Lorenzo Ruiz

For the municipality in the Philippines, see San Lorenzo Ruiz, Camarines Norte. For the school in the Philippines, see Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila School.

Saint Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila
San Laurentius Ruiz de Manila
First Saint and Protomartyr of the Philippines
Born	c. 1600 Binondo, Manila, Captaincy General of the Philippines, Spanish Empire
Died	29 September 1637 (age 37-38) Nagasaki, Japan
Honored in	Roman Catholic Church
Beatified	18 February 1981, Manila by Pope John Paul II
Canonized	18 October 1987, Vatican City, Rome by Pope John Paul II
Major shrine	Binondo Church, Binondo, Manila, Philippines
Feast	28 September
Attributes	rosary in clasped hands
Patronage	Filipino youth, Chinese-Filipinos, the Philippines, Overseas Filipino Workers, people living in poverty, Filipino altar servers

Saint Lorenzo Ruiz (c. 1600 – September 29, 1637), also known as San Laurentius Ruiz de Manila or San Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila, is the first Filipino saint (protomartyr) venerated in the Roman Catholic Church. He was martyred during persecution of Japanese Christians under the Tokugawa Shogunate in the 17th century for declining to leave Japan and refusal to renounce his Roman Catholic beliefs.

Early life

Binondo Church is the major shrine of St. Lorenzo Ruiz

Lorenzo Ruiz was born in Binondo, Manila, of a Chinese father and a Filipino mother. His father taught him Chinese while his mother taught him Tagalog. Both of his parents were Roman Catholics.

Ruiz served as an altar boy at the convent of Binondo church. After being educated by the Dominican friars for a few years, Ruiz earned the title of escribano (calligrapher) because of his skillful penmanship. He became a member of the Cofradia del Santissimo Rosario (Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary). He married and had two sons and a daughter with Rosario, a native. Life for them was generally peaceful, religious and full of contentment.

In 1636, while working as a clerk at the Binondo Church, Ruiz was falsely accused of killing a Spaniard. Due to the allegation, Ruiz sought asylum on board a ship with three Dominican priests: Saint Antonio Gonzalez; Saint Guillermo Courtet; Saint Miguel de Aozaraza, a Japanese priest; Saint Vicente Shiwozuka de la Cruz; and a layman named Saint Lazaro of Kyoto, a leper. Ruiz and his companions left for Okinawa, Japan on June 10, 1636, with the aid of the Dominican fathers and Fr. Giovanni Yago.

Martyrdom

A painting of San Lorenzo Ruiz at the stairway of San Carlos Seminary, Makati City, Philippines.

The Tokugawa shogunate was persecuting Christians by the time Ruiz had arrived in Japan. The missionaries were arrested and thrown into prison. After two years, they were transferred to Nagasaki to face trial by torture.

On September 27, 1637, Ruiz and his companions were taken to the Nishizaka Hill, where they were tortured by being hung upside down a pit. This form of torture was known as tsurushi (釣殺し) in Japanese or horca y hoya in Spanish. The method was supposed to be extremely painful. Though the victim is bound, one hand is always left free so that victims may be able to signal a recantation of beliefs. In such cases, they would be freed. Ruiz refused to renounce Christianity and died from blood loss and suffocation. His body was cremated and his ashes were thrown into the sea.

According to early records on Filipino Cathecism, Lorenzo declared these words upon his death:

“

Ego Catholicus sum et animo prompto paratoque pro Deo mortem obibo. Si mille vitas haberem, cunctas ei offerrem.

”

English: "I am a Catholic and wholeheartedly accept death for the Lord; if I have a thousand lives, all of them I will offer to Him."

Tagalog: "Isa akong Katoliko at buong pusong tinatanggap ang kamatayan para sa Panginoon, kung ako man ay may sanlibong buhay, lahat ng iyon ay iaalay ko sa Kaniya."

Path to sainthood

Image of San Lorenzo Ruiz and Companions, by Lourdes Santos (1981).

Lorenzo Ruiz was beatified in Manila on February 18, 1981, by Pope John Paul II during his papal visit to Manila, the first beatification ceremony held outside the Vatican. San Lorenzo Ruiz was canonized by Pope John Paul II in the Vatican City, Rome, on October 18, 1987, making him the first Filipino saint and the first Filipino martyr.

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels

St. Lorenzo Ruiz's image is included among the images by John Nava of 135 saints and blessed from around the world in the Communion of Saints Tapestries which hangs inside the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles.

20th anniversary

On September 28, 2007, the Catholic Church celebrated the 20th anniversary of Ruiz’ canonization in 1987. Manila Cardinal Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales said: “Kahit saan nandoon ang mga Pilipino, ang katapatan sa Diyos ay dala-dala ng Pinoy (Wherever the Filipinos may be, they bring with them their loyalty to God).”

See also

• Kakure Kirishitan
• Chapel of San Lorenzo Ruiz, New York
• Martyrs of Japan
• Jeronima de la Asuncion
• Pontificio Collegio Filippino
• Three Fertility Saints of Obando, Bulacan, Philippines
• Martha de San Bernardo, the first Filipino nun
• Antonio C. Delgado, Philippine Ambassador to The Vatican
• Colegio de San Lorenzo

Books about San Lorenzo Ruiz

• Carunungan, Celso Al. To Die a Thousand Deaths: A Novel on the Life and Times of Lorenzo Ruiz, Social Studies Publications, Metro Manila, Philippines, 1980, 198 pages and Amazon.co.uk
• Delgado, Antonio C. The Making of The First Filipino Saint, The Ala-Ala Foundation, 1982

External links

• Saint Lorenzo Parish Community, Walnut, California, StLorenzo.org
• Cause for Beatification
• Mosaic in Saint Peter's Basilica
• St. Lorenzo Ruiz in the Communion of Saints Tapestries
• St. Lorenzo Ruiz Prayer in times of adversity. Translated into Spanish by José Tlatelpas, traditional version in English and Tagalog. Published in the Canadian Hispanic webzine "La Guirnalda Polar".
• Lorenzo Ruiz at Find a Grave