Lorenzo Ruiz

Saint

Lorenzo of Manila

TOSD
Ruiz on a stained-glass window in Cubao Cathedral
Martyr
Born(1594-11-28)November 28, 1594
Binondo, Captaincy General of the Philippines, Spanish Empire
DiedSeptember 29, 1637(1637-09-29) (aged 42)
Nagasaki, Hizen Province, Tokugawa Shogunate
Cause of deathTsurushi
Venerated inCatholic Church
BeatifiedFebruary 18, 1981, Rizal Park, Manila, Philippines by Pope John Paul II
CanonizedOctober 18, 1987, Vatican City by Pope John Paul II
Major shrine Minor Basilica and National Shrine of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz, Binondo, Manila, Philippines
Feast28 September
AttributesRosary in clasped hands, gallows and pit, barong tagalog or camisa de chino and black trousers, cross, palm of martyrdom
PatronageThe Philippines, Filipinos, Overseas Filipino Workers and migrant workers, immigrants, the poor, separated families, Filipino youth, Chinese-Filipinos, Filipino Altar servers, Tagalogs, Archdiocese of Manila.
Lorenzo Ruiz
Traditional Chinese李樂倫
Simplified Chinese李乐伦
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinLǐ Yuèlún
Yue: Cantonese
JyutpingLei5 Ngok6leon4
Southern Min
Hokkien POJLí Ga̍k-lûn

Lorenzo Ruiz (Filipino: Lorenzo Ruiz ng Maynila; simplified Chinese: 李乐伦; traditional Chinese: 李樂倫; Spanish: Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila; 28 November 1594 – 29 September, 1637), also called Lorenzo of Manila, was a Filipino Catholic layman and a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic. A Chinese Filipino, he became his country's protomartyr after his execution in Japan by the Tokugawa shogunate during its persecution of Japanese Christians in the 17th century. Lorenzo Ruiz is the patron saint of, among others, the Philippines and the Filipino people.

Early life

Plaza San Lorenzo Ruiz and Binondo Church, the main shrine of San Lorenzo Ruiz

Lorenzo Ruiz was a Filipino born in Binondo, Manila, on 28 November 1594, to a Chinese father and a Tagalog mother who were both Catholic. His father taught him Chinese while his mother taught him Tagalog.

Lorenzo served as an altar boy at the Binondo Church. After being educated by the Dominican friars for a few years, Lorenzo earned the title of escribano (scrivener) because of his skillful penmanship. He became a member of the Cofradía del Santísimo Rosario (Confraternity of the Rosary). He married Rosario, a native, and they had two sons and a daughter. The Ruiz family led a generally peaceful, religious and content life.

In 1636, while working as a clerk for the Binondo Church, Lorenzo was falsely accused of killing a Spaniard. Lorenzo sought asylum on board a ship with three Dominican priests: Antonio Gonzalez, Guillermo Courtet, and Miguel de Aozaraza; a Japanese priest, Vicente Shiwozuka de la Cruz, and a lay leper, Lázaro of Kyoto. Lorenzo and his companions sailed for Okinawa on 10 June 1636, with the aid of the Dominican fathers.

Martyrdom

Depiction of tsurushi

The Tokugawa Shogunate was persecuting Christians because they feared that the Spanish invaded the Philippines through using religion by the time Lorenzo 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. The group endured many and various cruel methods of torture.

On 27 September 1637, Lorenzo and his companions were taken to Nishizaka Hill, where they were tortured by being hung upside-down over a pit and bled. He died two days later on 29 September 1637, aged 42. This form of torture was known as tsurushi in Japanese or horca y hoya ("gallows and pit") in Spanish. The method, alleged to have been extremely painful, had the victim bound; one hand was always left free so that the individual may signal their desire to recant, leading to their release. Despite his suffering, Lorenzo refused to renounce Christianity and died from eventual blood loss and suffocation. His last words were recorded as:

Latin: Ego Catholicus sum et animo prompto paratoque pro Deo mortem obibo. Si mille vitas haberem, cunctas ei offerrem.
("I am a Catholic and wholeheartedly do accept death for God; had I a thousand lives, all these to Him shall I offer.")

After his death, his body was cremated and the ashes thrown into the sea in Nagasaki to prevent other Christians from venerating his relics.

Veneration

Beatification process

The positio for the cause of beatification of Lorenzo Ruiz was written by Spanish historian Fidel Villarroel. The central document found to exhibit Ruiz's martyrdom was an eyewitness account by two Japanese former priests of the Society of Jesus, rediscovered by Villaroel at the Jesuit Generalate archive in Rome, an unlikely location as Ruiz was a tertiary of the Dominican order. Lorenzo was beatified during Pope John Paul II's papal visit to the Philippines in 1981, in the first beatification ceremony held outside the Vatican.

Canonization

A statue of San Lorenzo Ruiz enshrined at the Manila Cathedral

Lorenzo was canonized by Pope John Paul II on October 18, 1987 among the 16 Martyrs of Japan, making him the first Filipino saint. Ruiz's canonization was supported by miracle in October 1983, when Cecilia Alegria Policarpio of Calinog, Iloilo, was cured of brain atrophy at the age of two, after her family and supporters prayed to Lorenzo for his intercession. She was diagnosed with the condition shortly after birth and was treated at University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center. On 28 September, 2017, the 30th anniversary of Ruiz's canonization was celebrated in the Archdiocese of Manila.

Other tributes

Lorenzo Ruiz is included in American painter John Nava's Communion of Saints Tapestries, a depiction of 135 saints and blessed which hangs inside the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles. Ruiz is depicted with other saints in mosaic of the Trinity Dome of Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.

Film and theater

Books

Television

Educational institutions

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Asian Catholic Directory: List of Catholic Dioceses in Asia". Union of Catholic Asian News. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 Leonard Foley OFM, Saint of the Day, Lives, Lessons and Feast, (revised by Pat McCloskey OFM), Franciscan Media
  3. 1 2 3 "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.
  4. 1 2 3 Religion-Cults.com Dominguez, J, M.D., September 29: Saints of the Day, Saint Lorenzo Ruiz and Companions, 1600–1637, Religion-Cults.com, retrieved on: June 10, 2007
  5. 1 2 3 Filipino Apostolate/Archdiocese of New York, Chapel of San Lorenzo Ruiz, ChapelofSanLorenzoRuiz.org Archived 2008-11-20 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved on: June 9, 2007
  6. ↑ Carunungan, Celso Al. (June 26, 1987). "Sainthood at last!". Manila Standard. Standard Publications, Inc. p. 4. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  7. ↑ azheepineda (January 2, 2010). "UST Archives director Fidel Villarroel, OP: Master key to UST's past". Skyrock. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved April 30, 2012.
  8. ↑ "2-volume UST history charts evolution of higher education in the Philippines". inquirer.net. January 22, 2012.
  9. ↑ "UST historian named Master of Theology". The Varsitarian. March 25, 2010.
  10. ↑ The Pinoy Catholic (June 11, 2009). "The Pinoy Catholic: St. Lorenzo Ruiz". thepinoycatholic.blogspot.com.
  11. ↑ "Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels". olacathedral.org. Archived from the original on February 20, 2012. Retrieved January 16, 2009.
  12. ↑ Dimalanta, Ophelia Alcantara. Lorenzo Ruiz, Escribano: A Play in Two Acts. Manila: University of Santo Tomas Publishing House, 2002. pp. ii-iii. ISBN 971-506-178-8.
  13. ↑ Gomez, Jerome (February 11, 2002). "CD of literary readings captures passion, pitch and fervor of creation". Philippine Daily Inquirer. p. D6.