St. Lawrence of Brindisi, Priest and Doctor of the Church Born: July 22

St. Lawrence of Brindisi, Priest and Doctor of the Church Born: July 22, 1559 in Brindisi, Italy Died: July 22, 1619 in Lisbon, Portugal Beatified: 1783 Canonized: 1881 by Leo XIII Feast Day: July 21 St. Lawrence is probably the least known of the 33 Doctors of the Church. READ Summary of St. Lawrence from Proper Offices of Franciscan Saints He was born in the Kingdom of Naples and given the name Julius Caesar, Casare. The Franciscan Conventuals in Brindisi gave him his early education. He gained renown as an orator at age 6 and at age 12 was chosen to give a Christmas address on the infant Jesus to local citizens. After the early death of his parents, he was educated by his uncle, a priest, at the College of St Mark in Venice. At age 16, he entered the Capuchin Franciscan Order, a relatively new order of Franciscans, in Venice and received the name Lawrence. The Capuchin Franciscan Order arose in 1520 when Matteo da Bascio , an Observant Franciscan friar native to the Italian region of the Marches , said he had been inspired by God with the idea that the manner of life led by the friars of his day was not the one which their founder, St. Francis of Assisi , had envisaged. He sought to return to the primitive way of life of solitude and penance as practiced by the founder of their Order. His religious superiors tried to suppress these innovations, and Friar Matteo and his first companions were forced into hiding from Church authorities, who sought to arrest them for having abandoned their religious duties. They were given refuge by the Camaldolese monks, in gratitude for which they later adopted the hood (or cappuccio ) worn by that Order - which was the mark of a hermit in that region of Italy - and the practice of wearing a beard. The popular name of their Order originates from this feature of their religious habit . In 1528, Friar Matteo obtained the approval of Pope Clement VII and was given permission to live as a hermit and to go about everywhere preaching to the poor. These permissions were not only for himself, but for all such as might join him in the attempt to restore the most literal observance possible of the Rule of St. Francis . Matteo and the original band were soon joined by others. Matteo and his companions were formed into a 2 separate province , called the Hermit Friars Minor, as a branch of the Conventual Franciscans , but with a Vicar Provincial of their own, subject to the jurisdiction of the Minister General of the Conventuals. The Observants, the other branch of the Franciscan Order at that time, continued to oppose the movement. While still a deacon, Lawrence was assigned to give the Lenten sermons at San Giovanni Nuovo in Venice and preached with such passion and eloquence that the whole city was in admiration of him. His words warmed the coldest of hearts and brought many to repentance. He completed his studies of philosophy and theology at the University of Padua but stalled at being ordained because of his thoughts of unworthiness. He was ordered by his superiors to proceed and was ordained a priest at age 23. Lawrence had a remarkable gift of languages. He spoke and read Italian, Latin, Hebrew, Greek, German, Bohemian, Spanish and French. Because of this, he was able to study the Bible in its original texts. He became an accomplished preacher. The sermons he left fill eight folio volumes. His method of preaching was aimed to reach his listeners hearts and convert them and he always adapted his discourse to the spiritual needs of his listeners. READ Sermon of St. Lawrence entitled, “Preaching is an Apostolic Duty” PASS OUT sermon and ask groups to discuss how secular Franciscans can preach in the secular world. ASK if anyone would like to share with the Fraternity ideas from their group. Lawrence was appointed definitor general to Rome for the Capuchins in 1596. Because of his knowledge of Hebrew, Pope Clement VIII assigned him the task of converting the Jews in Rome. In the Papal states, Jews over twelve years old were required to hear a weekly sermon. When the rabbis heard friar Lawrence preach in Hebrew, they thought he must be a Jewish convert and began calling him “the living Bible.” Many Jews converted to Christianity due to Padre Lawrence with his familiarity with the Old Testament, the Greek Septuagint and the Aramaic Biblical Targumim, demonstrating how perfectly Christ fulfilled the Old Covenant and Mosaic Law. Beginning in 1599, Padre Lawrence established Capuchin monasteries in Germany and Austria, furthering the Counter-Reformation and brought many Protestants back to Catholism. The clarity of his arguments, his gifted oratorical skills and his demeanor inspired both trust and reverential fear winning thousands back to the true faith. He served in practically every office 3 of the Capuchins including teacher, seminary rector, Provincial superior, Definitor general, and Commissary general. His administration was characterized by wise firmness and fatherly tenderness. In 1601, while Lawrence was in Austria, Pope Clement VIII named him chaplain of the Imperial army of Rudolph the II, Holy Roman Emperor. The Emperor sent Padre Lawrence to Germany to rally the German princes and obtain their cooperation in fighting the Turkish army. The following was the situation occurring when Padre Lawrence was made chaplain: The Ottoman Turkish army under Mohammed III had invaded and conquered a large part of Hungary and was poised to move further into Europe. He bragged that he would conquer all of Europe and use the churches of Europe as stables for his horses and the altar of St. Peter’s Basilica as an animal trough. The Austro-Hungarian Emperor was determined to prevent further advances into Europe and near Budapest sent Padre Lawrence to the German princes to obtain their cooperation. They responded positively to his appeal and the Duke of Mercouer, Governor of Brittany, joined the imperial army and was given command. He decided to send his 18,000 man army against the 80,000 man Turkish army to retake the city of Stulweissenburg. Padre Lawrence gave a heroic speech to the imperial army and then led them on horseback (he had always travelled on foot before this as was required by the primitive rule of the Capuchins but an exception was made in this case). Padre Lawrence, crucifix in hand, led the army against the superior Turkish army. Padre Lawrence was never wounded although he led repeated charges and lost five horses that he was riding. Two battles were fought and it was always Lawrence that led each charge repeatedly yelling “Forward” and “Victory is ours.” The city was retaken and 30,000 Turks were killed. The Turks withdrew to the other side of the Danube. The victory was attributed to Padre Lawrence. Padre Lawrence must have been troubled in his role of chaplain since Franciscans are strongly adverse to violence. Fr. Lester Bach, OFM Capuchin states on page 7 of the Fall 2015 Tau-USA: read quote on page 7. Pass out quote and ask everyone to talk about violence in the world and how we as Franciscans can respond. Quote from Padre Lawrence: “ God is love, all his operations proceed from love. Once he wills to manifest that goodness by sharing his love outside himself, then the incarnation becomes the supreme manifestation of the goodness and love and glory. So Christ was intended before all other creatures and for his own sake. For him, all things were created and to him all things must be subject, and God loves all creatures in and because of Christ. Christ is the first born of every 4 creature and the whole of humanity as well as the created world finds its foundation and meaning in him. Moreover, this would have been the case even if Adam and Eve had not sinned.” At the 1602 Capuchin Chapter meeting, he was elected vicar-General of the Capuchins. In summary, Padre Lawrence was a leader of armies, diplomat, peacemaker, preacher, miracle- worker, exorcist, theologian, biblical scholar, linguist, confessor, mystic, leader of the Counter- Reformation and doctor of the Church. He followed the strict Franciscan rule of always traveling on foot (except when leading charges in battle), usually covering twenty or thirty miles a day on his numerous missions. He never missed offering the sacrifice of mass even though hismasses usually took three hours, depending on the degree of ecstasy that regularly overwhelmed him. One of his Christmas masses lasted sixteen hours. St. Lawrence of Brindisi Quote: “ God is love, all his operations proceed from love. Once he wills to manifest that goodness by sharing his love outside himself, then the incarnation becomes the supreme manifestation of the goodness and love and glory. So Christ was intended before all other creatures and for his own sake. For him, all things were created and to him all things must be subject, and God loves all creatures in and because of Christ. Christ is the first born of every creature and the whole of humanity as well as the created world finds its foundation and meaning in him. Moreover, this would have been the case even if Adam and Eve had not sinned.” .

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