Every day in the Catholic Church Mass is celebrated, normally in honor of a saint. Often I will take the time to read about them. Yesterday was the Feast of St Lawrence. I knew nothing about him but in the homily the Priest mentioned a few details of the life of Saint Lawrence, enough to send me off last night in search of who St Lawrence was and how he gained sainthood.
St Lawrence was born about 225 in Spain and ended up in Rome where the Christian church was still in it's infancy. He rose up quickly in the early church---which turned out to not be an entirely good thing. The Roman Emperor Valerian ordered in 258 the execution of all the Christians they could round up---and along with the Pope of the time St Lawrence was one of the unlucky ones who was about to be offered a chance at Martyrdom.
It seems old Valerian wasn't satisfied by doing anything "normal" like cutting off their heads or nailing them on a cross---for a select few he had an imagination.
In retribution for his insolence St Lawrence was placed on an iron grid (which is on display today) and they roasted him. It is said that after enduring the pain for a long period of time he called out to his persecutors that he was done on that side, they should turn him over! St Lawrence is also the patron Saint of Cooks---go figureSt 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 August 258, the Emperor Valerian issued an edict that all bishops, priests, and deacons should immediately be put to death. Pope Sixtus II was captured on 6 August 258, at the cemetery of St Callixtus while celebrating the liturgy and executed forthwith.[6]
After the death of Sixtus, the prefect of Rome demanded that Lawrence turn over the riches of the Church. St Ambrose is the earliest source for the narrative 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, 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 deliver the treasures of the Church he presented the indigent, the crippled, the blind, and the suffering, and declared that these were the true treasures of the Church.[8] 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 and can be compared to the parallel Roman tale of the jewels of Cornelia.
On 10 August, Lawrence, the last of the seven deacons, and therefore, the ranking Church official, suffered a martyr's death.[9]
There is some debate about the authenticity of this account and St Lawrence may have lost his head like the rest of them---but I found the multiple stories I read of him of great interest.
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