Ludovicus Sasada: Difference between revisions

|name = Blessed Ludovicus Sasada, OFM

|image =

|caption =

|birth_place = [[Edo]], [[Japan]]

|death_place = [[Ōmura, Nagasaki|Ōmura]], [[Japan]]

|venerated_in= [[Roman Catholic Church]]

|feast_day = [[25 August]]

|venerated_by = [[Pope Pius IX]]

|venerated_date = 26 February 1866

|beatified_by = [[Pope Pius IX]]

'''[[Beatification|Blessed]] Ludovicus Sasada''', also known as Louis Sasada or ルイス笹田, (1598 – 25 August 1624) was a [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] [[Priesthood (Catholic Church)|Priest]] from [[Japan]]. He was beatified in July of [[1867]] by Pope [[Pius IX]].<ref name=FRO>Fros SJ, Henryk “Book of names and saints”, pp. 423-37, 2007 ISBN 978-83-7318-736-8</ref><ref name=VAT>[http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_academies/cult-martyrum/martiri/009.html#agosto "Martirologio", Roman Curia Pontifical Academies]</ref>

== Early Life ==

Ludovicus Sasada was born in [[Edo]], present-day [[Tokyo]], around 1598, to a pious Christian family. His family was befriended by a young missionary friar, [[Luis Sotelo]], from the [[Order of Friars Minor|Franciscan Order]].

Father [[Luis Sotelo]], tried to establish a Franciscan church in the area of Edo. The church was destroyed in 1612, following the interdiction of [[Christianity]] in the territories of the [[Tokugawa shogunate|Tokugawa]] [[shogunate]] on April 21, 1612. After a period of intense missionary activity by the Catholic Church, [[Hidetada Tokugawa]], the second [[shogun]] of the Tokugawa dynasty, issued a decree which banned the practice and teaching of the Christian faith, and under the threat of loss of life, all the missionaries had to leave Japan. This decree started the bloody persecution of Christians, which lasted several decades.<ref name=FRO>Fros SJ, Henryk “Book of names and saints”, pp. 423-37, 2007 ISBN 978-83-7318-736-8</ref>

After the healing of a concubine of the powerful [[daimyo]] of [[Sendai Domain|Sendai]], [[Date Masamune]], in Edo, Fr Luis was invited to the northern part of Japan, in the area controlled by Date, under whom Christianity was still allowed. He came back to Tokyo the following year and constructed and inaugurated a new church on May 12, 1613, in the area of [[Asakusa]] Torigoe. The Bakufu reacted by arresting the Christians, and Luis himself was put in the Kodenma-chō prison. Seven fellow Japanese Christians, who had been arrested with Luis, were executed on July 1, but he was freed following a special request by Date Masamune.<ref name=HRC>{{cite book |last1=Pagès |first1=Léon |chapter=August |title=Histoire de la Religion Chrétienne au Japon depuis 1598 jusqu’a 1651 |location=Paris |publisher=Charles Douniol, Libraire-Editeur|publication-date=1869 |pages=137-61}}</ref>

Father Sotelo, fluent in Japanese, planned and acted as translator on a Japanese embassy sent by Date Masamune to [[Madrid]] on October 28, 1613. The embassy was headed by [[Hasekura Rokuemon Tsunenaga]], and crossed the [[Pacific Ocean]] to [[Acapulco]] on board the Japanese-built galleon [[Japanese warship San Juan Bautista|San Juan Bautista]].<ref name=SNA>{{cite book |last1=O’Malley CM |first1=Vincent J. |chapter=August |title=Saints of North America |location=Huntington, IN |publisher=Our Sunday Visitor Publishing |publication-date=2004 |pages=290-316}}</ref> The embassy continued to Veracruz and Sanlucar de Barrameda, Seville, and Madrid. Luis had the Japanese receive [[baptism]] in [[Madrid]], before accompanying them to an audience with [[Pope Paul V]] in [[Rome]]. The embassy was a product of ambitions of Luis to increase the spread of the Church in Japan and of Date Masamune to provide more priests for the churches of his Christian subjects and to establish trade between Sendai and New Spain, and it had the approval of the shogun, Ieyasu Tokugawa.{{r|HRC}}

== Seminary and Priesthood ==

Ludovicus Sasada’s father, Michael was beheaded on August 16, 1613, as a result of his Christian beliefs. Young Ludovicus Sasada accompanied Father Sotelo and the representatives of Japan, on their voyage to Europe. He requested to remain in Mexico, while the others proceeded to Madrid, and entered the convent of San Pedro and San Pablo in [[Morelia|Valladolid]], [[Michoacán]], where he became a Franciscan brother and started his studies for the priesthood.<ref name=BHW>{{cite book |last1=Willeke OFM |first1=Bernward H. |chapter=Fukusha Luis Sasada: Francisco kai shusshin no saisho no hojin shisai |title=Kirishitan kenkyu |location=Tokyo |publisher=Yoshikawa Kobunkan |publication-date=1977 |pages=168–72}}</ref>

Several years later, Father Sotelo, now Bishop-elect of [[Ōshū,_Iwate|Ōshū]] (in [[Mutsu Province|Northern Honshū]]), returned to Mexico enroute to Japan, where he chose Friar Ludovicus Sasada as his personal secretary. The party returned to [[Manila]] in June 1618, where Ludovicus Sasada completed his studies for priesthood, with Bishop-elect Sotelo instructing him. Because he was not of canonical age, a special dispensation was obtained and he was ordained a priest in Manila.{{r|SNA}}

== Missionary and Martyrdom ==

In 1622, Bishop-elect Sotelo, Father Sasada and [[Ludovicus Baba]] (personal servant to Father Sotelo), set sail for for Japan, disguised as merchants. As the Chinese captain suspected them for religious missionaries, they were surrendered to governmental authorities at Nagasaki. Within six months, these three prisoners were transferred to the new prison at [[Ōmura, Nagasaki|Ōmura]]. Their imprisonment almost lasted for two years, however during this time, Ludovicus Baba was received into the [[Third Order of Saint Francis|Third Order Secular of Saint Francis]] by Bishop-elect Sotelo. Two other missionary priests, Father [[Pedro Vásquez]] [[Dominican Order|OP]] and Father [[Miguel de Carvalho]] [[Society of Jesus|SJ]], eventually joined these three Franciscans in captivity.{{r|SNA}}

Their life in the Ōmura prison was like a friary. These priests performed their religious exercises and celebrated Holy Mass. The imprisoned Christians at the risk of their lives procured what was needed. On 24 August, a death sentence was ordered. {{r|FRO}}<ref name=SAN>[http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/92280 Borrelli, Antonio "Blessed Michael Carvalho, Jesuit martyr", 2005-02-22]</ref> When they received the news they sang the ''[[Te Deum]]''. At ten in the morning, they were taken by boat to the place of execution. They were tied to stakes and a fire was placed around them. Bishop-elect Sotelo was placed in the center and the two Japanese were on the outside of the circle. Since the fire burned the ropes of the two Japanese Franciscans, they prostrated themselves towards the center stake and asked for the Bishop-elect’s blessing. Sotelo invoked God's blessing upon them and they returned to their stakes until they were overcome by the fire and smoke. As Sotelo was the farthest from the flames, the executioners put more wood on the fire closer to him.{{r|SNA}} After these martyrs died, the soldiers burned their remains in another fire and took their ashes in a boat to throw dispose of them into the sea, to prevent them being carried away by the Christians, even though a witness was able to collect some of Pedro Vásquez’s cremains and had them deposited in a Jesuit Church in the Phillipines.<ref name=DOMB>{{cite book |last1= Wilberforce OP |first1= Bertand A. |chapter= Chapter X. Martyrdon of Brother Lewis Yakiki – Father Didacus Collado – Life and Martyrdon of Blessed Peter Vasques |title= Dominican Missions and Martyrs in Japan |location=London and Leamington |publisher=Art and Book Company |publication-date=1897 |pages=112–27}}</ref>

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[[Category:Christianity in Japan]]

[[Category:People of Spanish colonial Philippines]]

[[Category:Japanese Roman Catholic saints]]

[[Category:Christian missionaries in Japan]]

[[Category:Spanish Roman Catholics]]