was a Japanese Christian who served as a translator and catechist for the Augustine Recollect missionaries. She became a

tertiary Tertiary (from Latin, meaning 'third' or 'of the third degree/order..') may refer to: * Tertiary period, an obsolete geologic period spanning from 66 to 2.6 million years ago * Tertiary (chemistry), a term describing bonding patterns in organic ch ...

of the

Order of Augustinian Recollects The Order of Augustinian Recollects (OAR) is a mendicant Catholic religious order of friars and nuns. It is a reformist offshoot from the Augustinians, Augustinian hermit friars and follows the same Rule of St. Augustine. They have also been kno ...

Life

Born in 1611 near Nagasaki, Magdalene was the daughter of a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

couple martyred about 1620. With the arrival of the

Augustinian Order Augustinians are members of several religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written about 400 A.D. by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13th ...

in 1623, Magdalene served as an interpreter for the friars Francis of Jesus Terrero and Vincent of Saint Anthony Simoens.Ambrosioni, Adriano. "St. Magdalene of Nagasaki, OSA"
/ref> In 1625, she became a

of the

. Magdalene taught

catechism A catechism (; from , "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of Catholic theology, doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult co ...

to the young, sought alms for the poor, and encouraged the people in times of persecution. In 1632, the two Augustinian friars, who had been her spiritual counselors, were burned alive. After the martyrdom of her counselors, she apprenticed herself to two other Augustinians, Melchior of Saint Augustine and Martin of Saint Nicholas. When these two friars were also put to death, she turned to

Giordano Ansaloni Giordano di San Stefano Ansalone, OP (1598 – 17 November 1634) was an Italian Dominican missionary in Asia. He is a Catholic martyr, beatified in 1981 and canonized in 1987 by Pope John Paul II. Life Ansalone was born at Santo Stefano Quis ...

de San Esteban, a Dominican. In 1629, she sought refuge with other Christians in the hills of Nagasaki, where she baptized the young and visited the sick. Seeing so many apostatize, some time later, attired in her Augustinian habit, Magdalene turned herself into the authorities and declared herself a follower of Jesus Christ. At age 23, she died on October 15, 1634, after thirteen days of torture, suffocated to death and suspended upside down in a pit of

offal Offal (), also called variety meats, pluck or organ meats, is the internal organ (anatomy), organs of a butchered animal. Offal may also refer to the by-products of Milling (grinding), milled grains, such as corn or wheat. Some cultures strong ...

on a

gibbet Gibbeting is the use of a gallows-type structure from which the dead or dying bodies of criminals were hanged on public display to deter other existing or potential criminals. Occasionally, the gibbet () was also used as a method of public ex ...

(''

tsurushi , also known simply as , was a Japanese torture technique used in the 17th century to coerce Christians ("Kirishitan") to recant their faith. The victim was hung head-down by the feet. Both Japanese and Western Christians are known to have bee ...

''). In the end, the pit was filled with water and she drowned. After death, her body was

cremated Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a corpse through Combustion, burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India, Nepal, and ...

and her ashes scattered in

Nagasaki Bay , officially , is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Nagasaki became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th t ...

. She was beatified by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

on February 18, 1981, in

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

, and canonized on October 18, 1987, at

Vatican City Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...

among the

16 Martyrs of Japan The were Christians who were persecuted for their faith in Japan, mostly during the 17th century. Early Christianity in Japan Christian missionaries arrived with Francis Xavier and the Jesuits in the 1540s and briefly flourished, with over 1 ...

Depiction

Though the official picture of Magdalene of Nagasaki shows her wearing an Augustinian habit while holding a

palm leaf The Arecaceae () is a family (biology), family of perennial plant, perennial, flowering plants in the Monocotyledon, monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbing palm, climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly k ...

in her hands and carrying a bag through her elbow, another depiction of her is used by the

Dominicans Dominicans () also known as Quisqueyans () are an ethnic group, ethno-nationality, national people, a people of shared ancestry and culture, who have ancestral roots in the Dominican Republic. The Dominican ethnic group was born out of a fusio ...

for their own devotion. Instead of the black habit, she is shown wearing a

kimono The is a traditional Japanese garment and the national dress of Japan. The kimono is a wrapped-front garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, and is worn Garment collars in hanfu#Youren (right lapel), left side wrapped over ri ...

while holding a

cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...

in her hands. One sculpture of her shows that she wears a

veil A veil is an article of clothing or hanging cloth that is intended to cover some part of the human head, head or face, or an object of some significance. Veiling has a long history in European, Asian, and African societies. The practice has be ...

with a crown or halo on her head. More depictions show the differences of her picture such as holding a palm leaf and

rosary The Rosary (; , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), formally known as the Psalter of Jesus and Mary (Latin: Psalterium Jesu et Mariae), also known as the Dominican Rosary (as distinct from other forms of rosary such as the ...

in separate hands.

References

External links

Magdalene of Nagasaki canonized (Vatican)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Magdalene Of Nagasaki 1611 births 1634 deaths Augustinian nuns Augustinian saints Lay Dominicans Japanese Roman Catholic saints Japanese Roman Catholic religious sisters and nuns 17th-century Christian saints 17th-century Roman Catholic martyrs Christian female saints of the Early Modern era Beatifications by Pope John Paul II Interpreters

Life

Depiction

See also

References

External links