INTRODUCTION

 

 

I must confess that I must have written and rewritten the introduction to my ‘little book’ on San Lorenzo Ruiz, at least, four times, each time when a milestone has happened in the history of either the San Lorenzo movement or the Filipino Apostolate in the New York metropolitan area such as the canonization of Lorenzo Ruiz in 1987 marking six years of the efforts of the Filipinos to promote the cause in the region, or the creation of the Filipino Apostolate of the Archdiocese of Newark in 1985 and the creation of the Filipino Apostolate of the Archdiocese of New York in 1995, or the establishment of the Philippine Pastoral Center in Manhattan in 1998, or the announcement of the renaming of a church in Manhattan after San Lorenzo Ruiz thereby paving the way for the historic first Filipino parish in New York, possibly, in northeastern USA.

 

That the aforementioned are milestones is a liberty that I personally take, even as I write this ‘little book’ on San Lorenzo which I fondly entitle San Lorenzo Stories in New York. Or On The Road With San Lorenzo.

 

I should thank Jose Mari Chan or Joe Mari for suggesting this title. When I told Joe Mari as we sat over coffee in the Manila Peninsula Hotel lobby about my book 

that more or less chronicles our pioneering efforts promoting Blessed Lorenzo in New York leading to the canonization in 1987 (Joe Mari was at one time ‘hermano mayor’ of a Blessed Lorenzo celebration) and about how I’ve been struggling with an appropriate title for the book, Joe Mari reminded me right away that since I have always been in the thick of the movement leading all the way, how about a title that suggests your journey and the journey of those who have joined you, a title like On The Road With San Lorenzo? Besides, there’s a biblical ring to it like Saint Paul’s road to Damascus, Joe Mari added!

 

The following day, I lost no time in going to the UST Publishing House along Espana Street in Manila and mentioned the title suggested by Joe Mari to Dr. Mecheline Manalastas, the publishing house’s director, who was quite satisfied with the title. The first title that I gave to the book was San Lorenzo Stories in New York. It was followed by a second title San Lorenzo and Me. I want to thank Jonathan Englert for suggesting the title San Lorenzo and Me. I remember Jonathan from my days in St. Malachy’s Church, the Actor’s Chapel on Broadway where I served as pastor from 2001 to 2003 and the meetings we had discussing the centennial book project on St. Malachy’s Church. When I revealed to him my own ‘secret’ book project in the course of our conversations related to the final editing of the book that he was doing, Jonathan became enthused about ‘my little stories’ on San Lorenzo and when he got to read the article “My Jewish Good Samaritan,” he jumped at the idea of entitling my ‘little book’ 

 

 

San Lorenzo and Me telling me that my personal experience promoting the San Lorenzo movement and the devotions has to stand out if the book has to appeal to other people.

There is where the human interest value of my ‘little book’ lies, Jonathan assured me. People will be grateful to you for sharing with them your stories about San Lorenzo as only you can tell them in your own words and with your own passion and devotion to San Lorenzo, he added. Forget the tendency to do a historical narrative, no matter how extensive and precise it may be because of your special role as the founder of the San Lorenzo movement and the organizer of so many San Lorenzo liturgies for the past twenty one years. Forget the temptation to be a historian of some sort for the Filipino Catholics of New York. This advice of Jonathan continues to ring aloud in my ears to this very day that I am writing down these words.

 

Jonathan Englert could be right. And so, too, Brian Caulfield, former reporter of Catholic New York, who had also given me words of encouragement on my ‘little book’ saying that my personal accounts, my first hand knowledge of events, dates and places and people who figured in these events is a great treasure worth sharing with others. (Incidentally, I am deeply grateful to Brian for offering to edit my writings. Brian tried to assure me that he’d be happy editing my book in honor of his Filipino wife Maria and their two sons Stephen James and Justin Christian. I should say that I felt comfortable asking Brian to do some editing for my book because of my association with him in the past when he used to cover our 

 

San Lorenzo liturgies in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York for Catholic New York.)

San Lorenzo And Me! But, I confided to Dr. Manalastas, as I had confided to Jonathan Englert and to Brian Caufield that I’m not comfortable with a title containing the word Me. I would feel bashful that attention would be directed towards me.

 

On The Road With San Lorenzo! Needless to say, it’s my story – from the day I first heard of the first Filipino martyr’s name to the time when I organized the very first mass in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in his honor following his beatification in 1981 in Manila and when I eventually founded the Blessed Lorenzo Ruiz Association of America (BLRAA) that later became the San Lorenzo Ruiz Association of America (SLRAA) – when Blessed Lorenzo became San Lorenzo after his canonization in 1987 – and to the later period when, as coordinator of the Filipino Apostolate of the Archdiocese of New York, I organized promotional concerts and high-profile feast day masses, particularly, the ones officiated by top American and Filipino prelates like Cardinal Jaime Sin of Manila (1984), Cardinal John O’Connor (1985), Cardinal (then Archbishop) Theodore McCarrick (1988), Cardinal Bernard Law (1989) and, recently, Cardinal Edward Egan, current Archbishop of New York, (2000 and 2003).

 

The names I mention in my writings are, to my knowledge, accurate as accurately as I could remember them with fondness and with loving gratitude. I consider myself blessed that my notebooks, liturgical programs, and playbills have weathered the years. As references to dates and names, they prove invaluable. It goes without saying that the story of San Lorenzo is also the story of countless thousands of people who have figured in ways big or small, but, nevertheless, always significant and important, in the Filipino immigrants’ spiritual saga in this part of America.

 

My ‘little book’ is what exactly it is – little – because it does not pretend to tell the complete story of San Lorenzo. There are stories of other people, no doubt, whose significance, both historical and spiritual, to the life of Filipinos may even be greater than I could ever hope for. I hope that someday their stories can also be told. My ‘little story’ is, I would imagine, just a piece of the bigger picture of what many of my American friends call “the wonderful story of the Filipino Catholics who, by their devout ways and deep sense of commitment, have made some difference in the life of the Church in America.”

 

I wish to express my profoundest gratitude to Dr. Mecheline Manalastas for taking interest in my “little book” and especially for suggesting that I should participate in the quadri-centennial celebration of the University of Santo Tomas, my alma mater, in the year 2006. According to Dr. Manalastas, UST Publishing House intends to publish 400 books by Thomasian alumni as its way of celebrating the 400th anniversary of the university that was founded in 1606.

 

My New York stories of Lorenzo Ruiz are my humble contribution to the amazing saga of this lowly Filipino sacristan whose martyrdom and eventual sainthood have

inspired his countrymen in metropolitan New York to honor him in many homes and churches like Holy Family Church near the United Nations, St. Malachy’s Church on Broadway, Saint Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue and, finally, in a church to be named after him, the soon-to-open Chapel of San Lorenzo Ruiz in Lower Manhattan, that has been designated by Cardinal Edward Egan a church for the Filipinos of New York, the first in the United States!