This statue of St. Lorenzo Ruiz, the first Filipino martyr and saint, with a red sash indicating his status as a martyr, is found in the Convent of St. James the Apostle Parish in Plaridel, Bulacan, the Philippines. (Public Domain/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)
This statue of St. Lorenzo Ruiz, the first Filipino martyr and saint, is found in Santo Domingo Church in Quezon City, the Philippines. (Public Domain/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)

Sept. 28

Lorenzo, the first Filipino saint, and 15 others were martyred in Japan. The 10 Asians and six Europeans included nine Dominican priests. After various tortures, 14 of them died by being suspended by the feet in a pit of manure, one was burned at the stake and one died in prison.

Lorenzo, a Dominican tertiary, was living in Binondo, Philippines, with his wife and three children, when he fled an unjust murder charge by joining a missionary expedition to Japan. He was arrested there for being a Christian, which was then illegal. He died in the pit in 1637.

He is a patron of the Filipino Community at Our Lady of the Valley Parish in Phoenix.

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