Magdalena Kiyota
Feast: 10 September (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Magdalene Kiyota was a woman of high rank, a relative of the king of Bungo, and a Dominican tertiary. As a widow she gave herself wholly to God, kept an oratory in her house where priests said Mass, and was martyred at Nagasaki in August 1627 with Blessed Francis of Saint Mary and his companions. The Holy See names her among the martyrs descended from the royal houses of Bungo, Arima and Hirado.
She is one of the 205 martyrs killed in Japan for the Catholic faith between 1617 and 1632 whom Pius IX declared 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 noblewoman of royal descent 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.
Connected on this site
- Francis of Saint Mary Blessed“As a widow she gave herself wholly to God, kept an oratory in her house where priests said Mass, and was martyred at Nagasaki in August 1627 with Blessed Francis of Saint Mary and his companions.” — this site's research
- Conferenza Episcopale Italiana - Santo del giorno, 27 agosto (Martirologio Romano)
- Directorio Franciscano (Franciscan Order, Spain) - Beatos Francisco de Santa María, Bartolomé Laurel, Antonio de San Francisco y compañeros, mártires de Japón (1627)
- Acta Sanctae Sedis 2 (1867), pp. 478-481 and 638-641 - decrees 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 Q24036030 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
Checked against the sources listed on 22 September 2026. Corrections welcome.