29 September, 1637

TODAY IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY:

Lorenzo Ruiz, the first Filipino Saint, was hung upside down in a pit by his tormentors until he suffocated to death in Nagasaki, Japan. Ruiz was subjected to water torture. Needles were inserted through his finger nails and was beaten until unconsciousness. Despite the torture inflicted on him, Ruiz did not renounce his Christian faith.

Ruiz body was cremated and the ashes were thrown into the sea. On February 18, 1981, Lorenzo Ruiz was beatified by Pope John Paul II during his Papal visit to Manila. It was the first beatification ceremony held outside the Vatican. San Lorenzo Ruiz was elevated to sainthood and canonized by Pope John Paul II in the Vatican City, Rome on October 18, 1987.

(Ref: Philippine News Agency)