Today, September 28, is the feast of St. Lorenzo Ruiz and Companion Martyrs.
Filipinos observe this day with Masses and fiestas. At the Good Shepherd Convent in Quezon City, Mass was celebrated to mark this feast of the Filipino saint and his companions. Presider was Piarist priest, Fr. Fernando Guillen, who also prayed for the victims of the devastating typhoon Pedring.
Lorenzo Ruiz was born in Binondo, Manila between 1600 to 1610. His father was Chinese and his mother was native Tagalog. During his youth he was an altar boy, sarcistan at Binondo convent. He was educated by the Dominican Fathers and was their escribano because of his skillful hand and unsurpassed penmanship.It is believed that he left the Philippines because the Spaniards believed he had commi
tted a crime against them.He left the Philippines on 10 June 1636 with the aid of the Dominican Fathers and Sr. Domingo Gonzales.In Japan, Christians were persecuted and put to death. St. Lorenzo Ruiz together with
his imprisoned companions were captured and brought to Nagasaki. There they suffered incredible torture as they were hung by their feet and submerged in water till they neared death.
Photo: Image of San Lorenzo Ruiz with the statue of Our Lady, Mother of the Eucharist and Grace. Novena to Our Lady began September 20.
On 27 September 1637 he was taken with his companions to the "Mountain of Martyrs". He was hung upside down into a pit in what was called a 'horca y hoya'. This was the most painful way to die in those times and involved using rocks to add weight to the person so that the person suffocates faster and is crushed from their own and added weight. After two days he died from bleeding and suffocation. His body was cremated and his ashes were thrown into the sea. He always professed his love and faith in God.?
He was asked to renounce his faith, to which he replied: "That I shall never do, because I am a Christian and I shall die for God, and for Him I will give many thousands of lives if I had them.”
Lorenzo Ruiz and Companion Martyrs were beatified by Pope John Paul II during his papal visit to Manila on 18 February 1981. St. Lorenzo Ruiz was elevated to sainthood and received canonization on 18 October 1987 by His Holiness Pope John Paul II in Vatican City, Rome. 1987 was observed by the Catholic Church as Year of the Laity.
St. Lorenzo Ruiz was a layman, with two sons and a daughter. He is recognized as the first Filipino Saint and Martyr.
(RK)