The Little Crown of the Japanese Martyrs

To be prayed on rosary beads:

a) On the Cross, acts of faith, hope and charity

b) On each of the small beads, "Sweet heart of Mary be my salvation; My Jesus, mercy!"

c) On the large beads, "Eternal Father, I offer thee the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ, in reparation for my sins and for the needs of Holy Mother Church."

This devotion gained particular popularity in Pontmain, France, after the apparition of the Virgin Mary in that city, under the title of "Our Lady of Hope." During the apparition, a nun named Sister Vitaline saw the children seers in a trance-like state, fell to her knees, and began praying the Little Crown of the Japanese Martyrs, since this devotion had been recently promulgated by the Pope.

The Little Crown of the Japanese Martyrs is recited to beg the protection of the Martyrs of Japan upon the Church (the true Church, that is), and for the conversion of Japan and its Far Eastern neighbors to the Holy Catholic Faith.  (Abbe M. Richard, What Happened At Pontmain, New Jersey: Ave Maria Institue, 1939; p. 64).  Perhaps it can be recited in place of the Divine Mercy chaplet--which sounds very similar to it, and which was condemned by pre-Vatican II popes--and to much greater effect.

A beautiful, full-scale replica of the Our Lady of Hope statue stands over the Bob Hope Memorial Garden at the San Fernando Mission in Los Angeles, California.  A large quake rattled this Mission on January 17, 1994, just as a large quake rattled the site of Tecla's martyrdom exactly one year later, on January 17, 1995.  Our Lady of Hope appeared at Pontmain on January 17, 1871 . . . after the town had been shook by an unprecedented earthquake. (John Bird, Where the Earth Ends and Heaven Begins, Essex: McCrimmons, 1999; p. 212)