Monday, September 19, 2011

The Martyrdom of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz


The Martyrdom of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz

Few of us have access to this extremely precious primary historical text about the martyrdom of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz which forms part of the Positio or the official document presenting his Cause for Beatification and Declaration as Martyr. I requested Father Robert Godding, S.J. who is head of the Bollandist Society and our professor at Loyola School of Theology for a copy of the document which he has graciously granted.

Here I offer a rather rough translation from the Spanish: 1.) of the preliminary paragraphs describing the document and its importance and 2.) an excerpt from the actual court interrogation at the time when Lorenzo Ruiz is brought in. Here we see the stark reality of his struggle in the face of torture and death, in which the sterling witness of martyrdom shines through.

As we celebrate the memorial of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz, may he ever remind us of our truest identity among our many identities....

* * *

The Martyrdom of the priests, Friar Miguel, Friar Thomas, Friar Vicente, Friar Antonio, of the Order of Preachers and of Lorenzo Ruiz, a native of Manila, who came from Manila and arrived at Nagasaki on September 13, 1637. (Manuscript copy of the Portuguese original in the Roman Archives of the Society of Jesus [ARSI] Jap. Sin., 64, fols. 208r-214v.)

The extraordinary importance of this document calls for a detailed study of the manuscript, its origins, its authors, its date of redaction and its historical value.

1. The Manuscript

Up to now, it has been impossible to locate the original autograph, although it was probably in Manila for some time. The only available document today is a copy of the manuscript found in the Jap Sin collection of the Roman Archives of the Society of Jesus. All the documents in this collection, related to the history of the missions of the Society of Jesus in Japan and China, are from the 16th and 17th centuries. This particular document is found in Volume 64 of the documents ranging from 1582-1669, between an “Annual of Japan in the year 1632.” (fols. 205-207) which bears the signature of Father Antonio de Sousa, S.J. and another “Annual of the Province of Japan in the year 1644” (fols. 216-232), written entirely by Father Antonio Ferreira, S.J.

How did this document end up in the Archives of the Society of Jesus?

2. The Authenticity of the Copy

This copy was made by “the same hand” that wrote many laters addressed by Father Manuel Dias, visitator of the Jesuit Province in Japan who was resident in Macau, to the Superior General beginning in 1635 that are to be found in the same archive, Jap Sin., vols 18 I, 18 II. Father Diaz carried out the task [of writing letters] himself from 1635 up to 1639, when in his “old age” he would only sign these letters, which would henceforth be written by his assistant or secretary. The copy of the manuscript that we are studying is also the work of this assistant scribe.

The interest that Father Dias took in this document is obvious. The news about the apostasy of the Vice-Provincial of Japan, Father Cristobal Ferreira, which happened in October 1633 and was sent to Macau later in a confusing manner, was the cause of alarm among the Jesuits and of scandal among the people of Macau and Manila. Father Dias sought all means at his command to establish the veracity of the report and to secure the repentance of his subject. In 1635, he sent a letter to Ferreira through Major Captain Gonzalo de Silveira and the Portuguese who made the annual voyage that year and received more certain news from them. The following year, he made the same request and received more concretely informed and definitive confirmation. Thus, on 2 November 1636, Ferreira was officially declared expelled from the Society. Between 1637 to 1643, a number of Jesuits went to Japan with the intention of speaking to Ferreira, to work for the faith and die as martyrs as an act of expiation. The first to do this was Father Marcello Mastrilli in 1637, who was martyred shortly after his arrival in 17 October of the same year.

All these data are enough to explain why Father Manuel Dias had particular interest in the account that we are studying. In it are given information about the encounter and dialogue of our Servants of God with Father Ferreira in the tribunal of Nagasaki. They were the first religious to see Ferreira, for whom the Servant of God, Antonio Gonzales carried a personal letter, whose contents are unknown to us, which Gonzales gave to the apostate in the same tribunal.

The history of the document can be reconstructed in this manner. In mid-November 1637, six commercial ships came to Macau carrying news about the martyrdom of our Servants of God and of the Jesuit Marcello Mastrilli. With it came this document intended for the Dominican Fathers of Manila. Father Dias, having learned this, did not waste the opportunity to instruct his assistant or secretary to make a copy to be transmitted to the Superior General in Rome. The original went as intended to Manila, where it arrived in a package from Macau in 27 December 1637. This original served as the source for the Relatio made by Father Domingo Gonzales published in 1638. Meanwhile, the copy of the manuscript from Macau had to be sent to the Superior General of the Society of Jesus in 1638 through Fr. Antonio Cardim, S.J., who was elected Procurator of the Province of Japan in Rome and left Macau towards the end of this year through the Portuguese route, at the same time when the Assistant of the Procurator, Fr. Raimundo Gouvea, made his way through the Spanish route. In this way, while the original has been lost, the copy of the manuscript was able to be preserved in the Roman Archives of the Society of Jesus. There can be no doubt regarding its authenticity.

3. The authors

The authors who signed this account are “Pero Roiz” and “Antonio Carvalho,” both Portuguese names. As to “Roiz,” there can be no doubt that it is an abbrevation of the surname “Rodrigues.” Both persons held the office of jurabaça, an archaic Portuguese term, which in this case is clearly defined for us by the witnesses to the Process in Macau. The jurabaças were the interpreters of the Xoya (Shoya), that is to say, the Governor of Nagasaki.

Pedro Rodrigues and Antonio Carvalho were two lapsed Christians who successfully held office as interpreters of the governors of Nagasaki between the years 1635 and 1634, at least. In 1635, the daikwan of Nagasaki, Hiyetsugu Heizo wrote a letter to the representatives of the Portuguese ships anchored in their port, describing the exact requirements of the decrees of the Shogun that forbade any assistance to the missionaries. The letter was not signed by Heizo but by Antonio Carvalho, Antonio Nerete and Pedro Rodrigues, about whom the historian Boxer rightly comments: “These were the Portuguese names of the official Japanese interpreters in Nagasaki. The real name of Antonio Carvalho was Namura Hachizayemon.”

Thus, the authors of this document were Japanese with Portuguese names, interpreters of the Government and “persons of credibility and great faith.” They were lapsed Christians but not ex-priests, so that, besides no report [of them being such] in any document, they did no understand the dialogue in Latin between the Servant of God, Miguel de Aozaraza and the lapsed priest Tomas Araki in the tribunal of Nagasaki. They clearly have a Christian background and cannot even hide their admiration of the fortitude of the martyrs that they did not have. Here are some phrases of Christian sentiment: “our holy faith,” “Our Lady of the Rosary,” “Our Lord who called us to himself,” in the pits the Servants of God were reciting “psalms,” and “in this way they endured their glorious martyrdom”; the judges and executioners were called several times with the name “Pharisees.” Their long period of service to the Government proves that the authorities had confidence in them, who were at the same time charged to look after the affairs of the merchants from Macau.

The document was written in Portuguese, a language that they managed with some competence, but with many grammatical defects and confusion with Spanish words. That is to say, they spoke the two Iberic languages indistinctly, but more of Portuguese. Hispanisms are abundant in the text, like “chiquilhos” (chiquillos), “barça” (balsa), “acertou” (acerto), “colgar” (ahorcar). And more especially, these interpreters, in a laudable effort to be exact about the interrogation of the tribunal, wrote in Spanish many phrases as spoken by our Servants of God, but this time, the phrases bear the marks of Portuguese orthography.

4. Date of Redaction

The document is undated, but it is possible to establish with some certainty that it was written shortly after the martyrdom to be sent to Macau through the Portuguese merchants in the annual voyage of 1637. The martyrdom occurred on 29 September and the ships left Nagasaki on November 6. The interpreters had to write this document between these dates. The ships arrived in Macau “in 15 November,” as noted by the Visitator of the Society of Jesus, Father Manuel Dias. In 1638, the text of the document was already in Manila because it was used by Father Domingo Gonzales for the Relatio that he wrote concerning the martyrdom of the Servants of God.

5. Historical Value of the Document

Certainly, the testimony of these two interpreters, Pedro Rodrigues and Antonio Carvalho, lacks the canonical bearing of depositions from an ecclesiastical process and the official character of a judicial act. Neither is it a sworn personal declaration or made in the first person. It is a historical account of events known and experienced by two eyewitnesses, writing at the request of others or by their own initiative. A careful examination of the document reveals signs of complete honesty and historicity. First of all, as lapsed Christians, they have to be considered impartial witnesses, even if in their language there is a hint of Christianity and admiration for the fortitude of the martyrs. Secondly, as interpreters, they respected their craft, and it is worth noting that more than once they transcribed another dialogue of Father Vicente dela Cruz, the only Japanese priest in the group. Thirdly, the form and style is sterling for its simplicity, brevity and conciseness, unadorned with personal reflections, maintaining constantly the dialogical form of the interrogations, retaining various phrases literally in the language in which they were pronounced, that is, in Spanish, but with understandable grammatical deficiencies, indicating the chronology from the time of the arrival of the Servants of God in Nagasaki, with one of the interpreters revealing his identity at one point of the interrogation as “A.C.” (Antonio Carvalho). The document has all the necessary requirements to be considered an authentic historical source.

On the other hand, always assuming the role of interpreters, the authors limited the document almost entirely to the acts of the trial. Few are their remarks about what occurred in the prison but sufficient to attest to the death of Father Antonio Gonzales in glorious martyrdom. They also speak about the procession of the Servants of God on the way to martyrdom, which agrees with what some Portuguese who witnessed the procession saw. The account concerning the death of the five other Servants of God, though brief, is direct, clear and trustworthy because these interpreters were there until the last moment, when they were taken out from the pits to be gutted, the services of the interpreters being needed all the time.

6. Observations

A few more observations may be made about the testimony of these witnesses. The details that are mentioned in the document about the background of the Servants of God, their Superiors, their departure from Manila, etc. are all accurate. The authors are only mistaken about one data, the roots of Padre Antonio Gonzales, which they say is Valencia in Leon. Father Guillermo Courtet is always referred to as Friar Tomas, a sign that he was registered upon arrival with his religious name, Fray Tomas de Santo Domingo. Padre Vicente de la Cruz speaks in his native tongue, which explains his apparent silence in the document. Two things are clearly said about Father Vicente: that “he fell,” that is to say, he fell away in the beginning and when they were on their way to martyrdom “he was redeemed” that is, that he was able to take back his apostasy. The interventions of Lorenzo Ruiz are well described, with fine psychological points. This Servant of God wanted to know if, denying his faith, they would spare his life; a curiosity that may be called a hesitation or a temptation, but immediately he regains his presence of mind to publicly and courageously declare that he was ready to give a thousand lives for God and for his Christian faith. As regards Lazaro, there is a problem that we cannot overlook.

7. The Problem of Lazaro

The last Servant of God in this group is a Japanese lay man (el japonés seglar), called such consistently by the interpreters Pedro Rodrigues and Antonio Carvalho. In other historical sources, he is known as Lazaro.

He is the only one among the six who is not mentioned in the title of the document. The interpreters expressly affirm that, a short time before he was brought before the tribunal, Lazaro apostatized and say that the motive was “fear” of the tortures. Despite his apostasy, the judges continued subjecting him to torture in the hope that they will be able to extract a confession about his motives of going with those religious, about persons who helped them or about possible complications with the Portuguese in Macau. But Lazaro had nothing special to declare to the satisfaction of the judges.

What is not made clear in the document is whether Lazaro, before he died, revoked his apostasy. Because the interpreters, in referring to the march to the place of martyrdom, say literally: “We are not aware whether the Japanese lay man who had fallen had risen.” We are not aware, that is to say, we can neither affirm nor deny, we do not know, we are not informed. We can conclude that the interpreters were witnesses of his death, because they saw him dead, but they are not witnesses of his martyrdom.

To establish his martyrdom, it is necessary to refer to other testimonies. As we shall see later in the Relatio of Domingo Gonzales, based on them and other witnesses of the martyrdom, it is categorically affirmed that Lazaro repented in prison and “he suffered the other tortures with Christian faith and for Christ, like his other six companions, without faltering again, and they were glorious martyrs of the Lord.” Based on this, the reconciliation happened in the prison. The interpreter-authors of this document, while knowing what was happening in the court interrogation did not know everything that happened in the prison. And otherwise, the sources that affirm his martyrdom do not bear the least contradiction in three centuries of uninterrupted tradition concerning his fame of martyrdom.

8. This text

The Portuguese original of the manuscript copy is difficult reading because it has many abbreviations, because it is in archaic Portuguese and because of the linguistic limitations of its authors. Its interpretation in modern orthography has been made by Ms. Maria Luisa Falcão, who has a Licentiate in Germanic Languages from the University of Lisboa, after many attentive readings. The Spanish version is from Fidel Villaroel, O.P., member of the Academia Filipina de la Lengua Española, who sought to offer a translation as literal as possible, even at the expense of literary perfection, divided into paragraphs to facilitate reading.

* * *

[The Statements of Lorenzo Ruiz]

Father Friar Antonio being withdrawn from the torture, they bring in the native, who, being summoned for the torture, said:

- I would like to say that I know nothing of this. Why am I going to be tortured? Hear me first and do not proceed in this manner. I am a native (indio), the son of a Chinese father and a native mother. I am married and have two sons and one daughter. I cannot go to Manila because I have a pending case with a Spaniard. I came with these Fathers without knowing where they were going to escape from Manila, and as soon as we arrived in Japan, I wanted to leave in the very same boat (champan). And because they told me that the boat was going to the island of Formosa, I decided to stay with the Fathers because they are going to hang me in the island of Formosa.

The governors (buguios) said to him:

- Therefore, should we spare your life, will you deny your faith? – He responded:

- Certainly not, because I am a Christian, and I shall die for God and for him I shall give many thousands of lives if I had them. And so do what you want.

The governors ordered that they should not torture him. The Father Friar Antonio told him while on his way to the torture.

- Son, if you have anything to say against us, choose to say it and save your life. – This precisely, they say, is what proves the constancy of his faith. To this he responded that he knew nothing, and that he was willing to die because he no longer desired [to save] his life.

Liturgical Texts for Saint Pio of Pietrelcina


September 23
SAINT PIO OF PIETRELCINA, PRIEST
Obligatory Memorial

A provisional translation while awaiting the official English translation which is one of the texts I am personally looking forward to in the coming English translation of the Roman Missal. At present, this text is only available online in French at saint.padre.pio.free.fr on which I based my translation.

I. Liturgy of the Hours

from the Common of Pastors or the Common of Holy Men, religious; except for the following:

Almighty and eternal God,
by a singular grace you gave the holy priest, Pio,
a share in the Cross of your Son
and you renewed by his ministry
the wonders of your mercy.
Through his intercession,
grant that we may always remain united
with the Passion of Christ
so to come with joy to the glory of the Resurrection.

We ask this...

OFFICE OF READINGS

SECOND READING
Letter of Padre Pio to Raffaelina Cerase, 19 May 1914
The divine craftsman gets ready to prepare stones to build an eternal temple; he cuts these stones by repeated blows of his hammer and carefully polishes them by removing any excess.

This is what the holy Catholic church, our tender Mother sings, as the hymn of the Office of the Dedication of a Church. And it can be seen to be true in this way. Each heart intended for eternal glory can be very well considered as one of these stones created for the eternal temple. When a contractor wants to build a house, he must first cut the stones, which will be used for construction; this he does with blows of hammer and chisel. Thus our heavenly Father acts on the heart which he chooses and desires from all eternity, in his great wisdom and Providence, to build as an eternal dwelling place.

To reign with Christ in eternal glory, the heart must thus be cut with large blows of hammer and chisel; in this way, as with stones, the divine architect prepares the hearts that it chooses. What are these blows of hammer and chisel? They are the shadows, my sister: the fears, temptations, afflictions, spiritual anxieties, and also the physical maladies.

Therefore, give thanks for the infinite tenderness of our Heavenly Father, who deals thus with your heart to save it. Why will mature people not praise these kind gestures that every father does? Open your heart to this celestial doctor of hearts and surrender yourself in all confidence to his very sacred hands for he treats you as someone whom he has chosen to follow Jesus closely, until the summit of martyrdom. As for me, I believe, that his grace will make itself manifest in you through the joy and wise movement of your heart. Thus, do not doubt that all that happens to your soul has been willed by the Lord. Thus, do not fear that God makes you fall into some evil or ruin! It should be enough for you to know that in all your life, you never offended the Lord whom you should approach more and more.

If this most benevolent Spouse hides himself in your heart, he does so, not as a punishment for your sin as you believe, but to further test your fidelity and your constancy; and moreover, to cure some weakness that your eyes of feeble, failing flesh, do not see, of which no one is simply free. As we know from the Holy Scripture: the righteous man falls seven times a day. (Pr 24,16).

And believe me, if I did not learn that you are also afflicted, I would be less happy, since I would think that the Lord decides to give you less pearls… Drive out like temptations doubts to the contrary… Drive out also the doubts that refer to your manner of living, namely, that you did not heed the divine calls and that you opposed the gentle invitations of your Husband. All that does not come from the good spirit, but from the bad. They are diabolic tricks that aim to bring you away from perfection, or at least to delay you along his way. Do not lose courage!

When Jesus shows himself to you, thank him; should he hide from you, thank him still. To love, everything is a joy. I wish that you deliver your spirit with Jesus on the cross and that you be able to say with him: All is accomplished! (Jn 19,30)

II. Eucharistic Celebration

Entrance Antiphon (Ps 16, 5-6)
Those whose heart is with God sing:
Lord, you are my alloted portion and my cup.
My part is indeed the better one.

OPENING PRAYER

Almighty and eternal God,
by a singular grace you gave the holy priest, Pio,
a share in the Cross of your Son
and you renewed by his ministry
the wonders of your mercy.
Through his intercession,
grant that we may always remain united
with the Passion of Christ
so to come with joy to the glory of the Resurrection.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

FIRST READING (Gal 2, 19-20)
Brothers and sisters: Thanks to the law, I died to the law, so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me. Now, insofar as I live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and has given himself up for me.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM (Ps 128, 1-2. 3. 4-5)
R. Happy the man who fears the Lord.
Happy are all who fear the Lord
and walk according to the ways of God.
What your hands provide, you will enjoy.
You will be happy and prosper.
R. Happy the man who fears the Lord.
Behold, how blessed,
the man who fears the Lord.
You will see the happiness of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
R. Happy the man who fears the Lord.

VERSE BEFORE THE GOSPEL (Lk 21, 36)
Alleluia. Alleluia.
Be vigilant at all times and pray
that you may have the strength to escape
the tribulations that are imminent
and to stand before the Son of Man.
Alleluia. Alleluia.

GOSPEL READING (Mt 16, 24-27)
Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay everyone according to his deeds.

PRAYER OVER THE GIFTS

God of great mercy,
in Saint Pio you have recreated the old man
into a new man in your image.
Grant that we may be renewed like him
so we may please you by this sacrifice of pardon and peace. We ask this through Christ, our Lord.

Communion Antiphon (Mt 19, 27-29)
Amen, I say to you, who have left all for my sake:
you shall receive a hundred times more and inherit eternal life.

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION

Strengthened by this communion,
we ask you, Lord, our God,
that through the example of Saint Pio,
we may desire nothing but you
and live always in this world
as persons recreated by your love.
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord.

Mass Propers for Saint Lorenzo Ruiz


September 28
Saint Lorenzo Ruiz, married man,
and his companions, martyrs

Obligatory Memorial

OPENING PRAYER

Lord God,
Give us the endurance of your martyrs
Lorenzo Ruiz and his companions
in serving you and our neighbor,
for those who suffer persecution for justice’s sake
are blessed in the kingdom of heaven.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

PRAYER OVER THE GIFTS

Accept, O Lord, the gifts your children offer
As we celebrate the martyrdom of Lorenzo Ruiz and his companions,
and let the Eucharist which gave them courage in persecution
make us steadfast in adversity.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION

O God,
In the death of your holy martyrs
The mystery of the Cross shines forth;
Grant that by the power of this sacrifice
We too may hold fast to Christ, your Son
And labor in his Church for the salvation of all.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.