NEW YORK — The Filipino Catholic Apostolate of New York (FILCA) will host a Holy Mass for the Feast of San Lorenzo Ruiz on Sunday, Sept. 13, at 2 p.m. at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, gathering Filipino Catholics from across the Archdiocese of New York.
The celebration will be FILCA’s first San Lorenzo Mass since the apostolate was formally established in July 2025 and will highlight 44 years of devotion to San Lorenzo Ruiz in the United States.
The Most Rev. Gerardo Colacicco, vicar for clergy of the Archdiocese of New York, will be the principal celebrant. As vicar for clergy, Colacicco oversees the pastoral and spiritual welfare of priests serving in the archdiocese.
Organizers said the Mass is being held to honor the legacy of San Lorenzo Ruiz and to strengthen the faith and visibility of Filipino Catholics, especially youth, young adults, altar servers and overseas Filipino workers. It is also intended to bring together Filipino communities from the archdiocese’s 10 deaneries in a single, large-scale celebration at one of the most prominent Catholic churches in the United States.
FILCA chaplain Rev. Fr. Rhey Garcia said the apostolate specifically wants to offer this Mass for young people, altar servers and OFWs because San Lorenzo Ruiz is their patron saint. He told The FilAm that FILCA hopes the celebration will encourage youth to become more active in their parishes and in the life of the Church.
San Lorenzo Ruiz, the first Filipino saint, was a Chinese Filipino layman from Binondo, Manila, where he served as an altar boy and later worked as a clerk for the Binondo Church. He was active in the Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary and lived a family life with his wife, Rosario, and their three children.
In 1636, after being falsely accused of killing a Spaniard, Lorenzo left the Philippines aboard a ship with Dominican missionaries and eventually reached Japan during a period of intense persecution of Christians under the Tokugawa shogunate. He and his companions were arrested, imprisoned and subjected to various forms of torture meant to force them to renounce their Catholic faith.
In September 1637, they were taken to Nishizaka Hill in Nagasaki, where they were hung upside down over a pit in a slow and agonizing execution. Lorenzo refused to renounce his faith and died on Sept. 29, 1637, at age 42.
San Lorenzo Ruiz was beatified in Manila by Pope John Paul II in 1981, in the first beatification ceremony held outside the Vatican, and was canonized in Rome on Oct. 18, 1987, among the 16 Martyrs of Japan, becoming the first Filipino saint. A reported miracle attributed to his intercession involved the healing of a young girl in Iloilo who suffered from brain atrophy.
Inside St. Patrick’s Cathedral, a statue of San Lorenzo Ruiz is permanently enshrined near the statue of Saint Rose of Lima, patroness of the Philippines, reflecting the enduring presence of Filipino devotion in New York. The upcoming Mass will place that devotion at the center of cathedral life for a day, organizers noted.
FILCA serves as the pastoral and coordinating body for major Filipino Catholic events under the Archdiocese of New York, working with clergy and lay leaders to organize liturgies, processions and cultural-religious observances. The San Lorenzo Mass will be its latest archdiocesan-wide initiative.
“This Mass is not only a tribute to San Lorenzo Ruiz’s courage but also a testimony to the living faith of Filipino Catholics in New York,” FILCA President Sunny Cervantes said in a statement.
“By gathering our communities at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, we hope to inspire our youth, support our overseas workers and remind every Filipino that the Church is a home where their stories and sacrifices are seen and honored.”
Cervantes added that marking four decades of devotion in the United States is an opportunity “to pass on the story of a martyr who chose faith in the face of torture and death, and to encourage Filipinos today to live that same quiet courage in their daily lives.”
While the liturgy is being organized with particular outreach to Filipino youth, young adults, altar servers and OFW organizations, the Mass is open to all Filipinos and other faithful from any parish, deanery, archdiocese or diocese.
