To mark his 35th year as the first Filipino saint, the city of Manila recently cited the heroism and virtues of San Lorenzo Ruiz.
Councilor Niño dela Cruz authored Resolution No. 181 giving a special distinction to San Lorenzo Ruiz as an extraordinary son of Manila.
Resolution No. 181 declared San Lorenzo Ruiz’s canonization as a proud moment for the city and described him as an extraordinary Manileño who is worthy of admiration and recognition now and beyond, said the Minor Basilica and National Shrine of San Lorenzo Ruiz (Binondo Church) in Binondo, Manila in a Facebook post.
Manila Mayor Ma. Sheila Lacuna Pangan, Vice Mayor Yul Servo, and council members led the awarding of the recognition held at the Binondo Church on October 14 to coincide with the enthronement ceremony.
Popularly known as the patron saint of the Philippines, Chinese Filipinos, Filipino youth, and overseas Filipino workers, San Lorenzo was born on Nov. 28, 1594, in Binondo to a Chinese father and a Filipino mother. He served as an altar boy at the Binondo Church and was educated by the Dominican friars for whom he worked as a stenographer (escribano).
San Lorenzo was an active member of the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary. He was married to a Filipina who bore him two sons and a daughter.
In 1636, after being falsely accused of killing a Spaniard, he fled with Dominican missionaries to Japan at a time of intense Christian persecution. When they reached Okinawa, San Lorenzo and his 15 companions were brought to Nagasaki where they were horribly tortured. They were later brought to the Mountain of Martyrs where they were hung to die upside down in a pit.
San Lorenzo defied his tormentors by refusing to renounce his faith. When one of his tormentors asked, “If we let you live, will you renounce your faith?” His answer was, “That I will never do. I am a Christian and I will die for God. If I had a thousand lives, I will give all of them to Him and so, do with me as you please.”
According to accounts, San Lorenzo died from hemorrhage and suffocation on Sept. 29, 1637, at the age of 42. His body was said to have been cremated and his ashes were thrown into the sea.
Saint John Paul II, who beatified him at the Rizal Park in Manila, the first to be beatified outside the Vatican, called San Lorenzo “the most improbable of saints.” He canonized the first Filipino saint at the Vatican on Oct. 18, 1987. This year marks his 35th year of sainthood.