Blessed Martín Lumbreras Peralta

Martín Lumbreras Peralta was born in 1598 in Zaragoza, Spain, and joined the Augustinian Recollects, taking the name Martín de San Nicolás. He went as a missionary to the Philippines, where he served in Manila. In 1632, at a time when Christianity was harshly forbidden in Japan, he and his companion Melchor Sánchez of Saint Augustine secretly entered the country to care for the persecuted Christians. They were soon captured and were burned alive at Nagasaki on December 11, 1632; Pope John Paul II beatified them in 1989.

They are honored among the martyrs of Japan, and the Augustinian Recollects in Spain, the Philippines and Latin America keep their memory.