This September, my book club is reading A Song For Nagasaki by Paul Glynn, S.M. The book is a fascinating  biography of the Japanese Catholic convert, scientist, and writer, Takashi Nagai. I had previously read the book in college and I looked forward to revisiting it.  I remembered being moved by the descriptions of Nagai’s heroic faith and radical forgiveness in the face of the horrific suffering caused by the atomic bomb.  This time, however, I found myself focusing on Nagai’s relationship with his wife, Midori Moriyama.  Their lives beautifully illustrate the spiritual fruitfulness of Christian marital love.  In a sacramental marriage, each spouse is given the opportunity to unite his or her earthly love with Christ’s eternal love, and, in doing so, to uplift the other towards Jesus.  In particular, Midori’s witness of love and sacrifice was transformational in Nagai’s journey of faith and holiness.  

When Nagai first met Midori, he was a young medical student at Nagasaki University.  Inspired by the writings of Pascal and Zen Buddhism, he wanted to be a seeker of truth and wisdom. Despite this desire, he found himself mired in the atheist materialism of his university professors, his bouts of drunkenness, and his visits to brothels.  Reading Nagai’s own account of that time, you can feel his  frustration and self-hatred. For many years, he endlessly teetered on the edge of belief.  He was attracted to the asceticism of the monk-poets, but unable to renounce his worldly lifestyle.  He was drawn to the beauties of Catholic liturgy and art, but he felt unable to pray or to make any commitment to a faith. 

Midori, on the other hand, was a member of Nagasaki’s Catholic community and a recipient of the belief of generations of Japan’s “Hidden Christians.”  Her faith was integral to her identity, and she was devoted to prayer, especially the rosary.  When Nagai was conscripted and sent to fight in China, Midori presented him with a hand-knitted sweater and promised to pray everyday for him.  Although he was still unable to believe in God, Nagai was able to believe in this promise.  The thought of her prayers sustained Nagai throughout his deployment. Her witness of chaste love and devotion gave him the strength to avoid the temptations of saki and prostitutes.  It was the hope of marriage to her that finally gave him the resolve to commit himself and seek formal instruction in the Catholic faith, and ultimately, and baptism.

Perhaps because of the overindulgences of Hollywood or our modern cynicism, it is easy to overlook the spiritual significance of the role of love in a marriage. Being in love (true love, not infatuation) means seeing beyond trivial accidents and past mistakes and truly beholding the other in their unique individuality. In a Christian marriage, we are able to see the other with the eyes of love for what he or she is – a precious soul, made in the image of God and infinitely loved by Jesus Christ (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 355). This reality gives an incredible dignity to the person we love. Because this love is joined with the love of Christ through the sacrament of marriage, it can foster spiritual growth in the other. Nagai’s life after his marriage is a testimony to the fruitfulness of this witness of love. 

Through the eyes of love, Midori was able to see Nagai for who he truly was – a good man who desired truth and whose work in radiology demonstrated his willingness to sacrifice himself for others – and to remind him of this.  Nagai was, quite literally, carried by the love of his wife.  The biography recounts an episode when Nagai became disabled by an attack of asthma while returning on foot from a charitable medical call in the dead of winter. He would have certainly died if Midori had not come looking for him, hoisted him on her back, and brought him through the snow to safety. 

This love, united to Christ’s love through marriage, transformed Nagai. His life became remarkable for his deep faith and devotion to charity. Inspired by her, he was able to face terrible suffering, including the loss of his father, his two children, and a terminal cancer diagnosis. She reminded him that “if our lives are spent for the glory of God, then life and death are beautiful.” (A Song For Nagasaki, 148) Nagai wrote that his wife’s love liberated him from the effects of suffering and enabled him to experience peace and joy in the midst of the darkness. Even after Midori was killed in the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Nagai continued to be transformed by her witness of love and faith. Inspired by her holy death, Nagai spent the remainder of his life encouraging his fellow Japanese to embrace forgiveness and redemptive suffering. In 2021, both Nagai and Midori were recognized as Servants of God. 

Nagai and Midori’s marriage is a beautiful witness to the transformational power of the graces that can flow from married love. Couples carrying the cross of infertility often focus on their marriage’s lack of children. This focus can lead to the belief that their marriage is somehow lesser. It is important to remember that, while children are a great gift, the marriage itself is the sacrament. And, because of this, loving one’s spouse can become an act of divine service which results in spiritual fruit and consolation. 

Claire Jackson lives with her husband in Wilmington, Delaware.