Venerable Magdalene of Japan

Unable, for lack of missionaries, to receive the sacraments frequently; but as she compensated for this through spiritual reading and incessant prayer, and as she was ever more animated toward perfection, her confessor, the holy martyr Brother Jordan of S aint Stephen, requested and o Frère Jordan de Saint-Étienne Confessor of Magdeleine and Dominican martyr. btained for her the habit of a tertiary. She had not yet made her profession, and two years had not passed since she had been living in the wilderness for fear of the tyrants, when they had her holy confessor arrested. At this news, Magdeleine left the mountain, descended to the city, ran directly to the prison, and insistently demanded that she be incarcerated as a Christian and a disciple of the venerable confessor. The jailers resisted her supplications; but, inflamed with divine love, she went to present herself at the hearing, preached the religion there with admirable freedom, declared that she desired to die for her faith, in order to be the worthy daughter of her parents, the worthy pupil of her master; and spoke in such a way that the judges finally ordered that she be taken to prison.

Seeing that she was young and beautiful, they did everything in their power to detach her from her faith. They promised her riches, an advantageous marriage, and honors for her husband; but the virtuous virgin replied to them with constancy and dignity: "Would it not be madness to abandon the heavenly riches and honors which are eternal, for earthly riches and honors which must end, to leave the divine spouse Jesus Christ for a spouse of this world?"

The judges, wounded by her resistance, attempted the path of severity; but not wishing to shed her blood, they had her suspended by the arms. During the several hours she spent in this cruel position, she did not even heave a sigh; on the contrary, seeing that the ropes that bound her were loosening, she warned the executioners, so that they might tie her more tightly; and as they did nothing of the sort, she fell and struck the ground violently. The judges, believing her defeated, asked her if she wished to abandon her religion; but she replied to them with a modest smile that it was humiliating for her to be treated like a child upon whom only light torments are imposed. "Be certain," she added, "that I would suffer much stronger ones without separating myself from the faith and love of Our Lord Jesus Christ."

The tyrants, irritated by this courageous response, resolved to exhaust all their fury against this invincible virgin. They ordered that the tip of a burning reed be driven under the nail of each finger, and, as if such a horrible torment were not enough to frighten a young girl, they further ordered that she dig the earth with these same reeds. The chief judge, furious at being defied by such a young girl, seeing in Magdalene's patience only a mockery of his authority, and ashamed moreover of not being able to keep the word he had given to the emperor to subdue the Christians, ordered that she be suspended by her feet with her head plunged into a cauldron full of water, and that she be pulled out at the moment she began to suffocate, to ask her if she persisted in the profession of the Christian faith. This cruel ordeal was renewed several times, but Magdalene always emerged victorious.

However, the tyrant did not wish to consider himself defeated; he therefore ordered that she be made to drink water until she swelled like a wineskin, then that she be stretched out in this state on the ground, and that a very heavy stone be placed upon her stomach. The executioners injected her with frightful brutality through her mouth, nostrils, ears, and even her eyes; but although they began again several times in vain, our heroic virgin showed herself more valiant each time. Then the tyrant lost all hope of triumphing over Magdalene, and he condemned her to the horrible torture of the pit. She was taken from her prison, in the company of several other confessors, and was made to ride on horseback, with a thick rope around her neck, her hands tied behind her back. When she arrived at the place where the most dreadful torture awaited her,

She was hung by her feet from a gallows, with her head and the entire upper part of her body plunged into a pit or deep hole dug at the foot of her gibbet; two enormous planks were fastened around her waist, tightened firmly by means of a screw, and two large stones were placed upon these planks, the weight of which, suffocating our Saint, caused blood to flow from her mouth, nose, and eyes. This violent martyrdom, Magdalene endured with admirable patience for three and a half days, without eating or drinking, and softly singing the praises of the Lord with incredible joy. The judges, thinking that the sentinels who guarded her under penalty of death had been bribed, and unable to believe she was still alive after so many days of torment, went to her in person and were witnesses to the miracle they refused to attribute to the hand of the Most High. Having asked the holy martyr how she could live for such a long time without eating or drinking, in the midst of such tortures, she replied to them: "Since you ask me, know that I have not died from these tortures, because the God whom I adore and for the love and faith of whom I suffer them, sustains me; I am under his hand, which relieves me and deigns to caress me gently."

At these words, the chief judge, transported with fury, broke the rope that held Magdalene; our Saint fell to the bottom of the hole and struck her head so hard that she remained half-dead. It rained heavily the following night, the pit filled with water, and our heroic virgin was suffocated there. It was thus that, after having suffered so many and such cruel torments, she ended her earthly career and passed into the heavenly dwelling that the Lord had prepared for her. This glorious martyrdom took place at the beginning of October, in 1634.

## 2ND DAY OF OCTOBER

## ANNIVERSARIES AND COMMEMORATIONS.

François Després, born in Marcilly (Cher, arrondissement of Sancerre, canton of Sancerguès), canon of the collegiate church of Dun-le-Roi (arrondissement of Saint-Amand-Mont-Rond); did not take any of the revolutionary oaths; arrested in 1797; deported to French Guiana on March 13 of the following year; disembarked in the port of Cayenne, then relegated to Sinnamary; died in exile at the age of sixty-four, and buried on the Île d'Aix. 1798.

Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Exnoult, priest and religious of the Order of Carthusians, under the name of Dom Vincent, in their house of Val-Dieu (diocese of Séez); returned, after the dissolution (1791) of his cloister, to the diocese of Chartres, his native land; imprisoned for refusal of the oath in 1793, then deported overseas; died in exile and buried on the Île Madame. 1794.

Marion de Frémery, born in Nancy (Meurthe), canon of the cathedral church of Metz; remained in this city after the dispersal of his chapter and refused the constitutional oath of 1791; took, then retracted, that of liberty-equality of 1792; arrested in 1793 and thrown into the prisons of Metz, then deported overseas; died in exile at the age of fifty-eight, and buried on the Île Madame. 1794.

Georges-Edme René, born in Vézelay (Yonne, arrondissement of Avallon), priest and canon of the collegiate church of this city; did not take any of the revolutionary oaths and remained in his native city after the suppression of his chapter; arrested in 1793 and taken to Rochefort to be deported overseas; died in exile at the age of forty-seven, and buried on the Île Madame. 1794.

Arnaud-François Wliegen, born in Montaigu (diocese of Louvain) in 1753, member of the Congregation of the Priests of the Oratory; did not take any of the anti-religious oaths; arrested on September 5, 1797; taken to Rochefort and deported overseas on March 25 of the following year; died in Konanama, at the age of forty-five. 1798.

PIERRE DE BÉRULLE, cardinal, founder of the Congregation of the Oratory of France. 1629.

Mother Anne-Victoire de Méjanès, founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint-Chrétienne; born on May 11, 1765, in Distroff, near Thionville, to Nicolas Tailleur and Jeanne Roisseau; died in great reputation of holiness, in the seventy-fifth year of her age, after thirty years of religious profession. 1837.