10 August 258 A.D. 1662 Book of
Common Prayer: Lawrence, 258 A.D., a
Martyr.
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Saint Lawrence
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Lawrence before Valerianus
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Martyr
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Born
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Died
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258 AD 10th August
Rome |
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Honored in
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Major shrine
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August 10
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Lawrence of
Rome (Latin: Laurentius, lit. "laurelled"; c. 225–258) was
one of the seven deacons of ancient Rome serving under Sixtus II who were martyred during the persecution of Valerian
in 258.
Contents
- 1 Life
- 2 Holy Chalice
- 3 Martyrdom
- 4 Miracles
- 5 Veneration
- 6 Legacy
- 7 Gallery
- 8 See also
- 9 References
- 10 External links
Life
Lawrence is believed to have been born
in Spain, at Huesca, a town in Aragon near the foot of the Pyrenees. As a
youth he was sent to Zaragoza to complete his
humanistic and theological studies. It was here that he first encountered the
future Pope Sixtus II, who was of Greek
origin. The future Pope was one of the most famous and esteemed teachers in
what was then one of the most renowned centres of learning. Eventually, both
left Spain for Rome. When Sixtus became the Pope in 257, he ordained Lawrence
deacon, and though Lawrence was still young, appointed him first among the
seven deacons who served in the patriarchal church; therefore he is called
archdeacon of Rome. This was a position of great trust, which included the care
of the treasury and riches of the church, and the distribution of alms among
the poor.[1]
St Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, notes
that Roman authorities had established a norm according to which all Christians
who had been denounced must be executed and their goods confiscated by the
Imperial treasury. At the beginning of the month of August, 258, the emperor
Valerian issued an edict commanding that all bishops, priests, and deacons
should immediately be put to death. Sixtus was captured on August 6, 258, at
the cemetery of St. Callixtus while celebrating the liturgy and executed forthwith.[2]
After the death of Sixtus, the prefect
of Rome demanded that Lawrence turn over the riches of the Church. Ambrose is
the earliest source for the tale that Lawrence asked for three days to gather
together the wealth.[3] Lawrence worked
swiftly to distribute as much Church property to the poor as possible, so as to
prevent its being seized by the prefect. On the third day, at the head of a
small delegation, he presented himself to the prefect, and when ordered to give
up the treasures of the Church, he presented the poor, the crippled, the blind
and the suffering, and said that these were the true treasures of the Church.
One account records him declaring to the prefect, "The Church is truly
rich, far richer than your emperor." This act of defiance led directly to
his martyrdom. This can be compared to the parallel Roman tale of the jewels of Cornelia.
On the 10th of August, Lawrence, the
last of the seven deacons, also suffered a martyr's death.[4]
Holy Chalice
According to lore, Lawrence was able
to spirit this away to Huesca, in present day Aragon, with a letter and a supposed inventory, where it lay hidden and
unregarded for centuries. When Augustine connects Lawrence with a chalice, it
is the chalice of the Mass:
For in that Church, you see, as you
have regularly been told, he performed the office of deacon; it was there that
he administered the sacred chalice of Christ’s blood. [5]
According to Catholic tradition the Holy Grail is a relic that was sent by St Lawrence to his parents in northern Aragon. He entrusted this sacred chalice to a friend whom he
knew would travel back to Huesca, remaining in the monastery of San Juan de la Peña, core of spiritual strength for the emerging kingdom of Aragon. While the
Holy Chalice's exact journey through the centuries is disputed, it is generally
accepted by Catholics that the Chalice was sent by his family to this monastery
for preservation and veneration. Historical records indicate that this chalice
has been venerated and preserved by a number of monks and monasteries through
the ages. Today the Holy Grail is venerated in a special chapel in the Catholic
Cathedral
of Valencia, Spain.
Martyrdom
By tradition, Lawrence was sentenced
at San Lorenzo
in Miranda, imprisoned in San Lorenzo in Fonte
and martyred at San Lorenzo in Panisperna. The Almanac of Philocalus for the year 354 mentions that he was buried in
the Via Tiburtina in the Catacomb
of Cyriaca[4] by Hippolytus and Justin the Confessor, a presbyter. One of the early sources for the martyrdom of Saint Lawrence
was the description by Aurelius Prudentius Clemens
in his Peristephanon, Hymn II.
A well-known legend has persisted from
earliest times. As deacon in Rome, Lawrence was charged with the responsibility
for the material goods of the Church, and the distribution of alms to the poor.
St. Ambrose of Milan relates that when St. Lawrence was asked for the treasures
of the Church he brought forward the poor, among whom he had divided the
treasure as alms.[4] "Behold in
these poor persons the treasures which I promised to show you; to which I will
add pearls and precious stones, those widows and consecrated virgins, which are
the church’s crown."[1] The prefect was so
angry that he had a great gridiron prepared, with coals beneath it, and had
Lawrence’s body placed on it, (hence St. Lawrence's association with the
gridiron). After the martyr had suffered the pain for a long time, the legend
concludes, he made his famous cheerful remark, “I'm well done. Turn me over!”[6] From this derives
his patronage of cooks
and chefs.
Some historians, such as Rev. Patrick
Healy, view the traditions of how Lawrence was martyred as "not worthy of
credence",[7] as the slow
lingering death cannot be reconciled "with the express command contained
in the edict regarding bishops, priests, and deacons (animadvertantur)
which ordinarily meant decapitation."[7] A theory of how
the tradition arose is put forward by Pio Franchi de' Cavalieri. He postulates
that it was the result of a mistaken transcription, the accidental omission of
the letter "p" – "by which the customary and solemn formula
for announcing the death of a martyr – passus est ["he
suffered," that is, was martyred] – was made to read assus est
[he was roasted]."[7] The Liber
Pontificalis, which is held to draw from sources independent of the
existing traditions and Acta regarding Lawrence, uses passus est
concerning him, the same term it uses for Pope Sixtus II (martyred by beheading during the
same persecution).[7]
Constantine
I is said to have built a small oratory in honour of the
martyr, which was a station on the itineraries of the graves of the Roman
martyrs by the seventh century. Pope Damasus I rebuilt or repaired the church, now
known as San Lorenzo fuori le Mura,
while the minor basilica of San Lorenzo in Panisperna was built over the place of his martyrdom. The gridiron of the martyrdom
was placed by Pope Paschal II in the church of San Lorenzo in Lucina.
Miracles
The life and miracles of St. Lawrence
were collected in the work, The Acts of St. Lawrence, but this is now
lost. The earliest existing documentation of miracles associated with St.
Lawrence is found in the writings of St. Gregory of Tours (538–594), who mentions
the following:
A priest named Fr. Sanctulus was
rebuilding a church of St. Lawrence, which had been attacked and burnt, and
hired many workmen to accomplish the job. At one point during the construction,
he found himself with nothing to feed them. He prayed to St. Lawrence for help,
and looking in his basket he found a fresh, white loaf of bread, it seemed to
him too small to feed the workmen, but in faith he began to serve it to the
men. While he broke the bread, it so multiplied that that his workmen fed from
it for ten days.[1]
Veneration
The
stone on which Lawrence's body was laid after death, in San Lorenzo fuori le mura
Lawrence is one of the most widely
venerated saints of the Roman
Catholic Church. Legendary details of his death were
known to Damasus, Prudentius, Ambrose and Augustine. The church built over his
tomb became one of the seven principal churches in Rome and a favorite place
for Roman pilgrimages.[6] Devotion to him
was widespread by the fourth century. Since the Perseid
Meteor Shower typically occurs every year in mid-August, on or near
Saint Lawrence's feast day, some refer to the shower as the "Tears of
Saint Lawrence."[1]
St Lawrence is especially honoured in
the city of Rome, where he is one of the city's patrons. There are several
churches in Rome dedicated to him, including San Lorenzo in Panisperna,
traditionally identified as the place of his execution. He is invoked by
librarians, archivists, cooks, and tanners as their patron. His celebration on
10 August has the rank of feast
throughout the entire Catholic world.[8] On this day, the
reliquary containing his burnt head is displayed in the Vatican for veneration.
The Escorial Palace, situated
at the foot of Mt. Abantos in the Sierra de Guadarrama, was built by King Philip II of Spain to commemorate the victory of Spanish forces over those of King Henry II of France at the Battle of St Quentin, which took place on the feast of St Lawrence on 10 August 1557. To honour
the martyr, the entire floor plan of this imposing edifice was laid out in the
form of a gridiron, the means by which St Lawrence was martyred.
French explorer Jacques Cartier gave the name of Saint Lawrence to
the widest river estuary in the world. At the
mouth of this river is the large Gulf of Saint Lawrence, surrounded by all the Canadian Maritime provinces. Closer to the source
of this river are the Laurentian
mountains (north of the city of Montreal), the major Montreal
borough of Saint-Laurent
(borough), as well as the famed Saint
Lawrence Boulevard that spans the full
11.25 km width of the island of Montreal. Further upstream, on the south
side of the river near its source at Lake Ontario, is St. Lawrence County, New
York.
St Lawrence is the patron saint of the monks of Ampleforth Abbey. St Lawrence is also
venerated by Anglo-Catholics. A major church in
Sydney, Australia, situated in the former civil (land division) parish of St
Lawrence, is called "Christ Church
St. Laurence". The Brotherhood of St Laurence also bears his name.
Legacy
According to Fr. Francesco Moraglia,
Professor of Dogmatic Theology, the role of deacon is distinguished by service
of the poor. He is destined both to the service of the table (corporal works of
mercy) and to the service of the word (spiritual works of mercy). "The
beauty, power and the heroism of Deacons such as Lawrence help to discover and
come to a deeper meaning of the special nature of the diaconal ministry."[2]
The Basilica of St. Lawrence, Deacon
and Martyr is located in Asheville, North Carolina.[9]
Rescue operation for the miners
trapped in the 2010 Copiapó mining
accident in Chile was termed Operación San Lorenzo after
the saint.
Gallery[
A statue of St Lawrence overlooking the river named after
him, the Saint Lawrence River
See also
- Saint Lawrence (disambiguation) for places, churches and schools called Saint Lawrence or Saint Laurent
- San Lorenzo del Escorial, the monastery built by Philip II to commemorate his victory at St. Quentin on the feast day of St. Lawrence. The monastery (and the attached palace, college, library, etc.) are laid out in a grid resembling a grill with a handle.
- Saint Lawrence River
- San Lorenzo de Almagro
- List of saints
- Lorcán Ua Tuathail, also known as St Laurence O'Toole
References
1.
^ a b c d "St. Lawrence, Deacon Martyr,"
said to have been martyred by being put on a gridiron. St. Lawrence Orthodox
Christian Church
4.
^ a b c Kirsch, Johann Peter. "St. Lawrence." The
Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 9 Feb.
2013
5.
^ [St Augustine. “Second Reading of the feast day of St
Laurence. “ A sermon preached by St Augustine on the feast day of St Laurence.
Published in the Universalis of August 10 each year. http://www.universalis.com/20130810/readings.htm]
6.
^ a b Foley OFM, Leonard, "St.
Lawrence", Saint of the Day, Lives, Lessons, and Feast (Revised by
Pat McCloskey OFM), Franciscan Media, ISBN 978-0-86716-887-7
7.
^ a b c d Rev. Patrick Joseph Healy (1905). The Valerian persecution: a
study of the relations between church and state in the third century A.D.
Boston, Ma: Houghton, Mifflin, & Co.
8.
^ From the oldest Christian calendars, such as the Almanac of Philocalus for the year 354, the inventory of which contains the
principal feasts of the Roman martyrs of the middle of the fourth century,
onwards.
External
Henry Wace, A Dictionary of Christian Biography: Laurentius
Golden Legend: "The Life of Saint
Laurence"
[2] Church of Saint Lawrence,
Birgu, Malta
Henry Wace on St.
Lawrence at: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/wace/biodict.html?term=Laurentius%20(36) We bring the entire quote here.
Laurentius (36), Aug. 10, archdeacon of Rome, and martyr under Valerian, a.d. 258. Cyprian (Ep. 82 al.
80 ad Successum) mentions the rescript of Valerian directing that
bishops, presbyters, and deacons should forthwith be punished, and records the
martyrdom of Xystus bp. of Rome, in accordance with it on Aug. 6. Laurentius,
the first of the traditional seven deacons of Rome, suffered four days
afterwards. The genuine Acts of this martyrdom were lost even in St.
Augustine's time, as he tells us (Ser. 302, de Sancto Laurent.)
that his narration was gained from tradition instead of reciting the Acts as
his custom was (S. Ambr. de Off. i. 41). Laurentius suffered by burning
over a slow fire, the prefect thinking thus to extort the vast treasures which
he believed the Christians to have concealed. He was buried in the Via
Tiburtina in the cemetery of Cyriaca by Hippolytus and Justinus, a presbyter,
where Constantine the Great is said to have built a church in honour of the
martyr, which pope Damasus rebuilt or repaired. Few martyrdoms of the first
three centuries are better attested than this one. St Laurentius is
commemorated in the canon of the Roman Mass. His name occurs in the most
ancient Calendars, as Catalog. Liberianus or Bucherianus (4th cent.), in the
Calendar of Ptolemeus Silvius (5th cent.), and in others described under CALENDAR In D. C. A. (cf. Smedt, Introd.
ad Hist. Ecclesiast. pp. 199–219, 514). He is commemorated by Prudentius in
his Peristeph. (Mart. Rom. Vet.; Mart. Adon., Usuard.; Tillem. Mém.
iv. 38; Ceillier, ii. 423; Fleury, H. E. vii. 38, xi. 36, xviii. 33).
Cf. Fronton, Ep. et Dissert. Eccl. p. 219 (1720), where, in a note on
Aug. 10, in Rom. Kai., an accurate account is given of the churches
built at Rome in his honour.
[G.T.S.]
“For all the Saints,
Who from their Labors Rest,
Who Thee, by Faith, Before the
World Confessed,
Thy Name, O Jesus, Be forever
blessed
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