrakesh 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 named Anthony to join the Franciscans and set off for Morocco the next year.

In the Rule of 1223, Chapter 12, 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.” 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. The death of Berard and his companions sparked a missionary vocation in Saint Anthony of Padua and many others.

These five martyrs were canonized in 1481. There have been many, many Franciscans who have responded to Francis’ challenge. Proclaiming the gospel can be fatal, but that has not stopped Franciscan men and women who even today risk their lives in many countries throughout the world.

Prayer

Lord God,

you consecrated the infancy of the Franciscan Order

by the glorious martyrdom of Berard and his four companions;

grant that as they died heroically for you

so we may grow in persevering faith.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Protomartyr of the USA: Juan de Padilla (1492-1542)

January 21

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” by Columbus the year he was born. His martyrdom happened about 100 years before that of the “North American Martyrs” in New York and Canada. 

            Juan came from southern Spain where he also became a Franciscan, a member of the Andalusian province. In 1526 he left for New Spain (Mexico), where he worked as a missionary in the modern states of Hidalgo and Jalisco. In 1540 he accompanied Coronado’s expedition to what would become the state of New Mexico in the USA. Friar Juan along with Fr. Juan de la Cruz, Brother Luis de Ubeda or Escalona, remained to work among the natives after the other explorers returned to Mexico. The next year De Padilla continued to journey north-east to Kansas; there he met the Ouichita or Wichita natives in a village known as Quivera.

            Juan was killed by several Wichita Indians as he made his way to the Kaws, traditional enemies of the Wichita. The exact locality of his martyrdom is uncertain. He was the first of at least 78 Franciscans martyred in the United States of America.

Father Don Miller, OFM, writes that “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 much choice about how we will die; however, we have a lot of choice about how we shall live.”

We are sometimes uncomfortable when people mention martyrs for the faith. How could people do that? Do they have mental health issues? 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.

Posted on August 29th: The Passion of Saint John the Baptist (Mission San Juan Bautista)