Readings
for the Memorial of

Saint Lawrence Ruiz and Companions
Martyrs
September 28



MASS


From the Common of Martyrs: For Several Martyrs


COLLECT
Beatorum martyrum tuorum Laurentii et sociorum, quaesumus, Domine Deus, patientiam in servitio tui et proximi nobis concede, quia in regno tuo sunt beati, qui persecutionem patiuntur propter iustitiam.
Grant us, we pray, Lord God,
the same perseverance shown by your Martyrs
Saint Lawrence Ruiz and his companions
in serving you and their neighbor,
since those persecuted for the sake of righteousness
are blessed in your Kingdom.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.






Liturgy of the Hours


From the Common of Several Martyrs, except the following:

SECOND READING

From a homily of Pope John Paul II
(Homily in Manila at the Mass of beatification of the Venerable Servant of God Lawrence Ruiz and companions: AAS 73 [1981], 340-342)

In shedding their blood they offered God the greatest act of worship and love

According to his Gospel promise, Christ is truly acknowledging, in the presence of his Father in heaven, those faithful martyrs who acknowledged him before men.

The hymn of glory to God which has just been sung by numberless voices is an echo of the Te Deum sung in the Church of Santo Domingo on the evening of December 27, 1637, when the news arrived of the martyrdom at Nagasaki of a group of six Christians. Among them were the head of the mission, Father Antonio González, a Spanish Dominican from León, and Lorenzo Ruiz, a married man with a family, born in Manila "extra muros," in the suburb of Binondo. These witnesses had also in their turn sung psalms to the Lord of mercy and power, both while they were in prison and during their execution by the gallows and the pit, which lasted three days.

Faith conquers the world. The preaching of this faith enlightens like the sun all who wish to attain the knowledge of truth. Indeed, although there are different languages in the world, the power of the Christian tradition is the same.

The Lord Jesus by his blood truly redeemed his servants, gathered from every race, tongue, people and nation, to make them a royal priesthood for our God.

The sixteen blessed martyrs, by the exercise of their priesthood – that of baptism or of Holy Orders – performed the greatest act of worship and love of God by the sacrifice of their blood united with Christ’s own Sacrifice of the Cross. In this way they imitated Christ the priest and victim in the most perfect way possible for human creatures. It was at the same time an act of the greatest possible love for their brethren, for whose sake we are all called to sacrifice ourselves, following the example of the Son of God who sacrificed himself for us.

This is what Lorenzo Ruiz did. Guided by the Holy Spirit to an unexpected goal after an adventurous journey, he told the court that he was a Christian, and must die for God: “Had I many thousands of lives I would offer them all for him. Never shall I apostatize. You may kill me if that is what you want. To die for God – such is my will”.

Here we have him summed up; here we have a description of his faith and the reason for his death. It was at this moment that this young father of a family professed and brought to completion the Christian catechesis that he had received in the Dominican Friars’ school in Binondo: a catechesis that cannot be other than Christ-centered, by reason both of the mystery it contains and the fact that it is Christ who teaches through the lips of his messenger.

The example of Lorenzo Ruiz, the son of a Chinese father and Tagala mother, reminds us that everyone’s life and the whole of one’s life must be at Christ’s disposal. Christianity means daily giving, in response to the gift of Christ who came into the world so that all might have life and have it to the full.


RESPONSORY
These holy men and women poured out their blood for the Lord;
they loved Christ in life; they followed him in his death.
- They have won the glorious crown.

They shared the one Spirit;
they held fast to the faith.
- They have won the glorious crown.


COLLECT
Beatorum martyrum tuorum Laurentii et sociorum, quaesumus, Domine Deus, patientiam in servitio tui et proximi nobis concede, quia in regno tuo sunt beati, qui persecutionem patiuntur propter iustitiam.
Grant us, we pray, Lord God,
the same perseverance shown by your Martyrs
Saint Lawrence Ruiz and his companions
in serving you and their neighbor,
since those persecuted for the sake of righteousness
are blessed in your Kingdom.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.


The English translation of Psalm Responses, Alleluia Verses, Gospel Verses from Lectionary for Mass © 1969, 1981, 1997, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation (ICEL); the English translation of Antiphons, Invitatories, Responsories, Intercessions, Psalm 95, the Canticle of the Lamb, Psalm Prayers, Non-Biblical Readings from The Liturgy of the Hours © 1973, 1974, 1975, ICEL; excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 2010, ICEL. All rights reserved. Used with permission.



 
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