St. Lorenzo Ruiz

Saint Lorenzo Ruiz of Manila
Close-up of a statue of Lorenzo Ruiz in procession, Santo Domingo Church, Quezon City
First Saint and Protomartyr of the Philippines
Born	ca. 1600 Binondo, Manila Captaincy General of the Philippines
Died	September 28, 1637 (aged 36–37) Nagasaki, Hizen Province, Tokugawa Shogunate
Venerated in	Catholic Church
Beatified	18 February 1981, Manila by Pope John Paul II
Canonized	18 October 1987, Vatican City by Pope John Paul II
Major shrine	Binondo Church, Binondo, Manila, Philippines
Feast	28 September
Attributes	rosary in clasped hands, gallows and pit, Barong Tagalog or camisa de chino and black trousers, cross, palm of martyrdom
Patronage	The Philippines, Filipinos, Overseas Filipino Workers and migrant workers, the poor, separated families, Filipino youth, Chinese-Filipinos, Filipino altar servers, Tagalogs, Archdiocese of Manila.

Saint Lorenzo Ruiz (Filipino: San Lorenzo Ruiz ng Maynila, Spanish: San Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila Latin: Laurentius Ruiz Manilensis ; ca. 1600 – 28 September 1637) is a Filipino saint venerated in the Roman Catholic Church. A Chinese-Filipino, he became the country's protomartyr after his execution in Japan by the Tokugawa Shogunate during its persecution of Japanese Christians in the 17th century.

Saint Lorenzo is patron saint of, among others, the Philippines and the Filipino people.

Lorenzo Ruiz was born in Binondo, Manila, to a Chinese father and a Filipino mother who were both Catholic. His father taught him Chinese while his mother taught him Tagalog.

Ruiz served as an altar boy at the Binondo Church. After being educated by the Dominican friars for a few years, Ruiz earned the title of escribano (calligrapher) because of his skillful penmanship. He became a member of the Cofradia del Santísimo Rosario (Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary). He married Rosario, a native, and they had two sons and a daughter. The Ruiz family led a generally peaceful, religious and content life.