The San Lorenzo Ruiz (SLR) Global Ministry marked the 30th anniversary of the canonization of the first Filipino saint with a pilgrimage to Nagasaki, Japan, where San Lorenzo de Manila and companion martyrs died for their faith.
The group, which promotes the devotion to San Lorenzo Ruiz, visited various religious sites, among them the 26 Martyrs Museum where the statue of San Lorenzo could be found, and the Nakamachi Church dedicated to the Filipino saint.
Fr. Erno Diaz, founder of the Blessed Lorenzo Ruiz Movement in America and chair of SLR Global Ministry, said the first Filipino saint remains relevant today because of the the phenomenon of the overseas Filipino worker (OFW).
“In foreign lands, our OFWs face loneliness, discrimination, harsh environment,” said Father Diaz. “Perhaps our OFWs and all Filipino migrants can find an ally, an intercessor, a patron, a friend in San Lorenzo who himself was a migrant.
“I ask our Filipino migrants, OFWs and their families to consider San Lorenzo as their patron saint. The mutual affinity between them is unmistakable.”
Rosary campaign
The Philippine Church has mobilized Filipino children to pray the rosary for world peace, especially for the children displaced or suffering because of the wars in Syria and Asia Minor.
Corazon Yamsuan, media consultant of the Philippine office of the international Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), said the campaign is part of ACN’s worldwide “One Million Children Praying the Rosary.”
A recent rosary campaign was dedicated to the children in Syria, “the innocent victims of a never-ending war.”
ACN Philippines started the One Million Children Praying the Rosary after it began its operation, as one of only two national offices in Asia (the other is in Korea).
“When one million children pray the rosary, the world will change,” said St. Padre Pio.
“The best thing we at ACN can do for peace in this world is to take the message from heaven seriously,” said Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, president of ACN, a pontifical foundation.
“Is it not significant that God chose children in Fatima to be the recipients of the most momentous peace plan for the new age?” added Piacenza.
Materials for the prayer campaign of ACN can be downloaded from www.millionkidspraying.org.
Novenas
Santo Domingo Church in Quezon CIty is holding the Novena to San Vicente Ferrer every Friday, 5:30 p.m. A Dominican missionary during the medieval ages, San Vicente Ferrer is considered a miraculous saint and the patron saint of builders.
The church, which hosts the National Shrine of La Naval de Manila, is likewise holding the perpetual novena to the Santissimo Rosario de La Naval de Manila every Saturday, 5:30 p.m.
It is also holding every Wednesday, 5:30 p.m., the perpetual novena to Saint Dominic de Guzman, founder of the Dominican Order.
For announcements, e-mail lzulueta@inquirer.com.ph.