Lawrence is thought to have been born on 31 December AD 225,[1] inHuesca (or less probably, inValencia), the town from which his parents came in the later region ofAragon that was then part of theRoman province ofHispania Tarraconensis.[2] The martyrs Orentius (Modern Spanish:San Orencio) and Patientia (Modern Spanish:Santa Paciencia) are traditionally held to have been his parents.[3][4]
Lawrence encountered the futurePope Sixtus II, a famous teacher born in Greece, inCaesaraugusta (Zaragoza), and they travelled together from Hispania to Rome. When Sixtus became thepope in 257, he ordained the young Lawrence who was only 32, as adeacon, and later appointed him asArchdeacon of Rome, the first among the seven deacons who served in thecathedral church. This was a position of great trust that included the care of the treasury and riches of the Church and the distribution of alms to the indigent.[5]
St. Lawrence Distributing the Treasures of the Church byBernardo Strozzi
St. Cyprian,Bishop ofCarthage, noted that at the time the norm was that Christians who were denounced were executed and all their goods confiscated by the Imperial treasury. At the beginning of August 258, theEmperor Valerian issued an edict that allbishops,priests, and deacons should immediately be put to death. Pope Sixtus II was captured on 6 August 258, at thecemetery of St. Callixtus while celebrating theliturgy and was executed immediately.[6]
After the death of Sixtus, theprefect of Rome demanded that Lawrence turn over the riches of the Church, andSt. Ambrose wrote that Lawrence asked for three days to gather the wealth.[7] He worked swiftly to distribute as much Church property to the indigent as possible to prevent it from being seized by the prefect. On the third day, at the head of a small delegation, he presented himself to the prefect. When ordered to deliver the treasures of the Church, he presented the city's indigent, crippled, blind, and suffering, and declared that these were the true treasures of the Church: "Here are the treasures of the church. You see, the church is truly rich, far richer than your emperor!"[8][9]
As a deacon in Rome, Lawrence was responsible for the material goods of the Church and the distribution of alms to the poor.[8] Ambrose of Milan related that when the treasures of the Church were demanded of Lawrence by the prefect of Rome, he brought forward the poor, to whom he had distributed the treasure as alms.[10] "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."[5] The prefect was so angry that he had a great gridiron prepared with hot coals beneath it and had Lawrence placed on it, hence Lawrence's association with the gridiron.
Despite the Church being in possession of the actual gridiron, historian Patrick J. Healy opines that the traditional account of how Lawrence was martyred is "not worthy of credence,"[11] 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."[11] A theory of how the tradition arose is proposed that as the result of a mistake in transcription, the 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 readassus est [he was roasted]."[11] TheLiber Pontificalis, which is held to draw from sources independent of the existing traditions andActa regarding Lawrence, usespassus est concerning him, the same term it uses for Pope Sixtus II, who was martyred by decapitation during the same persecution 4 days earlier.[11]
St. Lawrence in stained glass window byFranz Mayer & Co. He is holding a palm branch, a symbol of martyrdom, and a griddle, the instrument of his death.
TheRoman Catholic Church erected six churches on the sites inRome traditionally associated with his martyrdom:
Annexed Church of St Lawrence in Fonte (Chiesa Annessa San Lorenzo in Fonte): site of his imprisonment by the centurion Ippolito and of the fountain in which the Saintbaptized his fellow prisoners;
Church of St Lawrence in Panisperna (Chiesa di San Lorenzo in Panisperna): site of his actual martyrdom/death and the oven used to roast him to death; and
Also in Rome are three other significant churches that are dedicated to Saint Lawrence but not associated with his life:
Minor Basilica of St Lawrence in Lucina (Basilica Minore di San Lorenzo in Lucina), which possesses the relics of the gridiron on which and the chains with which he was martyred;[12]
Church of St. Lawrence in Palatio ad Sancta Sanctorum, Pontifical Sanctuary of the Holy Stairs (Chiesa di San Lorenzo in Palatio ad Sancta Sanctorum,Pontificio Santuario della Scala Santa), proximate to theArchbasilica of St. John in Laterano, which was originally a private Papal chapel when the edifice that houses it was a Papal palace, and which housed some of the most precious relics of theRoman Catholic Church, hence the title "Sancta Sanctorum" ("Holy of Holies"); and
The life and miracles of Lawrence were collected inThe Acts of St Lawrence but those writings have been lost. The earliest existing documentation of miracles associated with him is in the writings ofGregory 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 his workmen fed from it for ten days.[5][better source needed]
The mediaeval Church ofSt Mary Assumed (Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta) in the small commune ofAmaseno,Lazio, Italy houses the famous reliquary of theampulla containing relics of Lawrence, namely a quantum of his blood, a fragment of his flesh, some fat and ashes. Tradition holds that annually, on the Feast of St. Lawrence, and sometimes on other occasions, the blood in the ampulla miraculously liquefies during the Feast and re-coagulates by the following day.[13][better source needed]
Lawrence is one of the most widely venerated saints of theRoman Catholic Church. Legendary details of his death were known to Damasus, Prudentius, Ambrose, and Augustine. Devotion to him was widespread by the fourth century. His liturgical celebration on 10 August has the rank offeast in theGeneral Roman Calendar, consistent with the oldest of Christian calendars, e. g. theAlmanac 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. He remains one of the saints enumerated in the "Roman Canon" of theHoly Mass as celebrated in theLatin Church.[citation needed]
Because thePerseid Meteor Shower typically occurs annually in mid-August on or proximate to his feast day, some refer to the shower as the "Tears of St Lawrence".[5]
The shrine containing thegridiron that was used to roast St Lawrence to death according to tradition is in the Church ofSan Lorenzo in Lucina,Rome.
Within Anglicanism Lawrence's name is traditionally spelledLaurence or Lawrence. His feast is on 10 August which is in the calendar of theBook of Common Prayer, the volume of prayers which, in its 1662 format, was the founding liturgical document of a majority of Anglican provinces. In theBook of Common Prayer the feast is titled "S Laurence, Archdeacon of Rome and Martyr". His feast on 10 August has been carried into the contemporary calendars of most Anglican provinces,[18] Laurence isremembered in theChurch of England[19] with aLesser Festival under the title "Laurence, deacon, martyr, 258" on 10 August.[20]
According to Francesco Moraglia the role ofdeacon 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 [d]eacons such as Lawrence help to discover and come to a deeper meaning of the special nature of the diaconal ministry."[6]
El Escorial, near Madrid, laid out in a pattern resembling a gridiron
Many churches, schools, parishes, towns, and geographic features throughout the world are named for Lawrence of Rome. Depending on locality they are namedSt. Lawrence,St. Laurence,San Lorenzo,St. Laurent,St. Lorenz or similarly in other languages.San Lorenzo del Escorial, themonastery built by KingPhilip II of Spain, commemorates his victory at theBattle of St. Quentin (1557) on the Feast of St. Lawrence.[23] The monastery and the attached palace, college, and library are laid out in a pattern that resembles the gridiron of Lawrence's martyrdom. The gridiron of Lawrence is also thought the basis of the design of theCertosa di San Lorenzo di Padula, which is a monastery inPadula,Salerno, Italy.
The rescue operation for the miners trapped in the2010 Copiapó mining accident inChile was namedOperacíon San Lorenzo after Lawrence, patron saint of miners.[25]
Bernalillo, New Mexico celebrates three days of devotions to the Saint, to honor a devotional promise made by Spanish settlers during the1692 Pueblo Revolt. Among the festivities are a set of dances performed bymatachines. An image of the saint is kept in the house of a local family throughout the year, and a vigil and feast are held from 9–11 August. It is one of the oldest dancing processions in the New World.[26]
InFargo, season 1, episode 3, Lorne Malvo notes the stained glass window of St Lawrence in Stavros' office, in response to which Stavros narrates his martyrdom, in "A Muddy Road".
Several other saints were also named "Lawrence" (or the corresponding local variant), so one might also occasionally encounter something named after one of them. More information on these topics can currently be accessed through disambiguation articles like:
^abcCiting St. Donato as the original source. Janice Bennett.St. Laurence and the Holy Grail: The Story of the Holy Chalice of Valencia. Littleton, Colorado: Libri de Hispania, 2002, pg. 61.
^abCiting Francisco Diago and St. Donato as sources. Janice Bennett.St. Laurence and the Holy Grail: The Story of the Holy Chalice of Valencia. Littleton, Colorado: Libri de Hispania, 2002. Pages 15 and 62.
^Janice Bennett.St. Laurence and the Holy Grail: The Story of the Holy Chalice of Valencia. Littleton, Colorado: Libri de Hispania, 2002. Page 61.
^abFr. Paolo O. Pirlo, SHMI (1997). "St. Lawrence".My First Book of Saints. Sons of Holy Mary Immaculate – Quality Catholic Publications. pp. 176–178.ISBN971-91595-4-5.
^Bosworth, The Rev'd Dr Robert W. (1 August 2022).A Year with the 23rd Psalm. Page Publishing.ISBN978-1-64628-636-2.
^abcdRev. 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. p. 184.
^Parrocchia Santa Maria Assunta in Amaseno, Lazio, Italy; "I Luoghi di San Lorenzo a Roma";[1]; accessed 13 March 2017.
^See, for example, "An Anglican Prayer Book" (1989), the Province of Southern Africa, published by Collins Liturgical,ISBN0 00 599180 3, Calendar, page 24.
^See "Common Worship" (2000) core edition, published by Church House Publishing,ISBN0 7151 2000 X, Calendar, page 12.
^"The Calendar".The Church of England. Retrieved27 March 2021.
^The Oxford Dictionary of Saints, published by Oxford University Press;ISBN0 19 283069 4 (paperback), cites 228 churches.
^The Church of England official index (ACNY) cites 224 spelt "Lawrence" and "Laurence".
_-_Alte_Pinakothek_-_Munich_-_Germany_2017.jpg)
_-_Martire_di_San_Lorenzo_di_Palma_il_giovane.jpg)
%2c_chapel_window_4%2c_St_Lawrence.jpg)
