page_title: Lorenzo Ruiz
section_title: Early life
hierarchical_section_title: Lorenzo Ruiz / Early life
caption_attribution_description: Plaza Lorenzo Ruiz in Binondo, Manila, with the facade of the Minor Basilica of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz.
context_page_description: Lorenzo Ruiz also called as Saint Lorenzo of Manila is a Filipino saint venerated in the Catholic Church. A Chinese-Filipino, he became his country's protomartyr after his execution in Japan by the Tokugawa Shogunate during its persecution of Japanese Christians in the 17th century.
  Lorenzo is the patron saint of, among others, the Philippines and the Filipino people.
context_section_description: Lorenzo Ruiz was born in Binondo, Manila, on 28 November 1594 to a Chinese father and a Filipino mother who were both Catholic. His father taught him Chinese while his mother taught him Tagalog.
  Lorenzo served as an altar boy at the Binondo Church. After being educated by the Dominican friars for a few years, Lorenzo earned the title of escribano (scrivener) 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.
  In 1636, whilst working as a clerk for the Binondo Church, Lorenzo was falsely accused of killing a Spaniard. Lorenzo sought asylum on board a ship with three Dominican priests: Antonio Gonzalez, Guillermo Courtet, and Miguel de Aozaraza; a Japanese priest, Vicente Shiwozuka de la Cruz; and a lay leper Lázaro of Kyoto. Lorenzo and his companions sailed for Okinawa on 10 June 1636, with the aid of the Dominican fathers.
caption: Binondo Church, the main shrine of St Lorenzo Ruiz
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