Today we have a very unusual story about the saint that we're celebrating. His name is St Lorenzo Ruiz. There was nothing that unusual about HIM. He was an altar boy who lived in the Philippines, got married, had three children, and worked as a clerk. One day he was falsely accused of murder by the Spanish authorities. He asked the local Dominicans for help. They believed in his innocence, and they offered to take him away with them since they were leaving to go do missionary work.
He went with them, and they arrived in Japan. Unfortunately (in the view of the world), Japan was experiencing intense persecution of Christians at this time. The Dominicans, along with Lorenzo, were arrested and tortured. The torture was so strenuous that some of the missionaries wavered in their faith. Lorenzo was afraid he would renounce his faith in the face of such horrible torture. But he prayed and asked for help, and God helped him remain strong. He told his persecutors that if he lived 1000 lives, he'd give them all to Jesus. He was martyred shortly after that. You can read more about him here.
I don't know about you, but I also worry that if I'm tortured I might not be able to withstand it and remain true to my faith. Of course, God does understand that we're human, and that what we say under torture can't be used against us in court. He takes our circumstances into account. But it would still be horrifying to give in and deny Jesus under torture. I pray that if the opportunity to be martyred for Him comes my way, that either I'll be spared torture, or that He will keep me strong.
God, thanks for the example of this young martyr, whom You kept strong through his martyrdom. St Lorenzo Ruiz, pray for us.
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