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The remarkable murals which line the nave walls of La Asunción tells the story of the martyrdom of Philip of Jesus, the first Mexican Saint and patron saint of Mexico City where he was born and Nagasaki where he was executed. Along with Felipe de Jesús, twenty-five persons were put to death on February 5, 1597. This included five other Franciscans, three Jesuits, and seventeen Japanese religious companions. Specifically the mural cycle shows the prisoners being transported by boat and then in carts to Nagasaki they were crucified and lanced at the orders of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the de facto ruler of Japan, following suspicions that their evangelizing efforts could be a prelude to Spanish invasion. |
