Feastday: September 28
Death: 1637
Beatified: Pope John Paul II
Dominician Priest and Martyr
For other uses, see Lorenzo Ruiz (disambiguation).
Lorenzo Ruiz (Filipino: Lorenzo Ruiz ng Maynila; Chinese: 李樂倫; Spanish: Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila; November 28, 1594 – September 29, 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 Ruiz is the patron saint of, among others, the Philippines and the Filipino people.
Early life
Binondo Church, the main shrine of San 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.
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 Most Holy 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, 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.
Martyrdom
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.
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.
According to Latin missionary accounts sent back to Manila, 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.
(I am a Catholic and wholeheartedly do accept death for God;
Had I a thousand lives, all these to Him shall I offer.)
Veneration
Cause of beatification and canonization
The Positio Super Introductione Causae or 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 ex-priests from the Society of Jesus, rediscovered by Villaroel at the Jesuit Generalate archive in Rome, an unlikely location as Ruiz was of the Dominican order. Lorenzo was beatified during Pope John Paul II's papal visit to the Philippines in 1981. It was the first beatification ceremony to be held outside the Vatican in history. Lorenzo was canonized by the same pope in the Vatican City on October 18, 1987 among the 16 Martyrs of Japan, making him the first Filipino saint.
Miracle
His canonization was supported by a miracle in October 1983, when Cecilia Alegria Policarpio of Calinog, Iloilo, was cured of brain atrophy (hydrocephalus) 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.
Other tributes
Lorenzo Ruiz is included in American painter John Nava's Communion of Saints Tapestries, a depiction of 135 saints and beati which hangs inside the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, California.
On September 28, 1997, the 10th anniversary of Lorenzo's canonization was celebrated.
On September 28, 2007, the Catholic Church celebrated the 20th anniversary of Lorenzo's canonization. Then-archbishop of Manila Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales said: "Kahit saan nandoon ang mga Pilipino, ang katapatan sa Diyos ay dala-dala ng Pinoy." ("Wheresoever Filipinos are, the Pinoy brings fidelity to God.")
A mosaic of San Lorenzo is found in the Trinity Dome of Mary's National Shrine in Washington DC.
On September 28, 2017, the 30th anniversary of Lorenzo's canonization was celebrated in the Archdiocese of Manila.
In popular culture
Film and theater
- Ang Buhay ni Lorenzo Ruiz, a 1970 Filipino religious biographical film
- Lorenzo Ruiz: The Saint... A Filipino, a 1988 Filipino film
- Lorenzo, a musical staged in September 2013, by Green Wings Entertainment, with music by Ryan Cayabyab, book and lyrics by Juan Ekis and Paul Dumol, with the collaboration of Joem Antonio, direction by Nonon Padilla, and production by Christopher de Leon.
Books
- 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.
- Delgado, Antonio C. The Making of The First Filipino Saint, The Ala-Ala Foundation, 1982.
- Villaroel, Fidel "Lorenzo de Manila: The Protomartyr of the Philippines and His Companions", UST Publishing, Inc., 1988
- Dela Peña, Rev. Ordanico "The Birth of the Catholic Philippines in Asia: Includes the Lives of San Lorenzo Ruiz and Blessed Pedro Calungsod", Xlibris Corp., 2000
- Diaz, Emo "On The Road With San Lorenzo", UST Publishing, Inc., 2005
- Tan, Susan "The Martyrdom Of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz, Pauline Publishing & Media, 2007
- Tan, Susan "Martyred: The Story Of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz", Pauline Publishing & Media, 2014
Television
- Canonization of Blessed Lorenzo Ruiz TV Special Coverage (PTV 4, 1987)
- Saint Lorenzo Ruiz: The Life, A 1st Filipino Saint Documentary Special (PTV 4, 1987)
