10th August ~ St Laurence

For several senators who were present at his death were so moved by his heroic fortitude and piety that they became Christians upon the spot.

ST LAURENCE, Martyr (A.D. 258)

There are few martyrs in the Church whose names are so famous as that of St Laurence, in whose praises the most illustrious among the Latin fathers have written, and whose triumph, to use the words of St Maximus, the whole Church joins in a body to honour with universal joy and devotion. He was one among the seven deacons who served the Roman church; this was a charge of great trust, to which was annexed the care of the goods of the church, and the distribution of its alms among the poor. The Emperor Valerian in 257 published his edicts against Christians and Pope St Sixtus, the second of that name, was apprehended the year following and put to death; on the fourth day after the faithful Laurence followed him to martyrdom. That is all that is known for certain of the life and death of St Laurence, but Christian piety has adopted and consecrated as its own the details supplied by St Ambrose, the poet Prudentius, and others; though it must be regretfully admitted that good reasons have been adduced for doubting the historical reliability of such moving incidents as St Laurence’s presentation of the goods of the Church, and the manner of his death.

According to these traditions, as Pope St Sixtus was led to execution, his deacon Laurence followed him weeping, and said to him, “Father, where are you going without your deacon?” The pope answered, “I do not leave you, my son. You shall follow me in three days.” Laurence was full of joy, hearing that he should be so soon called to God; he set out immediately to seek all the poor, widows and orphans, and gave among them the money which he had in his hands; he even sold the sacred vessels to increase the sum, employing it all in the like manner. When then the prefect of Rome was informed of these charities, imagining that the Christians had hid considerable treasures, he wanted to secure them: for he was no less a worshipper of gold and silver than of Jupiter and Mars. With this view he sent for St Laurence, and said to him, “You Christians often complain that we treat you with cruelty, but no tortures are here thought of; I only inquire mildly after what concerns you. I am informed that your priests offer in gold, that the sacred blood is received in silver cups, and that in your nocturnal sacrifices you have wax tapers fixed in golden candlesticks. Bring out these treasures; the emperor has need of them for the maintenance of his forces. I am told that according to your doctrine you must render to Caesar the things that belong to him. I do not think that your God causes money to be coined; He brought none into the world with Him; He only brought words. Give us therefore the money, and be rich in words.” St Laurence replied, without showing any concern, “The Church is indeed rich; nor hath the emperor any treasure equal to what it possesses. I will show you a valuable part; but allow me a little time to set everything in order, and to make an inventory.” The prefect did not understand of what treasure Laurence spoke, but, imagining the hidden wealth already in his hands, was satisfied with this answer and granted him three days.

During this interval Laurence went all over the city, seeking out the poor who were supported by the Church. On the third day he gathered together a great number of them, and placed them in rows, the decrepit, the blind, the lame, the maimed, the lepers, orphans, widows and maidens; then he went to the prefect and invited him to come and see the treasure of the Church. The prefect, astonished to see such an assembly of misery and misfortune, turned to the deacon with threatening looks, asked him what all this meant, and where the treasures were which he had promised to show him. St Laurence answered, “What are you displeased at? These are the treasure of the Church.” The prefect’s anger was not allayed but redoubled, and in a fury of rage he shouted, “You mock me! The axes and the fasces, the ensigns of the Roman power, are not to be insulted! I know that you desire to die: that is your madness and vanity: but you shall not die immediately, as you imagine. You shall die by inches!” Then he had a great gridiron made ready, and glowing coals put under it, that the martyr might be slowly burnt. Laurence was stripped and bound upon this iron bed over the slow fire, which roasted his flesh by little and little. His face appeared to the Christian to be surrounded with a beautiful light, and his suffering body to give off a sweet smell; but the unbelievers neither saw this light nor perceived this smell. The martyr felt not the torments of the persecutor, says St Augustine, so passionate was his desire of possessing Christ: and St Ambrose observes that whilst his body burned in the material flames, the fire of divine love was far more active within his breast and made him regardless of the pain. Having suffered a long time, he turned to the judge and said with a cheerful smile, “Let my body be turned; one side is broiled enough.” When the executioner had turned him, he said, “It is cooked enough, you may eat.” Then, having prayed for the conversion of the city of Rome that the faith of Christ might spread thence throughout the world, St Laurence gave up the ghost.

Prudentius ascribes to his prayer the entire conversion of Rome, and says God began to grant his request at the very time he made it; for several senators who were present at his death were so moved by his heroic fortitude and piety that they became Christians upon the spot. These noblemen took up the martyr’s body on their shoulders and gave it honourable burial on the Via Tiburtina. His death, says Prudentius, was the death of idolatry in Rome, which from that time began to decline; and now (c. 403) the senate itself venerates the tombs of the apostles and martyrs. He describes with what devotion and fervour the Romans frequented the church of St Laurence and commended themselves to his patronage; and the happy issue of their prayers proves how great his power is with God. St Augustine assures us that God wrought in Rome many miracles through the intercession of St Laurence, and St Gregory of Tours, Fortunatus, and others, relate several in other places. St Laurence has been one of the most venerated martyrs of the Roman church since the fourth century, and he is named in the canon of the Mass. He was certainly buried in the cemetery of Cyriaca in agro Verano on the Via Tiburtina, where Constantine built the first chapel on the site of what is now the church of St Laurence-outside-the-Walls, the fifth patriarchal basilica of the city.

From Butler’s Lives of the Saints