BIG C CATHOLICS

On September 28th, the Church celebrates the optional memorial of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz and Companions. Ruiz was born in Manila, around the year 1600, the son of a Chinese father and a Tagala mother, both devout Catholics. His spiritual formation included serving as an altar boy and sacristan in the Dominican run parish church of Saint Gabriel in Binondo. Educated by Dominican friars, Ruiz earned the title of escribano (calligrapher) due to his expert penmanship. He spoke Chinese, Tagalog and Spanish [the latter he learned from the Dominicans]. He married Rosario, a native, and they had two sons and a daughter. Ruiz was a member of the Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary. He is the first Filipino saint. In 1636, his life was altered abruptly when he was falsely accused of killing a Spaniard while working as a clerk. Little else is known about the charge except the testimony of two Dominican priests that "he was sought by the authorities on account of a homicide to which he wa

Although they have not been formally canonized, Blessed Miguel Pro and Father Jacques Hamel are most certainly among the elect in heaven by virtue of their glorious martyrdoms in testimony to the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior & King. When the court sentenced Stephen to death, the 1st century Protomartyr was taken outside the city to be stoned. Scripture testifies that the participants laid their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul (the future Saint Paul) who consented to the execution. Before giving up his soul to Christ, Stephen prayed for his persecutors: " Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. O Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. " Acts says, "Devout men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him." St. Stephen, help us to be courageously steadfast in faith despite difficulties. St. Agatha (231 – 251 AD) was a girl of immense beauty from a wealthy family in Sicily. The perfect of the city, Quintanius desired her hand in marriage and to gai

St. Lorenzo Ruiz, the first Filipino to be canonized a saint, was ordered to recant his Catholic faith or face torture and certain death. He had heard the screams and witnessed the horror as his companions were brutalized. Even while being crushed to death, he refused to renounce his faith. These are his last words: I am a Catholic and wholeheartedly do accept death for God; Had I a thousand lives, all these to Him shall I offer. St. Lorenzo Ruiz, help us be faithful even unto the last measure of our lives.

On September 28th, the Church celebrates the optional memorial of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz and Companions. Ruiz was born in Manila, around the year 1600, the son of a Chinese father and a Tagala mother, both devout Catholics. His spiritual formation included serving as an altar boy and sacristan in the Dominican run parish church of Saint Gabriel in Binondo. Educated by Dominican friars, Ruiz earned the title of escribano (calligrapher) due to his expert penmanship. He spoke Chinese, Tagalog and Spanish [the latter he learned from the Dominicans]. He married Rosario, a native, and they had two sons and a daughter. Ruiz was a member of the Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary. He is the first Filipino saint. In 1636, his life was altered abruptly when he was falsely accused of killing a Spaniard while working as a clerk. Little else is known about the charge except the testimony of two Dominican priests that "he was sought by the authorities on account of a homicide to which he wa