SAINT (SAN) LORENZO RUIZ

Born in seventeenth-century Manila to a Chinese father and Tagalog mother both of whom were Catholic, San Lorenzo went into loyally serving the Catholic Church and the faith. In 1636, he was falsely accused of a killing a Spaniard. Seeking asylum through the Dominican fathers, San Lorenzo and three Dominican priests sailed to Okinawa, Japan to serve the communities there as missionaries.
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Sadly, the Japanese Shogunate violently suppressed Christianity during this period of time. Because of his faith, San Lorenzo was arrested and brutally tortured. Through all the suffering, however, he refused to renounce Christianity. He died a martyr on Nishizaka Hill in Nagasaki, Japan in 1637. 

His famous last words were:
"Ego Catholicus sum et animo prompto paratoque pro Deo mortem obibo. Si mille vitas haberem, cunctas ei offerrem." ("I am a Catholic and wholeheartedly do accept death for God; had I a thousand lives, all these to Him shall I offer.")

Pope St. John Paul II beautified San Lorenzo during his Papal visit in Manila in 1981 during the first beautification ceremony outside of the Vatican. Canonization occurred in 1987 supported by a miracle recorded back in 1983.

​His persistence, perseverance, and dedication to the faith in unfamiliar settings inspires us, the UCLA Pilipino Catholic Association, to passionately serve our community through the best and worst of times in secular society, proudly leading us to recognize San Lorenoz Ruiz as the inaugural patron of Kawan.

San Lorenzo Ruiz is recognized as the Patron of the Philippines, Filipino youth, Filipino altar servers, Filipino overseas workers, Chinese Filipinos, migrant workers, immigrants, and poor families.

Inspired by the Muoi patronage of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the Kawan Pilipino Catholic Association at UCLA, Inaugural Executive Board recognized San Lorenzo Ruiz as its official patron saint at the organization's founding.

SAINT (SAN) PEDRO CALUNGSOD

San Pedro's exact birthplace in mid-seventeenth century Visayas is still debated, but Ginatilan in the Diocese of Cebu is considered likely. San Pedro received Jesuit boarding school primary education where he mastered the Catholic Catechism and Spanish. His education in the arts and humanities primed him for his life as a missionary.

At the age of 14 in 1668, he was selected amongst young catechists to join Spanish Jesuit missionaries in Islas de Los Ladrones ("Isle of the Thieves") renamed Mariana Islands in honor of the Blessed Mother. San Pedro and priest Diego San Vitores catechized the native Chamorros in Guam, leading to a myriad of baptisms.

Choco, a Chinese criminal from Manila exiled to Guam, had spread rumors that baptismal waters were poisonous which reached Chief Matapang in the Village of Tumon before San Pedro and San Vitores' arrival in 1672. While the missionaries came with good tidings, the skeptical chief refused conversion and planned on executing them. While the chief was away, San Pedro and San Vitores baptized his infant girls at the consent of his Christian wife. They were ruthlessly killed aftewards, stripped naked and drowned in Tumon Bay. San Pedro was martyred at the age of 17.

In 1980, Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal of Cebu requested from the Vatican the beautification and canonization of San Pedro. Pope St. John Paul II approved his beautification in 2000 and celebrated it in St. Peter's Square in Rome. A miracle in 2003 led to Pope Benedict XVI canonizing San Pedro at World Mission Sunday in 2012. 

John Paul II described San Pedro as the "good soldier of Christ' with his unwavering dedication to the faith and decision to die beside San Vitores in his teenage years. The Pope called young people to draw encouragement and motivation from the example set by this teenage saint, to proudly answer the call from Christ. The example he set leads us, the UCLA Pilipino Catholic Association, to be young catechists and evangelists of Filipino Catholic culture, unashamed and unafraid in secular society today. For these reasons, we recognize San Pedro Calungsod as the second patron of Kawan.

San Pedro Calungsod is recognized as the Patron of Filipino youth, Catechumens, the Philippines, Filipino overseas workers, Cebuanos,  and Visayans as the second Filipino canonized by the Vatican.  

Inspired by the parallels between San Pedro and late Co-Founder Richard Olaso Baal, the Kawan Pilipino Catholic Association at UCLA, 2nd Richard Olaso Baal Endowed Executive Board recognized San Pedro Calungsod as its second official patron saint on May 16, 2024.