St. Raymond Li-Ts'Uan. September 28

St. Raymond Li-Ts'Uan

Feastday: September 28

Canonized: Pope John Paul II

 

Chinese Martyr

Chinese Martyrs is the name given to a number of members of the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church who were killed in China during the 19th and early 20th centuries. They are celebrated as martyrs by their respective churches. Most were Chinese laity, but others were missionaries from various other countries; many of them died during the Boxer Rebellion.

Contents

• 1 Eastern Orthodox

• 2 Roman Catholic

• 3 Protestant

• 4 See also

• 5 References

• 6 Further reading

• 7 External links

Eastern Orthodox

See also: Metrophanes, Chi Sung

The Eastern Orthodox Church recognizes 222 Orthodox Christians who died during the Boxer Rebellion as "Holy Martyrs of China". On the evening of June 11, 1900 leaflets were posted in the streets, calling for the massacre of the Christians and threatening anyone who would dare to shelter them with death.[2]

They were mostly members of the Chinese Orthodox Church, which had been under the guidance of the Russian Orthodox since the 17th century and maintained close relations with them, especially in the large Russian community in Harbin. They are called new-martyrs, as they died under a modern regime. The first of these martyrs was Metrophanes, Chi Sung, leader of the Peking Mission, was killed, along with his family, during the Boxer Rebellion. All told, 222 members of the Peking Mission died.[3]

Roman Catholic

See also: Martyr Saints of China

The Roman Catholic Church recognizes 120 Catholics who died between 1648 and 1930 as its "Martyr Saints of China". They were canonized by Pope John Paul II on 1 October 2000. Of the group, 87 were Chinese laypeople and 33 were missionaries; 86 died during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900.[4] The Chinese Martyrs Catholic Church in Toronto, Ontario is named for them.

Protestant

See also: China Martyrs of 1900

Many Protestants also died during the Boxer Rebellion, including the "China Martyrs of 1900", but there is no formal veneration (according to their religious beliefs) nor a universally recognized list.

At least 189 missionaries and 500 native Chinese Protestant Christians were murdered in 1900 alone.[5] Though some missionaries considered themselves non-denominationally Protestant, among those killed were Baptists, Evangelical,[6] Anglicans, Lutherans,[7] Methodists,[8] Presbyterians[9] and Plymouth Brethren.

Bl. Peter Kufioji. September 28

Bl. Peter Kufioji

Feastday: September 28

Death: 1630

Martyr in Japan. A native Japanese, he joined the Augustinians as a tertiary. At the time of the persecution of Christians by the Japanese government, he was arrested and beheaded at Nagasaki for giving aid and shelter to Augustinian missionaries.

St. Paternus. September 28

St. Paternus

Feastday: September 28

Death: 150

Bishop of Auch, France. He was born in Bilbao, Spain.

Bl. Michael Kinoshi. September 28

Bl. Michael Kinoshi

Feastday: September 28

Death: 1630

Martyr of Japan, beheaded at Nagasaki for sheltering Catholic missionaries. Michael, who was beatified in 1867, was an Augustinian tertiary.

St. Martial. September 28

St. Martial

Feastday: September 28

Martyr with Lawrence and companions. Twenty-two died in an African province in modern Algeria.

St. Mark. September 28

St. Mark

Feastday: September 28

Martyr of Antioch, in Pisidia, with Alexander, Alphius, Zosimus, Nicon, Neon, Heliodorus, and thirty soldiers. Mark was a shepherd and his non-military companions were his brothers.

Bl. Marina de Omura. September 28

Bl. Marina de Omura

Feastday: September 28

Death: 1634

Beatified: Pope John Paul II

Marina de Omura was a Dominican and a Martyr.

Bl. Magdalena of Nagasaki September 28

Bl. Magdalena of Nagasaki

Feastday: September 28

Patron: of Secular Augustinian Recollects

Birth: 1611

Death: 1634

Beatified: Pope John Paul II

 

Saint Magdalene of Nagasaki was born in 1611 as the daughter of a Christian couple martyred about 1620. With the arrival of the Augustinian Order, Magdalene served as an Augustinian lay sister or tertiary, interpreter and catechist for Fathers Francis of Jesus Terrero and Vincent of Saint Anthony Simoens.

 

Magdalene of Nagasaki (Basilica of San Sebastian, Manila)

Saint Magdalene of Nagasaki (長崎のマグダレナ, Nagasaki no Magudarena) was a Japanese Christian born in 1611 as the daughter of a Christian couple martyred about 1620. With the arrival of the Augustinian Order, Magdalene served as an Augustinian lay sister or tertiary, interpreter and catechist for Fathers Francis of Jesus Terrero and Vincent of Saint Anthony Simoens.

In 1632, these two Augustinian friars, who had been her spiritual counselors, were burned alive. After the martyrdom of her counselors, she apprenticed herself to two other Augustinians, Fathers Melchior of Saint Augustine and Martin of Saint Nicholas. When these two friars were also put to death, she turned to Father Giordano Ansaloni de San Esteban, a Dominican.

Some time later, and attired in her Augustinian habit, Magdalene turned herself into the authorities and declared herself a follower of Jesus Christ. At age 23, she died on October 15, 1634 after thirteen days of torture, suffocated to death and suspended upside down in a pit of offal on a gibbet (tsurushi).

After death, her body was cremated and her ashes scattered in Nagasaki Bay.

She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on February 18, 1981 in Manila, and canonized on October 18, 1987 at Vatican City among the 16 Martyrs of Japan.

Depiction

Though the official picture of Magdalene of Nagasaki shows her wearing an Augustinian habit while holding a palm leaf in her hands and carrying a bag through her elbow, another depiction of her is used by the Dominicans for their own devotion. Instead of the black habit, she is shown wearing a kimono while holding a cross in her hands. One sculpture of her shows that she wears a veil with a crown or halo on her head. More depictions show the differences of her picture such as holding a palm leaf and rosary in separate hands.

St. Machan. September 28

St. Machan

Feastday: September 28

Scottish saint educated in Ireland. Machan was ordained as a bishop in Rome. Details of his labors are not available.

Bl. Lawrence Shizu. September 28

Bl. Lawrence Shizu

Feastday: September 28

Death: 1630

Martyr of Japan. A native Augustinian tertiary, he was arrested for sheltering priests and was beheaded at Nagasaki, Japan. Lawrence was beatified in 1867.

St. Lorenzo Ruiz. September 28

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:

St. John Kokumbuko. September 28

St. John Kokumbuko

Feastday: September 28

Death: 1630

Martyr of Japan, and an Augustinian tertiary. A catechist, he was arrested and beheaded at Nagasaki, receiving beatification in 1867.

St. John of Dukla. September 28

St. John of Dukla

Feastday: September 28

Patron: of Poland and Lithuania

Birth: 1414

Death: 1484

Beatified: January 23, 1733 by Pope Clement XII

Canonized: Pope John Paul II

 

John of Dukla is a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. He is one of the patron saints of Poland and Lithuania.

John of Dukla (also called "Jan of Dukla") is a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. He is one of the patron saints of Poland and Lithuania.[1]

Biography

John was born in Dukla, Poland, in 1414. He joined the Friars Minor Conventual,[2] and studied at Krakow. After being ordained, he preached in Lwów (then part of Poland), Moldavia, and Belerus; and was superior of Lwów. He may have joined the Observants at a time when efforts were being made to unite the two branches of the Franciscans.[3]

Though he went blind at age seventy,[3] he was able to prepare sermons with the help of an aide. His preaching was credited with bringing people back to the Church in his province.[2] Soon after his death, there was an immediate veneration at his tomb and several miracles were attributed to him.

He died in 1484 in Lwów, Poland. On June 10, 1997, he was canonized by Pope John Paul II in a mass at Krosno, Poland, before approximately one million people.[3][4]

Bl. Jacobo Kyushei Gorobioye Tomonaga September 28

Bl. Jacobo Kyushei Gorobioye Tomonaga

Feastday: September 28

Birth: 1582

Death: 1633

Beatified: 18 February 1981, Manila, Philippines by Pope John Paul II

Canonized: 18 October 1987, St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City by Pope John Paul II

 

Saint Fr. Jacobo Kyushei Gorobioye Tomonaga de Santa María (c. 1582 - August 17, 1633) was born in Kyudetsu, Japan. In his youth, he dedicated himself to the catechism apostolate. After 1614, he came to Manila and, aspiring to greater perfection, he besought reception into the Dominican Order. His request was granted. Ordained priest in 1626 he returned to his native country in 1632, risking his life for the service of God and the conversion of souls. After one year of difficult apostolate in the midst of dangers, privations and sufferings, his hiding place was discovered by the authorities through the revelations of his own catechist, Miguel Kurobioye. Arrested in July 1633, he was put to the torture of the gallows and the pit on August 15, 1633; expiring after two days of agony. His body was cremated and the ashes thrown into the sea.

Saint Fr. Jacobo Kyushei Gorobioye Tomonaga de Santa María (Japanese: ヤコボ・デ・サンタ・マリア朝長五郎兵衛, Yakobo de Santa Maria Tomonaga Gorōbyōe; c. 1582 – August 17, 1633) was a Japanese Dominican priest. He composed one of the first modern Japanese dictionaries.[1]

Life

Jacobo Kyushei Gorobioye Tomonaga was born of a noble Christian family in Kuidetsu (part of modern Ōmura, Nagasaki), Japan. In his youth, he studied with the Jesuits and became a catechist. After 1614, he came to Manila and became a Franciscan tertiary. He then sought admission to the Dominican Order and was accepted. He was ordained a priest in 1626 and sent to the island of Formosa (Taiwan). He returned to Manila in 1630.[2]

He returned to Japan in 1632 as a missionary.[3] He served to spread Catholism during the period of Christians persecution.[4]

After returning to Japan he spent very difficult years of hunger, his life was at risk and he was continually in hiding. In July 1633 his hiding place was uncovered by the authorities with the help of the traitor Matthew Kohioye, who was his own catechist, he was caught and put into prison. There he was tortured by gallows and thrown into a pit on 15 August 1633. In two days he was dead. His body was not buried but burnt and thrown into the sea.[5]

Jacobo Kyushei Tomonaga was declared Venerable on 11 October 1980 by Pope John Paul II (decree of martyrdom), was beatified on 18 February 1981 in Manila, Philippines by Pope John Paul II.[4] His canonization was on 18 October 1987 in St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City by Pope John Paul II.

St. Faustus of Riez. September 28

St. Faustus of Riez

Feastday: September 28

Death: 490

Bishop of Riez, France, from 459, a very influential opponent of the Arian and Pelagian heresies. He was born in Brittany, France, and was possibly a lawyer by training. He served as abbot of Lerins and then was made bishop in 452. Faustus was revered as a Christian writer. He was driven into exile by the Visigoth King Euric, returning to Riez when Euric died.

Saint Faustus of Riez was an early Bishop of Riez (Rhegium) in Southern Gaul (Provence), the best known and most distinguished defender of Semipelagianism.

Contents

• 1 Biography

• 2 Works and theological position

• 3 Notes

• 4 Sources

• 5 External links

Biography

Faustus was born between 405 and 410, and according to his contemporaries, Avitus of Vienne and Sidonius Apollinaris, in the island of Britain; although Sabine Baring-Gould says Brittany is more probable. In his youth he was devoted to the study of elocution and Christian philosophy.[1] He is thought by some to have been a lawyer but owing to the influence of his mother, famed for her sanctity, he abandoned secular pursuits as a young man and entered the monastery of Lérins. Here he was soon ordained to the priesthood and after about eight years, because of his extraordinary piety was chosen in 432 to be head of the monastery, in succession to Maximus who had become Bishop of Riez. His career as abbot lasted about twenty or twenty-five years during which he attained a high reputation for his wonderful gifts as an extempore preacher and for his stern asceticism.[2]

After the death of Maximus he became Bishop of Riez. This elevation did not make any change in his manner of life; he continued his ascetic practices, and frequently returned to the monastery of Lérins to renew his fervour. He was a zealous advocate of monasticism and established many monasteries in his diocese. In spite of his activity in the discharge of his duties as bishop, he participated in all the theological discussions of his time and became known as a stern opponent of Arianism in all its forms. For this, and as is said for his view, stated below, of the corporeity of the human soul, he incurred the enmity of the Arian Euric, King of the Visigoths, who had gained possession of a large portion of Southern Gaul, and was banished from his see. His exile lasted eight years, during which time he was aided by loyal friends. On the death of Euric he resumed his labours at the head of his diocese and continued there until his death between 490 and 495.[2]

His own diocesan flock considered him a saint and erected a basilica in his honour.

Works and theological position

Throughout his life Faustus was an uncompromising adversary of Pelagius, whom he styled Pestifer 'plague bringer', and equally decided in his opposition to the doctrine of predestination which he styled "erroneous, blasphemous, heathen, fatalistic, and conducive to immorality". This doctrine in its strongest form had been expounded by a presbyter named Lucidus and was condemned by two synods, at Arles and Lyons (475). At the request of the bishops who composed these synods, and especially Leontius of Arles, Faustus wrote the Libri duo de Gratia Dei et humanae mentis libero arbitrio, in which he argued against the doctrines of the Predestinarians as well as those of Pelagius (P.L., LVIII, 783). The work was marked by Semipelagianism, and for several years was bitterly attacked. It was condemned by the Second Synod of Orange in 529 (Denzinger, Enchiridion, Freiburg, 1908, no. 174 sqq. - old no. 144; PL.L., XLV, 1785; Mansi, VIII, 712). Faustus maintained that the human soul is in a certain sense corporeal, God alone being a pure spirit. The opposition to Faustus was not fully developed in his lifetime and he died with a well-merited reputation for sanctity.[2]

Faustus wrote also: "Libri duo de Spiritu Sancto" (P.L., LXII, 9), wrongly ascribed to the Roman deacon Paschasius. His "Libellus parvus adversus Arianos et Macedonianos", mentioned by Genadius, seems to have perished.

His feast day is 28 September.[3]