Apollonia di Nagasaki
Feast: 10 September (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Apollonia is named by the Holy See among the martyrs of Japan descended from the royal houses of Bungo, Arima and Hirado; the decree names her alongside her nephew Gaspar Gotenda.
The Church counts 205 martyrs killed in Japan for the Catholic faith between 1617 and 1632: priests and catechists, nobles, rich women, young girls, old men and small children, many of them burned slowly at the stake, beheaded, or plunged into boiling volcanic springs or frozen water. Pius IX declared them Blessed on 7 July 1867.
The miracles
In 1867 Pius IX approved four signs in the cause of the 205 martyrs of Japan; the source does not describe them.
Why that counted as sanctity
A Japanese noblewoman who died for the faith.
The cause
The cause continues. No postulation address is published here yet. Favours received through this person’s intercession, and offers of help, are best sent to the religious order or congregation they belonged to, or to the diocese where the cause was opened; either will pass them to the postulation.
- Acta Sanctae Sedis 2 (1867) - decree of Pius IX on the 205 martyrs of Japan (1617-1632)
- Directorio Franciscano (Franciscan Order, Spain) - Beatos Ricardo de Santa Ana y compañeros, mártires de Japón (beatification of the 205 on 7 July 1867)
- Wikidata Q3620705 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
Checked against the sources listed on 22 September 2026. Corrections welcome.