Today is one of those Feast Days in the Catholic Church that I really don’t know much about. Maybe I haven’t been paying attention, bur I don’t remember hearing any priest over the years, say much about him.
So — I looked him up. He’s listed as St. Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr. He was born on December 31, 225 and died on August 10, 258. His Feast Day is today, August 10.
The fact that today’s celebration ranks as a feast certainly says something about him, and that the Church holds him in fairly high esteem.
But we really know very little about his life. He’s one of those whose martyrdom obviously made a deep and lasting impression on the early Church.
He was one of seven deacons who were in charge of giving help to the poor and needy. The big trouble started when the troublemakers, who did not like Christians, decided to kill Pope Saint Sixtus II. The story goes that as they took the Pope away for execution, Lawrence followed him — weeping, and said, “Father where are you going without your deacon?” The Pope answered, “I am not leaving you, my son, in three days you will follow me”. Lawrence was so happy, he gave all the money he had with him to the poor. He even sold expensive church vessels so he would have more money to give away.
The perfect of Rome (responsible for maintaining law and order within Rome — he was later in charge of Rome’s entire city government) was a greedy man and thought the Church had a great fortune hidden away. He ordered Lawrence to bring the Church’s treasure to him. The (to be) saint said he would — in three days. Then he went through the city and gathered together all the poor and sick people supported by the Church. He showed them to the perfect and said, “These people are the Church’s treasure.” Well — as you might imagine, the perfect was a little bit ticked, actually he was furious. He asked that Lawrence be killed slowly so he would suffer more. The saint was tied on top of an iron grill over a slow fire that roasted him.
God gave him strength enough to remain cheerful and maintain his sense of humor — the legend says that before he died, he said, “It is well done. Turn me over!!”
St Lawrence is the Patron Saint of, among others, Rome, miners, tanners, students, poor, firefighters — and — cooks. I’d say that’s appropriate, given St. Lawrence’s ending…..
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