Saint/s of the Day – 29 July – Blessed Luis Bertran OP (1594-1627) and Companions Martyrs. Luis was a Spanish Priest and Missionary of the Order of Preachers. Born in 1596 in Barcelona, Spain and died by being burned to death on 29 July 1627 at Omura, Nagasaki, Japan. Also known as – Luis Exarch. Additional Memorial – 10 September as one of the 205 Martyrs of Japan. Beatified on 7 May 1867 by Pope Pius IX.
The Dominican Missionary Priest, Luis Bertran, from Barcelona, Spain, was a relative of aother revered Dominican Missionary Priest with the same name, Saint Louis Bertrand (1526-1581), who had served in Latin America..
The younger Father Bertran joined the Dominicans at the Convent of Santa Catalina in Barcelona, Spain in 1611. He was sent as a Missionary firstly to the Philippines in 1618 and then to Japan in 1623 where the Catholics were in great need under the dire persecutions of the regime then in control.
Luis ministered for 4 years in secret, to the Catholics of the Omura region in Japan. Luis brought many pagans to the Faith, especially working with Dominican Tertiaries. During a period of veracious persecution, he hid from the authorities in a leper colony but was found, imprisoned and executed by being burned to death, together with Blessed Mancio de la Cruz, Blessed Pedro de Santa Maria and three of the patients who had given them shelter. Pedro was a native of Japan and Mancio, an elderly man, were both Catechists. Pedro and Mancio were formally admitted to the Dominican Order shortly before their execution.
St Louis Bertrand OP here:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/10/09/saint-of-the-day-9-october-st-louis-bertrand-o-p-1526-1581-apostle-of-south-america/
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