Deepertruth: Stand In The Gap With Us and Saint Lorenzo Ruiz and Companions

Stand In The Gap With Us and Saint Lorenzo Ruiz and Companions: 9/22/2023

Saint Lorenzo Ruiz is the first Filipino venerated in the Roman Catholic Church. Of Chinese-Filipino parentage, he became the country's protomartyr after his execution by the Tokugawa Shogunate during its persecution of Japanese Christians in the 17th century.

Saint Lorenzo Ruiz is the patron saint of Filipino youth, the Philippines, people working overseas, and altar servers. Lorenzo Ruiz's feast day falls on September 28.

In the icon of San Lorenzo Ruiz, the saint holds the Bible and the rosary, because he was a religious teacher, a humble teacher of Manila." The solemn mass that took place in the forecourt of the monastery was presided over by the new Apostolic Nuncio for Israel and Cyprus and Apostolic Delegate for Jerusalem

Lorenzo was born in Manila of a Chinese father and a Filipino mother, both Christians. Thus he learned Chinese and Tagalog from them, and Spanish from the Dominicans whom he served as altar boy and sacristan. He became a professional calligrapher, transcribing documents in beautiful penmanship. He was a full member of the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary under Dominican auspices. He married and had two sons and a daughter.

Lorenzo’s life took an abrupt turn when he was accused of murder. Nothing further is known except the statement of two Dominicans that “he was sought by the authorities on account of a homicide to which he was present or which was attributed to him.”