27/09/2016
28 September: Feast Day of San Lorenzo Ruiz
Lorenzo Ruiz was born in Binondo, Manila between 1600 to 1610. His father was Chinese and his mother was a native Tagalog.
In 1636, a grave crime was committed in Manila, authorities conducted a manhunt for Lorenzo because they believed he knew something about it or was himself involved in it .
When Lorenzo learned of some missionary priests leaving Manila, thinking that they were going to Macao, he sought help from his Dominican superiors who believed in his innocence. He was allowed aboard the ship, along with three Dominican priests: Saint Antonio Gonzalez, Saint Guillermo Courtet, and Saint Miguel de Aozaraza, a Japanese priest, Saint Vicente Shiwozuka de la Cruz, and a layman named Saint Lazaro of Kyoto, a l***r. It was only when they were on the ship did Lorenzo learn that the missionaries were headed for Japan, where Catholics were suffering terrible persecutions at that time.
When the boat landed at Okinawa, the group was arrested and imprisoned on basis of their Christian religion. They were tortured in several ways for days. Lorenzo and the Japanese priest broke at one point, and were ready to renounce their faith in exchange for release, but after heir moment of crisis, they reclaimed their faith and defied their tormentors. First canonized Filipino martyr.
He was beatified by Pope John Paul II during the Papal visit to Manila on 18 February 1981, the first beatification outside of Vatican City. St. Lorenzo Ruiz was elevated to sainthood and received canonization on 18 October 1987 by His Holiness Pope John Paul II in Vatican City, Rome.
References:
~ http://catholicsaints.info/saint-lorenzo-ruiz-of-manila/
~ http://thepinoycatholic.blogspot.com/2009/06/st-lorenzo-ruiz.html?m=1
~ https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-lorenzo-ruiz-and-companions/
