Project BLACK MAMBA

Today is the Memorial of Saint Paul Miki & Companions, Martyrs (d. 1597, A.K.A. the Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan), martyred under the shōgun Toyotomi Hideyoshi: Martyr-link ūnus, Martyr-link duo, & Wikipedia-link Paul Miki; Martyrs-link & Wikipedia-link Companions.

Commentary: Quoth the bulletin:

He joined the Society of Jesus & became a well known & successful preacher, gaining numerous converts to Catholicism. The local daimyō began persecuting Catholics for fear of the Jesuit's influence & intentions. Miki was arrested & jailed with other Catholics & was forced to march six hundred miles from Kyoto to nagasaki; al the while singing the Te Deum. On arriving in Nagasaki, Miki was crucified. He preached his last sermon from the cross. Crucified alongside him were Joan Soan (de Gotó) & Santiago Kisai, also of the Society of Jesus; along with twenty-three other clergy & laity, all of whom were canonized by (Blessed) Pope Pius X in 1862.

I include the above image mostly because I have always found the Hinomaru, the "circle of the sun," almost hypnotically fascinating.

Scripture of the Day
Personal Reading
The Second Letter to Timothy, chapter four (of four).

Mass Readings
The Letter to the Hebrews, chapter thirteen, verses one thru eight;
Psalm Twenty-seven, verses one, three, five, eight(B) thru nine(ABC);
The Gospel according to Mark, chapter six, verses fourteen thru twenty-nine.