Lorenzo Ruiz (; ; ; 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
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.Leonard Foley OFM, Saint of the Day, Lives, Lessons and Feast, (revised by Pat McCloskey OFM), Franciscan Media 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."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.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, 2007Filipino Apostolate/Archdiocese of New York, Chapel of San Lorenzo Ruiz, ChapelofSanLorenzoRuiz.org , retrieved on: June 9, 2007
Martyrdom
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:
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
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.
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 Ruiz, Escribano, a 1994 contemporary Filipino opera composed by Jerry Amper Dadap, commissioned by the University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music. Regarded as the first opera on the first Filipino saint, it was staged at the Philam Life Theater in Manila. The opera was based on the play by Ophelia Alcantara Dimalanta, with a Filipino translation by Florentino Hornedo and direction by Isagani R. Cruz.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. 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. 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, Em. 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 Villarroel, Fidel. Lorenzo de Manila: The Protomartyr of the Philippines and His Companions, UST Publishing, Inc., 1988
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)
Educational institutions Escuela de San Lorenzo Ruiz Academy, Greenheights Subdivision, Brgy. San Antonio, Sucat, Parañaque Lorenzo Ruiz Academy, 1606 Ongpin Street, Binondo, Manila Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila School, Felix Ave., Vista Verde Executive Village Phase 1, Cainta, Rizal San Lorenzo Ruiz Center of Studies and Schools, Villa de San Lorenzo, St. Dominic Corinthian, Dolores, San Fernando, Pampanga San Lorenzo Ruiz De Manila School, Buenmar Ave., Greenland Phase 1, Nangka, Marikina San Lorenzo Ruiz Academy, Valencia Site, Poblacion, Polomolok, South Cotabato St. Lorenzo Ruiz Academy of Tagum, Inc., Apokon Road, Tagum, Davao del Norte
See also List of Filipinos venerated in the Catholic Church Ignacia del Espíritu Santo Jerónima de la Asunción Kakure Kirishitan Martha de San Bernardo, the first Filipino nun Martyrs of Japan Pedro Calungsod, the second Filipino saint
References
External links
Homily of John Paul II for the beatification of Lorenzo Ruiz Mosaic in Saint Peter's Basilica St. Lorenzo Ruiz in the Communion of Saints Tapestries St. Lorenzo Ruiz Prayer in times of adversity. Translated into Spanish by José Tlatelpas, traditional version in English and Tagalog. Published in the Canadian Hispanic webzine "La Guirnalda Polar". Lorenzo, a musical on the life of Lorenzo Ruiz