Lorenzo Ruiz

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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 Laurentius Ruiz of Manila
File:SanLaurentiusRuizdeManilaProtoMartirodeFilipinasPublication.jpg
Close- up of statue of Lorenzo Ruiz in procession, Santo Domingo Church, Quezon City
First Saint and Protomartyr of the Philippines
Bornca. 1600
Binondo, Manila, Philippines
DiedSeptember 29, 1637 (aged 36–37)
Nishizaka Hill, Nagasaki, Japan
Venerated inRoman Catholic Church
BeatifiedPhilippines 18 February 1981, Manila by Pope John Paul II
CanonizedVatican City 18 October 1987, Vatican City, Rome by Pope John Paul II
Major shrineBinondo Church, Binondo, Manila, Philippines
Feast28 September
Attributesrosary in clasped hands
PatronageThe Philippines, the poor, Overseas Filipino Workers, Filipinos, Filipino youth, Chinese-Filipinos, Filipino altar servers, Tagalogs, Archdiocese of Manila, Philippines.

Saint Lorenzo Ruiz (ca. 1600 – 29 September 1637), also known as Laurentius Ruiz de Manila[1] or San Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila, is the first Filipino saint venerated in the Roman Catholic Church; he is thus the protomartyr of the Philippines. He was killed for refusing to leave Japan and renounce his Roman Catholic beliefs during the persecution of Japanese Christians under the Tokugawa Shogunate in the 17th century.

Saint Lorenzo is patron saint of, among others, the Philippines and Filipinos.

Early life

Binondo Church, the main shrine of St. Lorenzo Ruiz

Lorenzo Ruiz was born in Binondo, Manila to a Chinese father and a Filipino mother who were both Catholic. His father taught him Chinese while his mother taught him Tagalog.[2][3][4][5]

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 Rosario, a native, and they had two sons and a daughter. The Ruiz family lead a generally peaceful, religious and content life.

In 1636, whilst working as a clerk for Binondo Church, Ruiz was falsely accused of killing a Spaniard. 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 lay leper Saint Lazaro of Kyoto. Ruiz and his companions left for Okinawa on 10 June 1636, with the aid of the Dominican fathers and Fr Giovanni Yago.[2][3][4][5]

Martyrdom

File:Lorenzojf.JPG
Image of Ruiz, Convent of St James the Apostle Parish, Plaridel, Bulacan.
File:Portrait of Lorenzo Ruiz in San Carlos Seminary.jpg
A painting of Ruiz in the stairway of San Carlos Seminary, Makati City.

The Tokugawa shogunate was persecuting Christians by the time Ruiz had arrived in Japan. The missionaries were arrested and thrown into prison, and after two years, they were transferred to Nagasaki to face trial by torture. He and his companions faced different types of torture. One of these was the insertion of needles inside their fingernails.

On 27 September 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 was bound, one hand is always left free so that victims may be able to signal that they recanted, and they would be freed. Ruiz refused to renounce Christianity and died from blood loss and suffocation. His body was cremated and his ashes thrown into the sea.[2][3][4][5]

According to Latin missionary accounts sent back to Manila, Ruiz declared these words upon his death:

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

In English this may be rendered:

"I am a Catholic and wholeheartedly do accept death for the Lord; If I had a thousand lives, all these I shall offer to Him."

This may be reconstructed into Tagalog or Filipino as:

"Isa akong Katoliko at buong-pusong tinatanggap ang kamatayan para sa Panginoon. Kung ako man ay may isanlibong buhay, lahat ng iyon ay iaalay ko sa Kanya."

Path to sainthood

Cause of beatification and canonization

The Positio Super Introductione Causae or the cause of beatification of St. Lorenzo Ruiz was authored by respected historian, Fr. Fidel Villarroel, O.P., which led to his beatification during Pope John Paul II's papal visit to the Philippines.[6][7][8] It was the first beatification ceremony to be held outside the Vatican in history. San Lorenzo Ruiz was canonized by the same pope in Vatican City on 18 October 1987, making him the first Filipino saint.[2][3][4][5]

Miracle

The miracle that led to his canonization took place in 1983, when Cecilia Alegria Policarpio, a 2-year-old girl suffering brain atrophy (hydrocephalus) was cured through the intercession of the family and supporters to Lorenzo Ruiz. She was diagnosed shortly after her birth and was treated at Magsaysay Medical Center.[9]

Places and things named after Lorenzo Ruiz

Other tributes to Saint Lorenzo

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.[11]

On 28 September 2007, the Catholic Church celebrated the 20th anniversary of Ruiz's canonization. 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).”[12]

In popular culture

Several films have been made about Lorenzo Ruiz:

Also the school San Lorenzo Ruiz elementary school in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada was named after Lorenzo.

Books about San Lorenzo Ruiz

See also

External links

References

  1. ^ http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20020527_saints-jp-ii_it.html
  2. ^ a b c d "Visit of Her Excellency President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to Participate in the 2005 World Summit - High Level plenary session of the 60th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, New York, United States of America, 12–15 September 2005", Press Kit, Office of the President, Government Mass Media Group, Bureau of Communications Services, Manila, September, 2005.
  3. ^ a b c d Filipino Apostolate/Archdiocese of New York, Chapel of San Lorenzo Ruiz, ChapelofSanLorenzoRuiz.org, retrieved on: 9 June 2007
  4. ^ a b c d Saint Lorenzo Ruiz at Patron Saints Index, retrieved on: 10 June 2007
  5. ^ a b c d Religion-Cults.com Dominguez, J, M.D., September 28: Saints of the Day, Saint Lorenzo Ruiz and Companions, 1600-1637, Religion-Cults.com, retrieved on: 10 June 2007
  6. ^ http://azheepineda.skyrock.com/2743815476-UST-Archives-director-Fr-Fidel-Villarroel-O-P-Master-key-to-UST-s-past.html
  7. ^ http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/32045/2-volume-ust-history-charts-evolution-of-higher-education-in-the-philippines
  8. ^ http://www.varsitarian.net/witness/20100326/ust_historian_named_master_of_theology
  9. ^ thepinoycatholic.blogspot.com on St. Lorenzo Ruiz
  10. ^ Saint Lorenzo Parish Community
  11. ^ image of St. Lorenzo Ruiz in the Communion of Saints Tapestries
  12. ^ Inquirer.net, Church marks 20th anniversary of Lorenzo Ruiz sainthood

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