Philip of Jesus, OFM M (RM)
(also known as Philip de las Casas
Born in Mexico City, Mexico, May 1, 1571; died in Nagasaki, Japan, 1597;
beatified by Pope Urban VIII; canonized by Pope Pius IX in 1862; feast day
formerly February 5.
The life of Saint
Philip points again to the importance of the domestic church--the family. Early
in life Saint Philip ignored the pious teachings of his immigrant Spanish
family, but eventually he entered the Reformed Franciscan Convent of Santa
Barbara at Puebla, Mexico--and soon exited the novitiate in 1589. Grieved at
the inconstancy of his son, Philip's father sent him on a business trip to the
Philippines.
Like many of us,
Philip sought to escape God's love in worldly pleasures but the Hound of Heaven
tracked him down. Gaining courage by prayer, Philip was again able to follow
his vocation, joined the convent of Our Lady of the Angels in Manila in 1590,
and took his vows in 1594. The richest cargo Philip could have sent back to
Mexico couldn't have pleased his father more than the message that Philip had
been professed a friar. Alonso de las Casas obtained directions from the
commissary of the order that Philip should be sent to Mexico to be ordained a
priest.
He embarked with
other religious on the Saint Philip in July 1596 but storms shipwrecked them in
Japan. Amid the storm, Philip saw over Japan a white cross, in the shape used
in that country, which after a time became blood-red, and remained so for some
time. It was an omen of his coming victory.
The ship's captain
sent Philip and two others to the emperor to gain permission for them to
continue their voyage, but they could not obtain an audience. He then continued
to the Franciscan house in Macao to see if they could apply pressure. In the
meantime, the pilot of the Saint Philip had excited the emperor's fears of
Christians, causing him to contemplate their extermination.
In December,
officers seized a number of the Franciscan fathers, including Philip, three
Jesuits, and several of their young pupils. When Philip had that they were to
die, he responded with joy. His left ear was cut off, and he offered the first
fruit of his blood to God for the salvation of Japan.
The martyrs were
taken to Nagasaki, where crosses had been erected on a high hill. When Philip
was led to the one on which he was to die, he knelt down, clasped it, and
exclaimed, "O happy ship! O happy galleon for Philip, lost for my gain!
Loss--no loss for me, but the greatest of all gain!" He was bound to the
cross, but the footrest under him gave way, so that he was strangled by the
cords that bound him. While repeating the name of Jesus, he was the first of
the group to die. Philip was 25. Miracles attested the power before God of
these first martyrs of Japan (Benedictines, Butler, Delaney).
Saint Philip is the
patron of Mexico City, Mexico.
