Novena to St. Lorenzo Ruiz

Novena to St. Lorenzo Ruiz

Feast September 28th

St. Lorenzo Ruiz

Dear St. Lorenzo Ruiz, 
As husband, father, and martyr of faith, 
look upon our humble prayers and our plea for your intercession lovingly.  You were a model of faith and perseverance despite your suffering for the Name of Jesus.

Inspire us to be a witness of faith despite the harshness of the world.  Through your intercession help our young people to seek Jesus in the Holy Eucharist and contemplate His life with His blessed mother through the prayer of the Holy Rosary. We place our needs and intentions (mention them here) in your hands and trust that you will carry them to the Throne of God.  Amen

St. Lorenzo Ruiz pray for us! (say three times)

Pray 1 Our Father, 1 Hail Mary and 1 Glory Be 

(repeat these prayers for nine days for your intention) 

Background

Lorenzo Ruiz was born in 1600 in Binondo, Manila to a Chinese father and Filipino mother who were both Catholic.  He was an alter boy growing up and was educated by Dominican Fathers.  He was a member of the Confraternity of the Rosary. Ruiz was a  husband and father to a daughter and two sons.

He left the Philippines in 1636 and moved to Japan where he suffered terrible persecution and was cruelly tortured and martyred.  Despite the severe torture he endured he never lost his faith.  Ruiz died on September 27th 1637.

Lorenzo Ruiz was beatified by Pope John Paul II during a Papal visit to Manila on February 18 1981.  Ruiz was later canonized in Rome on World Mission Sunday October 18, 1987. St. Lorenzo Ruiz is the first Filipino Saint venerated in the Roman Catholic Church.

In an address delivered by Pope John Paul II to the Filipino pilgrims in a general audience after the canonization rite of blessed Lorenzo Ruiz the Holy Father said, Saint Lorenzo Ruiz calls families to grow in dignity, in harmony and responsibility as the "domestic Church", where each one learns to be at the service of all, witnessing to the sanctity of human life at every stage and in every condition. For all of this we must pray to God through the intercession of Mary, for whom you have such great devotion, and through the intercession of the newly canonized martyrs.

He goes on to say, “Through your new Saint, Jesus Christ renews his call to persevere in the genuine work of evangelization. Faith rests, not on the wisdom of man, but on the power

of God. You must look to Jesus Christ and to the grace of our heavenly Father for the light and courage to proclaim "God's design in all its entirety". The sign that you belong to God will be that his love has been poured into your hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to you”.

St. Lorenzo Ruiz stands as a wonderful model of living one’s faith even in times of adversity and suffering.  As we enter the Year of Faith and the New Evangelization called upon by Pope Benedict XVI on October 11th 2012 we may look to St. Lorenzo Ruiz and his companions as intercessors in our attempts to persevere in the work of evangelization.