St. Lorenzo Ruiz
Feastday: September 28
Patron: of Filipino youth, Chinese-Filipinos, the Philippines, Overseas Filipino Workers, people living in poverty, Filipino altar servers
Birth: 1600
Death: 1637
Martyr of Japan with Michael Aozaraza, Anthony Gonzales, William Cowtet, Vincent Shiwozuka, and Lazarus. Lawrence was born in Manila, the Philippines. He and his companions were tortured and slain on Okinawa. They were beatified by John Paul II in 1981 and canonized in 1987.
For the municipality in the Philippines, see San Lorenzo Ruiz, Camarines Norte. For the school in the Philippines, see Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila School.
Lorenzo Ruiz (Filipino: Lorenzo Ruiz ng Maynila; Spanish: Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila; Latin: Laurentius Ruiz Manilensis; 28 November 1594 – 29 September 1637), also called Saint Lorenzo of Manila, is a Filipino saint venerated in the Catholic Church. 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 is the patron saint of, among others, the Philippines and the Filipino people.
Contents
• 1 Early life
• 2 Martyrdom
• 3 Veneration
o 3.1 Cause of beatification and canonization
3.1.1 Miracle
• 4 Places and things named after Lorenzo Ruiz
o 4.1 In the Philippines
4.1.1 Places
o 4.2 Churches
o 4.3 Educational institutions
4.3.1 Other
o 4.4 Elsewhere
4.4.1 Churches
4.4.2 Educational institutions
4.4.3 Other
• 5 Other tributes
• 6 In popular culture
o 6.1 Film and theatre
o 6.2 Books
o 6.3 Television
• 7 See also
• 8 References
• 9 External links
Early life
Binondo Church, the main shrine of St Lorenzo Ruiz
Lorenzo Ruiz was born in Binondo, Manila, on 28 November 1594 to a Chinese father and a Filipino mother who were both Catholic. His father taught him Chinese while his mother taught him Tagalog.[1][2]
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 Cofradia del Santísimo Rosario (Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary). He married Rosario, a native, and they had two sons and a daughter.[3] The Ruiz family led a generally peaceful, religious and content life.
In 1636, whilst 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.[1][2][4]
Martyrdom
Saint Lorenzo Ruiz, with a red sash indicating his status as a martyr, in the convento of St James the Apostle Parish, Plaridel, Bulacan.
Depiction of tsurushi.
The Tokugawa Shogunate was persecuting Christians 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.[3]
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. He died two days later on 29 September 1637, aged 42. This form of torture was known as tsurushi (釣殺し) 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 body was cremated, with the ashes thrown into the sea.[1][2][4]
According to Latin missionary accounts sent back to Manila, Lorenzo declared these words upon his death:
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