Saint Lorenzo Ruiz and Companions, martyrs
The saint of the day for September 28 is Saint Lorenzo Ruiz (1600-1637), a husband and father, the first saint of the Philippines and the first Filipino martyred for the Christian Faith. He and 15 others were martyred at Nagasaki, Japan in 1637. The group included two consecrated women, two other laymen, two brothers and nine priests. Lorenzo Ruiz was born at Binondo, Manila, Philippines to a Chinese Father and a Filipino mother who were both Catholic. Educated by the Dominicans, he was a devoted and active Catholic, a member of the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary, and a third order Dominican. He was a husband and father of two sons and a daughter. In 1636, while working as a clerk for the Church, Lorenzo was falsely accused of murder and forced to leave his country. The Dominican fathers who knew Lorenzo arranged to have him take a ship to Japan. Soon after arriving in Japan, Lorenzo was captured for being Catholic and brought to Nagasaki, where he was tortu...