19. Mexico's Martyr: A Hymn to San Felipe de Jesus

Al invicto mártir Mexicano San Felipe de Jesús, dedica L.A. el siguiente himno. (Broadside, 19cm x 13cm)

This hymn, with its beautiful woodcut engraving of Saint Philip of Jesus to whom it is dedicated, describes the fate of the Mexican-born member of the Franciscan order who was martyred in Japan in 1597.  As the hymn describes, Philip was on a ship on his way to Mexico from Manila when a storm blew the ship off course.  He ended up in Japan, where he and his shipmates were arrested and eventually executed by the Japanese.  The engraving shows Philip with the cross framed by two spears and a rope dangling from his arm because he and his companions were bound upon crosses and then pierced with spears until they died.  Philip is known as the patron saint of Mexico City.

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