September 28 + Saint Lorenzo Ruiz

Born in 1594 to a Christian Chinese father and a Christian Filipino mother, Lorenzo learned Chinese and Tagalog at home, and Spanish from the Dominicans whom he served as an altar boy and sacristan. He was a professional calligrapher and document transcriptionist, a married layman, and the father of two sons and a daughter.

Lorenzo was falsely accused of murder and he sought asylum on board a ship with three Dominican priests, Saint Antonio Gonzalez, Saint Guillermo Courtet, and Saint Miguel de Aozaraza, a Japanese priest, Saint Vicente Shiwozuka de la Cruz, and a layman named Saint Lazaro of Kyoto, a leper. Only when they were at sea did he learn that they were going to Japan during a time of intense Christian persecution.

Upon their arrival, they were arrested and held in prison for 2 years. When Lorenzo and his companions refused to denounce their faith, they were tortured with water, which was forced into their mouths and down their throats and out their noses and ears.

Following this, Lorenzo was hung upside down, with a rope around his ankles. This method of torture was known as tsurushi, or "gallows and pit." The torture forces a person to be hanged upside down with a gash cut in their forehead to prevent too much blood from gathering in the head. The gash also causes the victim to bleed to death over an extended period of time. One hand is left free so the victim can offer an agreed symbol that will represent their desire to recant their faith. Those few who recant are spared and allowed to live. But few people ever recanted, choosing instead to die for their faith.

Lorenzo refused to recant. According to the record of his death, his last words were, "I am a Catholic and wholeheartedly do accept death for God. Had I a thousand lives, all these to Him I shall offer. Do with me as you please."

His traveling companions were all killed but remained steadfast until the end. Lorenzo died in 1637 at the age of 42.