Blessed Lawrence
Blessed Lawrence (Latin: Laurentius; born c. 225, probably in Caesaraugusta or Osca, Hispania; died August 10, 258 in Rome) was a deacon of the Church of Rome and one of the most celebrated martyrs of the early Christian period. Serving under Pope Sixtus II as one of the seven deacons of Rome, Lawrence was executed by roasting on a gridiron three days after the pope's own beheading during the Valerian persecution of 258. His courage and reported wit in the face of death, his legendary act of presenting the poor as "the treasures of the Church" to the Roman prefect who demanded Church property, and the antiquity and universality of his veneration place him among the most beloved of all martyrs. He is named in the Roman Canon of the Mass, venerated from immemorial antiquity, and his feast on August 10 is observed throughout the Catholic world. One of the patron saints of Rome, he is also patron of the poor, of cooks, and of archivists.
Lawrence's background is recorded in the earliest hagiography as Spanish — specifically from the region of Aragon, possibly from the city of Osca (Huesca) or Caesaraugusta (Zaragoza). He came to Rome, where he became a deacon of the Roman church and came under the notice of Pope Sixtus II, who is said to have regarded him with particular affection. When the Valerian edicts struck the Roman church in 258, it was Lawrence who would demonstrate, in the tradition of the faith, that the true wealth of the Church consists not in gold but in the poor whom it serves.
Stored in Cargo: Blessed Lawrence
| Blessed Lawrence | |
|---|---|
| Feast Day | August 10 |
| Profession | Deacon; martyr |
| Rel. Affiliation | Catholic Church; early Roman Christian community |
| Patronage | Rome; the poor; cooks; brewers; students; archivists; librarians; the poor of the Church; Sri Lanka; Canada (as co-patron of Saint Lawrence River region) |
| Attributes | Gridiron; dalmatic; palm of martyrdom; purse of money or coins given to the poor |
| Birthplace | Osca or Caesaraugusta, Hispania (present-day Huesca or Zaragoza, Spain) |
| Death Place | Rome, Roman Empire |
| Cause of Death | Martyrdom; roasted alive on a gridiron in Rome on August 10, 258, during the persecution of Emperor Valerian |
| Primary Shrine | Basilica of San Lorenzo fuori le Mura, Rome, Italy |
| Liturgical Class | Feast in the General Roman Calendar (universal Church) |
| Historic Class | Feast of the Third Class (universal) |
Biography
Origins
The biographical sources for Lawrence are the early hagiographical texts and the references in Pope Damasus I (pontificate 366–384), whose epigrams on the Roman martyrs constitute some of the earliest documentary evidence. Damasus, in a verse inscription placed at Lawrence's tomb, praised him as the conqueror of fire, the burning zeal of faith. The tradition preserved in the hagiography and in the liturgy places Lawrence's birth in Spain — specifically in the region of Aragon — and records that he came to Rome where Pope Sixtus II made him one of the seven deacons of the Roman church, assigning to him, in accordance with ancient custom, the care of the poor and the administration of the Church's charitable resources.
The sources are consistent in depicting the relationship between Sixtus and Lawrence as one of deep personal attachment: the older pope appears as a father figure, Lawrence as a devoted son and deacon.
The Valerian Persecution
The persecution of Emperor Valerian struck the Roman church in 257–258. Valerian's edicts required clergy to sacrifice to the Roman gods and forbade Christians from assembling for worship or from entering their cemeteries. In August 258 the edicts were sharpened: bishops, priests, and deacons were to be immediately executed.
Pope Sixtus II was arrested at Rome on August 6, 258 — the date later became the feast of the Transfiguration — and was beheaded in or near the Valerian cemetery on the Via Appia, together with four of the seven deacons. The hagiography records a celebrated exchange: as Sixtus was led to execution, Lawrence caught up with him and cried out, "Father, where are you going without your son? Where are you going without your deacon? You never offered sacrifice without me as your minister; why do you want to do so now?" Sixtus replied with a prophecy: "I do not abandon you, my son; a greater contest awaits you. In three days you will follow me."
The Treasures of the Church
After the execution of Sixtus, the Roman prefect Cornelius Secularis demanded that Lawrence hand over the treasures of the Roman church — the wealth in gold and silver that the authorities believed the Christians to have accumulated. Lawrence asked for three days to gather the treasure. He then assembled the poor, the sick, the blind, the lame, the widows, and the orphans whom the Church of Rome was supporting, and brought them before the prefect, saying: "Behold the treasures of the Church."
This gesture, which has inspired Christian social teaching from Augustine to modern times, enraged the authorities. Lawrence was condemned to a slow and painful death.
Martyrdom
Stripped of his deaconal vestments, Lawrence was bound to a large iron gridiron placed over a bed of burning coals. He endured the torture with extraordinary composure. The tradition preserved in Ambrose of Milan and Prudentius records the famous words attributed to Lawrence after he had lain on the gridiron for some time: "Turn me over; I am done on this side." Though this detail belongs to the realm of devotional tradition, it became one of the most celebrated expressions of Christian courage in the face of death, and has been commemorated in art and literature for seventeen centuries.
Lawrence died on the morning of August 10, 258. His body was cared for by the Christian woman Cyriaca, who had sheltered him, and was buried in the catacomb on the Via Tiburtina — the road to Tivoli — later known as the Catacomb of Cyriaca. Pope Damasus I later composed the verse inscription commemorating his death.
Basilica and veneration
Constantine I, after his conversion to Christianity, built a basilica over the tomb of Lawrence — one of the first churches he erected in Rome. This basilica, enlarged and rebuilt over the centuries, became the Basilica of San Lorenzo fuori le Mura (Saint Lawrence outside the Walls), one of the four great patriarchal basilicas of Rome and a major pilgrimage destination throughout the medieval period. Lawrence's feast was so important in the early Roman calendar that the days following August 10 were called the "little Easter" (pascha annotinum).
Significant events
- Born c. 225, traditionally in Osca or Caesaraugusta, Roman Spain; came to Rome.
- Appointed archdeacon of the Roman church by Pope Sixtus II; entrusted with care of the poor.
- August 6, 258: Pope Sixtus II arrested and beheaded; Lawrence encountered him on the way to execution.
- Summoned by the Roman prefect to hand over the Church's "treasures"; presented the poor of Rome instead.
- Arrested, condemned, and executed by roasting on a gridiron on August 10, 258.
- Buried in the Catacomb of Cyriaca on the Via Tiburtina; basilica built over his tomb by Constantine.
- Named in the Roman Canon of the Mass; feast of August 10 observed universally.
Significant locations
Legend
Birth location: Osca or Caesaraugusta, Hispania (present-day Huesca or Zaragoza, Spain)
Death location: Rome, Roman Empire
Notable location: City where Lawrence served as deacon and was martyred (Rome, Italy)
Notable location: Papal basilica built over Lawrence's tomb on the Via Tiburtina; one of the four major basilicas of Rome (Basilica of San Lorenzo fuori le Mura, Rome, Italy)
Notable location: Traditional birthplace of Lawrence in Roman Hispania (Huesca (Osca), Aragon, Spain)
Notable location: Original burial site of Lawrence, where his martyrdom was commemorated from the 3rd century (Catacomb of Cyriaca, Via Tiburtina, Rome)
Notable location: Royal monastery built by Philip II of Spain in honour of Lawrence, on whose feast the Battle of Saint-Quentin was won (1557) (Escorial Monastery, San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain)
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Canonization
Immemorial veneration
Lawrence is venerated from the very date of his martyrdom (August 10, 258) and is one of the small number of martyrs explicitly named in the Roman Canon of the Mass, alongside Peter and Paul, Clement, Felicity and Perpetua, Agatha, Agnes, Cecilia, and Anastasia. His cult predates the formal procedures for canonization by more than a millennium, and he is accorded recognition equivalent to that of a beatification under the category of immemorial cult. He has not been formally canonized through the modern congregation process. His feast (August 10) is observed as a Feast throughout the universal Church.
Feast day
August 10
Veneration
Blessed Lawrence is one of the most universally venerated of the early Christian martyrs. He is a patron saint of Rome, of the poor, of cooks (by reason of his manner of death), and of archivists and librarians. The Basilica of San Lorenzo fuori le Mura in Rome contains his tomb and is one of the seven pilgrimage churches of Rome. The Escorial Monastery in Spain — one of the most magnificent royal buildings in the world — was built by King Philip II in fulfilment of a vow made on the feast of Saint Lawrence in 1557 and dedicated to him. Countless churches, institutions, rivers, and places around the world bear his name, from the Saint Lawrence River in Canada to the city of San Lorenzo in Argentina.
Prayers
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