O Saint Lorenzo Ruiz

O Saint Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila,
Please pray for us, your own people.
And maintain a loving vigil over us
As we struggle today to love God
And to love one another in God
By being true to our better selves
As one people and one nation
One faithful Republic -
Beyond time and human limitations,
United across all our generations,
by our common endeavor of Country.

O Saint Lorenzo, holy martyr of God.
Valiant witness of Jesus Christ
And first Saint of our people!
Your glorious and shining martyrdom
Along with your faithful Companions
Upon that terrible hill in Nagazaki, Japan
Has shown to the whole of God’s creation;
Unto both angels and men alike,
Unto all of blessed Christendom,
Unto your own Filipino nation,
And unto all the nations of the earth
That the demands of our holy faith
Can be met - even unto the shedding of blood
And that each of us common, nameless Filipinos
May truly aspire to brave the hard and narrow Way
And walk the mountain path of Christian perfection.

O Saint Lorenzo, beloved of our people.
Strong in your faith in God and in your people
Steadfast in hope, now confirmed in charity!
Intercede for us at the foot of the Master!
May the Lord magnify in each our souls
The love of God and of others in God
That awaken in our hearts a lively faith
That renew in all our communities
The true spirit of selfless service
Founded in love, immortal and divine,
Which is the true soul of Country.

O Saint Lorenzo, our honored countryman.
Strong in your faith in God and in your people
Steadfast in hope, now confirmed in charity!
Intercede for us at the foot of the Master!
Help us to trust in God and to cling to Him
Believing in the unfailing help of God's grace.
May the Lord dispel our darkness with His Light
And enliven in all our families
A holy thirst and a profound desire
For the ever living waters of the Gospel of Christ
That awaken each heart to the call of salvation.

O Saint Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila,
Please pray for us, your own nation
As we struggle today to love God
And to love one another in God
By being true to our better selves
As one people and one nation
One faithful Republic -
Under the eternal vigilance of Almighty God
In the one, blessed Name
Of the Thrice-Holy God:
The Father,
The Son,
And The Holy Spirit.

AMEN.