Lawrence of Rome “Saint Lawrence” redirects here. For other people Church is truly rich, far richer than your emperor.” This or places named Saint Lawrence, see Saint Lawrence act of defiance led directly to his martyrdom and can be (disambiguation). For people or places named San compared to the parallel Roman tale of the jewels of Cor- Lorenzo, see San Lorenzo (disambiguation). nelia. On 10 August, St Lawrence, the last of the seven deacons, Lawrence of Rome (Latin: Laurentius, lit. suffered a martyr’s death.[4] extquotedbllaurelled extquotedbl; c. 225–258) was one of the seven deacons of ancient Rome under Pope Sixtus II that were martyred during the persecution of 2 Holy Chalice Emperor Valerian in 258. According to lore, St Lawrence was able to spirit away the chalice used during Christ's Last Supper 1 Life (the extquotedblHoly Grail extquotedbl) to Huesca, in present-day Spain, with a letter and a supposed inventory, where it lay hidden and unregarded for centuries. When St Lawrence is thought to have been born in Spain, at St. Augustine connects St Lawrence with a chalice, it is Huesca, a town in the Aragon region near the foot of tcal the chalice of the Mass: studies. Here he encountered the future Pope Sixtus II, who was of Greek origin, one of the most famous and For in that Church, you see, as you have highly esteemed teachers in Zaragoza, which was one of regularly been told, he performed the office of the empire’s most renowned centres of learning. Eventu- deacon; it was there that he administered the ally, both left Spain for Rome. When Sixtus became the sacred chalice of Christ’s blood. [5] Pope in 257, he ordained St Lawrence as a deacon, and though still young appointed him first among the seven According to Catholic tradition the Holy Grail is a relic deacons who served in the patriarchal church. He is there- sent by St Lawrence to his parents in northern Aragon. fore called “archdeacon of Rome”, a position of great He entrusted this sacred chalice to a friend who he knew trust that included the care of the treasury and riches of would travel back to Huesca, remaining in the monastery [1] the church and the distribution of alms among the poor. of San Juan de la Peña, core of spiritual strength for the St. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, notes that Roman au- emerging Kingdom of Aragon. While the chalice’s ex- thorities had established a norm according to which all act journey through the centuries is disputed, it is ac- Christians who had been denounced must be executed cepted by many Catholics that it was sent by his family to and their goods confiscated by the Imperial treasury. At this monastery for preservation and veneration. Histor- the beginning of August 258, the emperor Valerian is- ical records indicate the chalice has been venerated and sued an edict that all bishops, priests, and deacons should preserved by a number of monks and monasteries through immediately be put to death. Sixtus was captured on 6 the ages. Today the Holy Grail is venerated in a special August 258, at the cemetery of St. Callixtus while cele- chapel in the Catholic Cathedral of Valencia, Spain. brating the liturgy and executed forthwith.[2] After the death of Sixtus, the prefect of Rome demanded that St Lawrence turn over the riches of the Church. 3 Martyrdom St. Ambrose is the earliest source for the tale that St Lawrence asked for three days to gather together the By tradition, St Lawrence was sentenced at San Lorenzo wealth.[3] He worked swiftly to distribute as much Church in Miranda, imprisoned in San Lorenzo in Fonte, and property to the poor as possible, so as to prevent its being martyred at San Lorenzo in Panisperna. The Almanac of seized by the prefect. On the third day, at the head of a Philocalus for the year 354 mentions that he was buried small delegation, he presented himself to the prefect, and in the Via Tiburtina in the Catacomb of Cyriaca[4] by when ordered to give up the treasures of the Church he Hippolytus and Justin the Confessor, a presbyter. One of presented the poor, the crippled, the blind and the suffer- the early sources for the martyrdom was the description ing, and said these were the true treasures of the Church. by Aurelius Prudentius Clemens in his Peristephanon, One account records him declaring to the prefect, “The Hymn II. 1 2 5 VENERATION San Lorenzo in Panisperna was built over the place of his martyrdom. The gridiron of the martyrdom was placed by Pope Paschal II in the church of San Lorenzo in Lu- cina. 4 Miracles The life and miracles of St Lawrence were collected in The Acts of St Lawrence, but this is now lost. The earliest existing documentation of miracles associated with him is in the writings of St Gregory of Tours (538–594), who The Martyrdom of St Lawrence, Tintoretto, oil on canvas, mentions the following: (Christ Church, Oxford) A priest named Fr. Sanctulus was rebuild- ing a church of St. Lawrence, which had been A well-known legend has persisted from earliest times. attacked and burnt, and hired many workmen As deacon in Rome, St Lawrence was charged with the to accomplish the job. At one point during the responsibility for the material goods of the Church and construction, he found himself with nothing to the distribution of alms to the poor. St Ambrose of Mi- feed them. He prayed to St. Lawrence for lan relates that when St Lawrence was asked for the trea- help, and looking in his basket he found a fresh, sures of the Church he brought forward the poor, among white loaf of bread. It seemed to him too small whom he had divided the treasure as alms.[4] “Behold to feed the workmen, but in faith he began to in these poor persons the treasures which I promised serve it to the men. While he broke the bread, to show you; to which I will add pearls and precious it so multiplied that that his workmen fed from stones, those widows and consecrated virgins, which are it for ten days.[1] the church’s crown.”[1] The prefect was so angry that he had a great gridiron prepared, with coals beneath it, and had Lawrence’s body placed on it (hence St Lawrence’s 5 Veneration association with the gridiron). After the martyr had suf- fered the pain for a long time, the legend concludes, he made his famous cheerful remark, “I'm well done. Turn me over! extquotedbl[6] From this derives his patronage of cooks and chefs. Some historians, such as Rev. Patrick Healy, view the traditions of how St Lawrence was martyred as “not wor- thy of credence”,[7] as the slow lingering death cannot be reconciled “with the express command contained in the edict regarding bishops, priests, and deacons (animadver- tantur) which ordinarily meant decapitation.”[7] A theory of how the tradition arose is put forward by Pio Franchi de' Cavalieri, who postulates that it was the result of a mistaken transcription, the accidental omission of the let- ter “p” – “by which the customary and solemn formula for announcing the death of a martyr – passus est [ ex- The stone on which St Lawrence’s body was laid after death, in tquotedblhe suffered,” that is, was martyred] – was made San Lorenzo fuori le mura to read assus est [he was roasted].”[7] The Liber Pontif- icalis, which is held to draw from sources independent St Lawrence is one of the most widely venerated saints of the existing traditions and Acta regarding Lawrence, of the Roman Catholic Church. Legendary details of his uses passus est concerning him, the same term it uses for death were known to Damasus, Prudentius, Ambrose and Pope Sixtus II (martyred by beheading during the same [7] Augustine. The church built over his tomb, San Lorenzo persecution). fuori le Mura, became one of the seven principal churches Constantine I is said to have built a small oratory in hon- in Rome and a favorite place for Roman pilgrimages.[6] our of St Lawrence, which was a station on the itineraries Devotion to him was widespread by the fourth century. of the graves of the Roman martyrs by the seventh cen- Since the Perseid Meteor Shower typically occurs every tury. Pope Damasus I rebuilt or repaired the church, now year in mid-August on or near his feast day, some refer to San Lorenzo fuori le Mura, while the minor basilica of the shower as the “Tears of St Lawrence.”[1] 3 6 Legacy According to Fr. Francesco Moraglia, Professor of Dog- matic Theology, the role of deacon 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 Deacons such as Lawrence help to dis- cover and come to a deeper meaning of the special nature of the diaconal ministry.”[2] The Basilica of St Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr is in Asheville, North Carolina.[9] Rescue operation for the miners trapped in the 2010 The shrine in Rome containing the gridiron said to have been used Copiapó mining accident in Chile was termed Operación to grill St Lawrence to death San Lorenzo after the saint. 7 Gallery St Lawrence is especially honoured in the city of Rome, • A statue of St Lawrence overlooking the river named where he is one of the city’s patrons.