MEMORIAL OF SAINTS LAWRENCE RUIZ, AND HIS COMPANIONS, MARTYRS; SAINT WENCESLAUS, MARTYR; SAINT JOHN OF DUKLA AND SAINT SIMON DE ROJAS, PRIEST ~ FEAST DAY ~ SEPTEMBER 28TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saints Lawrence Ruiz, and His Companions, Martyrs; Saint Wenceslaus, Martyr; Saint John of Dukla, Priest and Saint Simón de Rojas, Priest. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are mentally and physically ill and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. We pray for all widows and widowers. We pray for the poor and needy, for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, the Bishops, the Clergy, for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Church, for persecuted Christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world…. Amen🙏
SAINTS LAWRENCE RUIZ, AND HIS COMPANIONS, MARTYRS: In the 17th century (1633-1637) Saint Lawrence Ruiz, the first canonized Filipino Saint and his companions, 15 of them, shed their blood out of love for Christ in the city of Nagasaki, Japan. These Martyrs included members and associates of the Order of Preachers: They were ten Asians and six Europeans including nine Dominican priests, two religious, two virgin sisters, and three laymen. Among the latter was St. Lawrence Ruiz, a family man from the Philippine Islands. St. Lawrence was born in Manila in the Philippines; his father was Chinese and his mother Filipino. He became associated with the Dominicans, and was a member of the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary. These Dominicans taught him Spanish, and from his parents he learned Chinese and Tagalog. He became a professional calligrapher and transcribed documents. St. Lawrence, a Dominican tertiary married and had three children. He was living in Binondo, Philippines, with his wife and three children, when in 1636, he fled an unjust murder charge by joining a missionary expedition to Japan, here Catholics were being persecuted. St. Lawrence was arrested there for being a Christian, which was then illegal. It was soon found out that the members of this group were Catholic, so they were arrested and taken to Nagasaki. They were tortured for several days, first crushed while hanging upside down for three days. After various tortures, 14 of them died by being suspended by the feet in a pit of manure, one was burned at the stake and one died in prison. St. Lawrence was tortured and killed for the faith. He died professing: “I shall die for God, and for Him I would give many thousands of lives if I had them.” He died in the pit in 1637. The bodies of the Martyrs were burned, with the ashes thrown into the Pacific Ocean on September 30, 1637. They were beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1981 and canonized on October 18,1987. St. Lawrence (Lorenzo) Ruiz is the first canonized Filipino martyr.
All the Martyrs had, at different times and under varying circumstances, preached the Christian faith in the Philippines, Formosa, and Japan. They manifested the universality of the Christian religion and sowed the seed of future missionaries and converts. They abundantly sowed the missionary seed of Christianity with the example of their life and death. His feast day is September 28th.
“In their sufferings, their love and imitation of Jesus reached its fulfilment, and their sacramental configuration with Jesus, the one Mediator, was brought to perfection. “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his” (Rom. 6, 5). These holy martyrs, different in origin, language, race and social condition, are united with each other and with the entire People of God in the saving mystery of Christ, the Redeemer.” ~ St. John Paul II, October 18, 1987.
PRAYER: God, in our service to You and to our neighbor grant us the invincible patience of the holy Martyrs Lawrence and his companions. For those who suffer persecution for justice’ sake are blessed in the Kingdom of heaven. Amen 🙏
SAINT WENCESLAUS, MARTYR: St. Wenceslaus (907–935 A.D.) was a Central European ruler who suffered martyrdom at the hands of his brother while after many trials in governing and evangelizing his people and seeking to strengthen the Catholic faith in his native Bohemia. St. Wenceslaus was described as a pious, humble, and intelligent ruler who worked to established Christianity in the land that would become part of the Holy Roman Empire. He was known for his vow of virginity, his many virtues, and his life of prayer and good works. St. Wenceslaus was the son of the Duke of Bohemia. His father, Duke Wratislaw was a Catholic, his grandfather was converted to Christianity by the missionaries Sts. Cyril and Methodius. But his mother Princess Dragomir practiced the native pagan religion. His mother was the daughter of a pagan tribal chief who was baptized at her marriage She would later arrange the murders of both St. Wenceslaus and his grandmother, Ludmilla, who is also a canonized saint. Saint Wenceslaus, like many people, sadly endured unrest in his family. His Christian father died when Wenceslaus was young, and his holy grandmother, St. Ludmilla, raised him and formed him in the Faith. During his youth, St. Wenceslaus received a strong religious education from his grandmother, St. Ludmilla, in addition to the good example of his father. He maintained a virtuous manner of living while attending college near Prague, making significant progress both academically and spiritually. But with the death of his father Wratislaw, the devout young nobleman faced a spiritual and political crisis. After his father’s death, his mother Dragomir, reverted to her pagan ways, she had never accepted the Catholic faith, turned against it entirely and worked to oppose the spread of Christianity in Bohemia. Dragomir reigned as regent and she seized her husband’s death as a chance to destroy the religion his parents had received from Sts. Cyril and Methodius, through methods that included purging Catholics from public office, closing churches, and preventing all teaching of the faith. Dragomir’s Catholic mother-in-law St. Ludmilla urged St. Wenceslaus when he was 18 to seize power from his mother and defend their faith. His attempt to do so resulted in the division of the country into two halves: one ruled by St. Wenceslaus, advised by St. Ludmilla; the other ruled by Wenceslaus’ younger brother Boleslaus, who had absorbed his mother’s hatred of the Church. St. Wenceslaus, who would have preferred to become a monk and not a duke, fortified himself in this struggle through fervent prayer, extreme asceticism, charitable service, and a vow of chastity. Meanwhile, his mother carried out a plot to kill St. Ludmilla, having her strangled in her private chapel. St. Ludmilla’s liturgical feast day is Sept. 16.
The Bohemian duke, St. Wenceslaus also faced the threat of invasion from abroad, when Prince Radislaus of Gurima demanded that Bohemia submit to his rule. When St. Wenceslaus sought to avoid a war by challenging him in single combat, two angels are said to have appeared, deflecting the javelin thrown at St. Wenceslaus and immediately inspiring Radislaus to drop to his knees in surrender. During his period of rule, St. Wenceslaus received the relics of several saints from the Holy Roman Emperor Otto I, who also conferred on him the title of “King Wenceslaus.” But some noblemen of his own country resented the saintly king’s strict morals, and allied themselves with Dragomir and Boleslaus. St. Wenceslaus’ brother sought to appear as a peacemaker, inviting the king to his realm for a celebration during the feast of Sts. Cosmas and Damian. When St. Wenceslaus was praying in a chapel during the visit, Boleslaus’ henchmen attacked and wounded him. Boleslaus himself delivered the final blow, killing his brother by running him through with a lance. St. Wenceslaus muttered words of forgiveness as he died, and his body was buried at the murder site. St. Wenceslaus died on September 28, 935. His brother, Boleslaus succeeded him as Duke of Bohemia. Emperor Otto responded to St. Wenceslaus’ death by invading Bohemia and making war against Boleslaus for several years. He succeeded in conquering the region, and forced Boleslaus to reverse the anti-Catholic measures he and his mother had taken. There is no evidence that Dragomir, who died soon after the murder of St. Wenceslaus, ever repented of killing her family members. Boleslaus, however, came to regret his sin when he learned of the miracles that were taking place at his brother’s tomb. Three years later Boleslaus repented of his crime, and had his brother’s remains transferred to the Cathedral Church of St. Vitus in Prague for veneration by the faithful. St. Wenceslaus was considered a saint by the people at the time of his death. King St. Wenceslaus was martyred at the age of twenty-two, he is the national hero and patron of the Czech Republic. He is the first Slav to be canonized. He’s Patron Saint of Bohemia; brewers; Czech Republic; Moravia.
PRAYER: God, You taught St. Wenceslaus to prize the Kingdom of heaven more than his earthly reign. Grant, through his prayers, that we may deny ourselves and cling to You with our whole heart. Amen 🙏
SAINT JOHN OF DUKLA, PRIEST: St. John of Dukla (1414- 1484), a Priest was born in Dukla, Poland in 1414. His name means God is gracious; gift of God (John). He joined the Hermit Friar Minor Conventual in 1440, a religious order who strictly adhered to their rule of poverty and obedience. He was a Preacher in Ukraine, Moldavia and Belarus. Often a local superior, and once led the Franciscan custody headquartered in Lvív, Ukraine. In 1463 he joined part of the Observant Franciscans, who observed their Rule very strictly. Helped repel a Tartar attack on Lvív in 1474. John’s life was characterized by poverty, obedience, asceticism, and devotion to Our Lady. Sought to reconcile schismatics to the Church.
Though he went blind later in life at about the age of 70, he continued his ministry as preacher and confessor. He was able to prepare sermons with the help of an aide. His preaching was credited in bringing people back to the Church in his province. St. John of Dukla died on September 29, 1484 in Lviv, L’vivs’ka oblast’, Ukraine of natural causes. Soon after his death, there was an immediate miracle at his tomb and several miracles were attributed to him. St. John of Dukla was Beatified on January 23, 1733 by His Holiness Pope Clement XII and Canonized on June 10, 1997 at Krosno, Poland by His Holiness Pope Saint John Paul II before approximately one million pilgrims. He is the Patron Saint of Lithuania and Poland
Saint John of Dukla, Priest ~ Pray for us 🙏
SAINT SIMON DE ROJAS, PRIEST: St. Simon De Rojas was a Spanish priest of the Trinitarian Order. He was born at Valladolid, Castilla, Spain, on October 28, 1552. At twelve years of age, he entered the Trinitarian monastery of the city where he was born and there made his religious profession on October 28, 1572; he studied at the University of Salamanca from 1573 to 1579; he was ordained a priest in 1577; he taught philosophy and theology at Toledo from 1581 to 1587; from 1588 until his death he fulfilled with much prudence the office of superior in various monasteries of his province and was sent as apostolic visitor twice to his own province of Castilla, and once to that of Andalusia; on April 14, 1612 he founded the Congregation of the Slaves of the Sweet Name of Mary; in 1619 he was named tutor to the royal princes of Spain; on May 12, 1621 he was elected Provincial of Castilla; on January 1, 1622 he was chosen confessor of Queen Isabel of Borbon. He was known as the “Apostle of the Ave Maria,” for his devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. A person of many abilities, Simon was a theologian and a spiritual writer, as well as a friend and benefactor of the poor. He died on September 29, 1624. He was Beatified on March 19, 1766 by Pope Clement XIII and was canonized by Pope Saint John Paul II on July 3, 1988.
Saint Simon De Rojas, Priest ~ Pray for us 🙏