Lorenzo Ruiz (; zh, link=no, 李樂倫; ; November 28, 1594 – September 29, 1637), also called Saint Lorenzo of Manila, was a Filipino Catholic

layman In religious organizations, the laity () — individually a layperson, layman or laywoman — consists of all members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-ordained members of religious orders, e.g. a nun or a lay brother. ...

and a member of the

Third Order of Saint Dominic The Third Order of Saint Dominic (; abbreviated TOP), also referred to as the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic or Lay Dominicans since 1972, is a Roman Catholic, Catholic third order which is part of the Dominican Order. As members of the Order ...

. A

Chinese Filipino Chinese Filipinos (sometimes referred as Filipino Chinese or Chinoy/Tsinoy in the Philippines) are Filipinos of Chinese descent with ancestry mainly from Fujian, but are typically born and raised in the Philippines. Chinese Filipinos are one ...

, he became his country's protomartyr after his execution in Japan by the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

during its persecution of

Japanese Christians Christianity in Japan is among the nation's minority religions in terms of individuals who state an explicit affiliation or faith. In 2022, there were 1.26 million Christians in Japan, down from 1.9 million Christians in Japan in 2019. In the ...

in the 17th century. Lorenzo Ruiz is the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

of, among others, the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

and the Filipino people.

Early life

Lorenzo Ruiz was a Filipino born in

Binondo Binondo (; ) is a district in Manila and is referred to as the city's Chinatown. Its influence extends beyond to the places of Quiapo, Manila, Quiapo, Santa Cruz, Manila, Santa Cruz, San Nicolas, Manila, San Nicolas and Tondo, Manila, Tondo. ...

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

, on 28 November 1594, to a Chinese father and a Tagalog mother who were both

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. 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 A scrivener (or scribe) was a person who, before the advent of compulsory education, could literacy, read and write or who wrote letters as well as court and legal documents. Scriveners were people who made their living by writing or copying w ...

) because of his skillful

penmanship Penmanship is the technique of writing with the hand using a writing instrument. Today, this is most commonly done with a pen, or pencil, but throughout history has included many different writing implement, implements. The various generic a ...

. 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.Foley O.F.M., Leonard. ''Saint of the Day, Lives, Lessons and Feast'', (revised by Pat McCloskey O.F.M), Franciscan Media
/ref> 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 Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking Ethnicity, ethnic group native to the Iberian Peninsula, primarily associated with the modern Nation state, nation-state of Spain. Genetics, Genetically and Ethnolinguisti ...

. 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 Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria '' Mycobacterium leprae'' or '' Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve da ...

Lázaro of Kyoto. Lorenzo and his companions sailed for

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

on 10 June 1636, with the aid of the Dominican fathers."Visit of Her Excellency President

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal-Arroyo (; born April 5, 1947), often referred to as PGMA or GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician who served as the 14th president of the Philippines from Presidency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, 2001 to 2010 ...

to Participate in the 2005 World Summit – High Level

plenary session A plenary session or plenum is a session of a conference or deliberative assembly in which all parties or members are present. Such a session may include a broad range of content, from keynotes to panel discussions, and is not necessarily r ...

of the 60th Session of the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its Seventy-ninth session of th ...

, New York, United States of America, 12–15 September 2005", Press Kit, Office of the President, Government Mass Media Group, Bureau of Communications Services,

, 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 The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

was persecuting Christians because they feared that the Spanish invaded the Philippines through using

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

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 , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...

to face trial by

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...

. 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 A gallows (or less precisely scaffold) is a frame or elevated beam, typically wooden, from which objects can be suspended or "weighed". Gallows were thus widely used to suspend public weighing scales for large and heavy objects such as sa ...

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 Bleeding, hemorrhage, haemorrhage or blood loss, is blood escaping from the circulatory system from damaged blood vessels. Bleeding can occur internally, or externally either through a natural opening such as the mouth, nose, ear, urethra, v ...

and suffocation. His last words were: After his death his body was cremated. His ashes were then thrown into the sea of Nagasaki to prevent other Christians from gathering his sacred relics.

Veneration

Beatification process

The ''

positio A ''positio'' (short for the Latin ''positio super virtutibus'': "position on the virtues") is a document or collection of documents used in the process by which a Catholic person is declared Venerable, the second of four steps on the path to can ...

'' 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 ex-priests from the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

, rediscovered by Villaroel at the Jesuit Generalate archive in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, an unlikely location as Ruiz was of the Dominican order. Lorenzo was

beatified Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the ...

during

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

's papal visit to the Philippines in 1981. It was the first ever beatification ceremony to be held outside the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

Canonisation

Lorenzo was

canonised Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of sai ...

by Pope John Paul II on October 18, 1987, among the 16 Martyrs of Japan, making him the first Filipino saint. Ruiz' canonization was supported by a miracle in October 1983, when Cecilia Alegria Policarpio of Calinog, Iloilo, was cured of brain atrophy (

hydrocephalus Hydrocephalus is a condition in which cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) builds up within the brain, which can cause pressure to increase in the skull. Symptoms may vary according to age. Headaches and double vision are common. Elderly adults with n ...

) 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. 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 church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

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, California.

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 Christopher Strauss de León (born October 31, 1956), also known as Boyet, is a Filipino actor, filmmaker and politician. Often referred to as the "King of Philippine Drama", he gained stardom for his leading man roles in numerous film and te ...

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)

Educational institutions

*Escuela De San Lorenzo Ruiz Academy, Greenheights Subdivision, Brgy. San Antonio, Sucat, Paranaque City *Lorenzo Ruiz Academy, 1606 Ongpin St, Binondo, Manila City *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 City *San Lorenzo Ruiz Academy, Valencia Site, Poblacion, Polomolok, South Cotabato *St. Lorenzo Ruiz Academy Of Tagum, Inc., Apokon Road, Tagum City, Davao Del Norte

References

External links

Cause for Beatification
* ttp://www.saintpetersbasilica.org/Altars/CrucifixionStPeter/CrucifixionStPeter.htm Mosaic in Saint Peter's Basilicabr>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
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruiz, Lorenzo 1594 births 1637 deaths Lay Dominicans Filipino Dominicans 17th-century Christian saints 17th-century executions by Japan Foreign nationals imprisoned in Japan 17th-century Roman Catholic martyrs Beatifications by Pope John Paul II Burials at sea Canonizations by Pope John Paul II Deaths from bleeding Executed Filipino people Filipino people of Chinese descent Filipino Roman Catholic saints Filipino torture victims History of Christianity in Japan People from Binondo People from the Spanish colonial Philippines Filipino people executed abroad