The great devotion in Japon to the rosary of our Lady; the death of
the emperor, and the state of the church there.
[In the beginning of the year 1616, the confraternity of our Lady
of the Rosary, which had been established in 1602, when the order
of our father St. Dominic entered Japon, was very greatly increased,
and the devotion to the rosary became much more intense. This order
and the devotion connected with it spread from Nangasaqui through all
parts of Japon, and much improvement in the lives of those who devoted
themselves to the rosary was perceived. Miraculous strength was also
given to the members of the confraternity to hold to their faith. In
July the emperor died by poison, which was given him by mistake
from a box of medicine. The emperor being succeeded by his son,
Xogunsama, [16] the persecution was continued, and even increased
in severity, the officers exerting themselves to invent ingenious
tortures. Sometimes the very tormentors themselves, though they
did not abandon their idolatry, were compelled by the virtue of the
martyrs, and the aid rendered them by the Lord, to admit the truth
of our holy faith. Particulars are given of the deaths of a number of
martyrs. In course of time the persecution extended to Nangasaqui. It
was discovered by accident that there were religious in the city. This
was one cause for the beginning of the persecution. Another cause
was the contentions of two governors in the city, one Christian and
the other heathen. [17] Great efforts being made to capture some of
the religious, father Fray Pedro de la Asumpcion of the Order of
St. Francis, and Father Juan Baptista Tavora of the Society, were
caught and suffered martyrdom, being decapitated May 22, 1617. This
caused great joy among the religious, who had feared that, if they
should be captured, they would merely be sent out of the kingdom,
but were now encouraged to hope for the crown of martyrdom.]