Novena to St. Lorenzo de Manila was held in one of conference rooms of the Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic Church Rectory
Part of the celebration is sharing foods..
Reily is the youngest devotee of St. Lorenzo Ruiz and present in all of the nine day novena...
There's one non - Filipino parishioner who celebrated with us...
After sharing the divine food...is sharing of food that sustains our body.
Native Philippine delicacies were serve to the delight of the group..
Everybody happy..
The celebration is incomplete without picture taking.
The Sts. Peter & Paul Filipino Catholic Community celebrated the feastday of St. Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila last September 28, 2010 at the Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic Church, West Valley City Utah. The celebration includes a nine day novena in his honor and is culminated with the celebration of the Holy Mass. Filipino devotees to St, Lorenzo Ruiz attended the affair and a hearty dinner was serve after the Mass.
St. Lorenzo Ruiz was born in the walled city of Manila called Binondo. He was born of a Filipina Mother and a Chinese father. The exact date of his birth is unknown since the records of the church where he was baptized were destroyed.
In his early childhood, he served as a houseboy and a sacristan in the convent of the Dominican Fathers. He later joined the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary and lived a pious and practical Christian life as prescribed bt the association.
In 1636, he was accused of being involved in a criminal case of unspecified nature. Knowing the prejudices of the authorities during that time, he sought for his life and decided to leave the country. So, he embarked with a group of Dominican priests and a Japanese layman who were leaving Manila, thinking they were heading for Macao. But the Missionaries headed instead to Japan.
Lorenzo arrived in Nagasaki with the Dominican Superior Father Antonio Gonzales and Lazaro, of Kyoto, on September 21, 1637. They were taken to the tribunals of the governors of Nagasaki. They were questioned and repeatedly tormented by two kinds of tortue, the water torture and the torture of needles. Lorenzo was given the chance to be spared from his impending death if only he would renounce his faith, but he said, "I am a Christian and this I profess until the hour of my death; and for God I shall give my life; and although I did not come to Japan to be a martyr, but rather I could stay in Manila, however, as a Christian and for God I shall give my life." To this, the tormentors ortured him with water. Even with this tortures, Lorenzo refused to renounce his faith.
Two days later, on September 23, 1637, he stood before the tribunal and was interrogated the last time if he renounced his faith, but is determined and firm till the end. He said, "Because I am a Christian, I shall die for God, and for him I will give many thousand lives if I have them." The judges then sentenced him to death.
In 1636, he was accused of being involved in a criminal case of unspecified nature. Knowing the prejudices of the authorities during that time, he sought for his life and decided to leave the country. So, he embarked with a group of Dominican priests and a Japanese layman who were leaving Manila, thinking they were heading for Macao. But the Missionaries headed instead to Japan.
Lorenzo arrived in Nagasaki with the Dominican Superior Father Antonio Gonzales and Lazaro, of Kyoto, on September 21, 1637. They were taken to the tribunals of the governors of Nagasaki. They were questioned and repeatedly tormented by two kinds of tortue, the water torture and the torture of needles. Lorenzo was given the chance to be spared from his impending death if only he would renounce his faith, but he said, "I am a Christian and this I profess until the hour of my death; and for God I shall give my life; and although I did not come to Japan to be a martyr, but rather I could stay in Manila, however, as a Christian and for God I shall give my life." To this, the tormentors ortured him with water. Even with this tortures, Lorenzo refused to renounce his faith.
Two days later, on September 23, 1637, he stood before the tribunal and was interrogated the last time if he renounced his faith, but is determined and firm till the end. He said, "Because I am a Christian, I shall die for God, and for him I will give many thousand lives if I have them." The judges then sentenced him to death.
On Septemebr 27, 1637 Lorenzo and his companions were paraded along the streets of Nagasaki on a horseback before their execution. They have undergone the final torture called "gallows on the pit'. Tney were supposed to have been executed on the 29 of September 1637 but Lorenzo and Lazaro expired two days before their scheduled execution at the gallows.
Lorenzo Ruiz and his companions were beatified by Pope John Paul II in Manila on February 1981, the first beatification ever happened outside of the Vatican. They were canonized later by the same Pope in Rome on October 18, 1987.
