+ Fiilpino layman Lawrence Ruiz, and his fifteen
companion martyrs, all members and associates of the Dominican Order, were
slain in Japan between 1633 and 1637.
Persecutions stemmed from a
1603 edict by the Shogun, Takugawa Ieyasu banning Christianity.
From 1623, suspected
Christians were forced to tread on images of Mary and Jesus.
Those who refused were
executed.
May we have had the fortitude
and courage and grace of God to do the same – o wait – we can do the same today
when the world convinces us to trash the reality and help of our Blessed Mother
Mary, and Jesus the Divine Savior of the World.
The tortures from this period
were designed to force the victims to renounce their Faith.
Some Christians did
apostasize.
The men and women honored
today spent their last excruciating hours with their hearts raised in prayer
and hymns of praise.
May we lift up our minds and
hearts and hands in prayer and hymns of praise not only at this Mass – but in
all of our acts of love to Christ’s Mystical Body and beyond that he will place
in our very paths all day long!
May we consider all things so
much rubbish, that we may gain Christ and be found in him.
Alleluia!
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