died 1637
FEAST September 28
Lawrence, the first Filipino saint, and 15 others were martyred in Japan. The 10 Asians and six Europeans included nine Dominican priests. After various tortures, 14 of them died by being suspended by the feet in a pit of manure, one was burned at the stake and one died in prison. Lawrence, a Dominican tertiary, was living in Binondo, Philippines, with his wife and three children, when he fled an unjust murder charge by joining a missionary expedition to Japan. He was arrested there for being a Christian, which was then illegal. He died in the pit in 1637.