St. Lorenzo Ruiz of Manila

  Posted on September 28, 2020  by admin  No comments

Born: c.1600 at Binondo, Manila, Philippines 

Died: 29-30 September 1637 at Nagasaki, Japan by being crushed over a period of three days while hanging upside down, body burned, ashes thrown into the Pacific Ocean

Venerated: in Catholic Church

Beatified: February 18, 1981, Manila, Philippines by Pope Saint John Paul II

Canonized: October 18, 1987, Vatican City by Pope Saint John Paul II

Major shrine: Binondo Church, Binondo, Manila, Philippines Feast 28 September

Patronage: The Philippines, Filipinos, Overseas Filipino Workers and migrant workers, immigrants, the poor, separated families, Filipino youth, Chinese-Filipinos, Filipino Altar servers, Tagalogs, Archdiocese of Manila.

Feast day: 28 September

Born to a Chinese father and Filipino mother, both Christians, Lorenzo learned Chinese and Tagalog at home, Spanish from the Dominicans whom he served as altar boy and sacristan. Professional calligrapher and document transcriptionist. Member of the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary. Married layman, and the father of two sons and a daughter. 

For unclear reasons, Lorenzo was accused of murder. He sought asylum on board ship with three Dominican priests, Saint Antonio Gonzalez, Saint Guillermo Courtet, and Saint Miguel de Aozaraza, a Japanese priest, Saint Vicente Shiwozuka de la Cruz, and a layman named Saint Lazaro of Kyoto, a leper. Only when they were at sea did he learn that they were going to Japan during a time of intense Christian persecution. 

Lorenzo could have gone to Formosa (modern Taiwan), but feared the Spaniards there would hang him, and so stayed with the missionaries as they landed at Okinawa. The group was soon exposed as Christian, arrested, and taken to Nagasaki, Japan. They were tortured in several ways for days. Lawrence and the Japanese priest broke at one point, and were ready to renounce their faith in exchange for release, but after heir moment of crisis, they reclaimed their faith and defied their tormentors. First canonized Filipino martyr.