From: trudie.Miller@cox.net   
      
   September 5th - St. Laurence Giustiniani, Visionary, Bishop   
      
   Born at Venice, Italy, July 1, 1381; died in Venice on January 8, 1456;   
   canonized in 1670; feast day formerly January 8; September 4 was the date of   
   his   
   episcopal consecration.   
      
   Saint Laurence was born into a prominent Venetian family that had produced   
   important scholars, statesmen, prelates, and saints. Although his father,   
   Bernard Giustiniani, died while he was still young, his pious mother lived only   
   for her children and ensured they had an excellent education. From the cradle   
   she recognized in Laurence an uncommon docility and generosity of soul that   
   might point to a religious vocation, yet she desired to keep him for herself.   
      
   When he was 19, Laurence had a vision of the Eternal Wisdom in the guise of a   
   maiden encircled with light. She invited him to seek her with happiness, rather   
   than satiate his baser lusts. The youth confided his vision to his uncle,   
   Marino   
   Querino, an Augustinian canon of San Giorgio on Alga Island one mile from   
   Venice. Don Querino recommended that he take on the austerities of a monk at   
   home, that is, try on the role of a religious by putting aside honors, riches,   
   and worldly pleasures, before entering religious life. His mother feared he   
   would damage his health and tried to divert him by arranging a marriage.   
      
   Heeding his uncle's advice, he refused his mother's wish for him to marry and   
   instead joined Querino in the monastery. As a young monk, he practiced the most   
   severe austerities and went about the city with a sack over his head to beg   
   alms   
   and food for the community. In 1406, Laurence was ordained to the priesthood   
   and   
   made prior of San Giorgio. His deep prayer life that often led to raptures and   
   his spirit of penance provided him with experiential knowledge of the paths of   
   the interior life and a wonderful ability to direct souls. The tears that he   
   shed while offering Mass strongly affected all who assisted and awakened in   
   them   
   a renewed faith.   
      
   Thereafter he was general of the congregation, which at the time of his entry   
   into the position had adopted a different rule. Laurence completed this rule by   
   writing its constitutions, so that he became the second founder of this   
   congregation of secular canons. He also preached widely during this time and   
   taught theology.   
      
   In 1433, Pope Eugene IV forced Laurence to accept the see of Castello, which   
   then included part of Venice in its diocesan boundaries. He would not be   
   persuaded by the saint to change his mind and appoint a worthier bishop. He   
   took   
   possession of his cathedral so quietly that his own friends knew nothing about   
   it until after the ceremony was complete. He was impatient with the temporal   
   administration of his diocese, and delegated this work to others so that he   
   might be free to personally look after his flock. In 1451, Pope Nicholas   
   suppressed the see of Castello and transferred the patriarchal title of Grado   
   to   
   Venice with Laurence as archbishop.   
      
   The senate of the Venetian Republic, wary that this change might lead to a   
   diminution of its prerogatives, began a debate over Laurence's jurisdiction.   
   Laurence sought an audience with the assembled senate and declared his desire   
   to   
   resign a charge for which he was unfit, rather than to feel his burden   
   increased   
   by this additional dignity. His bearing so strongly affected the whole senate   
   that the doge himself asked him not to entertain such a thought or to raise any   
   obstacle to the pope's decree, and he was supported by the whole assembly.   
   Laurence therefore accepted the new office and continually acted in such way   
   that his reputation for goodness and charity increased.   
      
   He drew from his prayer life the light, vigor, and courage to direct the   
   diocese   
   as easily as if it had been a single, well-regulated monastery. As bishop of   
   the   
   Jewel of the Adriatic, Laurence did a great deal to restore Saint Mark's and   
   other churches; he also enhanced the beauty of the service. He added parishes,   
   tried to elevate the pastoral work, and to inspire both the secular and the   
   cloistered clergy with his zeal. Not only was he known for his piety, but also   
   for his ability as a peace maker, his spiritual knowledge, and his gifts of   
   prophecy and miracles. He overcame opposition by meekness and patience. Under   
   his direction, the whole spirit of the diocese was changed; crowds flocked to   
   him for spiritual and material aid.   
      
   He was of a boundless generosity toward the poor and needy, and stinted himself   
   as regards his dwelling, table, and dress to a point which the strictest orders   
   could not surpass. It is interesting to note that he rarely gave monetary aid   
   except in small amounts because he thought it might be ill-spent. In fact, when   
   a relative asked him for a dowry for his daughter, he replied: "A little is not   
   enough for you; and if I gave you much, I would be robbing the poor."   
   Nevertheless he was open-handed with food and clothes. He even employed married   
   women to seek out those who might need relief but who were too bashful to ask   
   for it.   
      
   The writings of Saint Laurence on mystical contemplation, especially The   
   degrees   
   of perfection, are sublime in their simplicity. They are practical, not   
   speculative, and intended to assist the clergy. He had just finished "The   
   Degrees of Perfection" when he was seized with a sharp fever. As he lay dying,   
   someone tried to give him a featherbed, but he refused it, saying: "My Savior   
   did not die on a featherbed, but upon the hard wood of the Cross." He was   
   troubled and restless until they laid him on straw.   
      
   The saint had no will to make, because he no longer possessed anything of which   
   he could have disposed. During the two days of his illness after he received   
   the   
   last sacraments, many of the city came to receive his blessing. He insisted   
   that   
   the beggars be admitted, as well as the elite, and gave to each a short, final   
   instruction.   
      
   Laurence was venerated by popes even in his lifetime. When Eugene IV met him   
   once in Bologna, he greeted Laurence: "Welcome, ornament of bishops!" The   
   saint's nephew and biographer, Bernardo Giustiniani, relates that the corpse   
   remained 67 days without burial. He emphasizes that it was on view for the   
   multitudes that came from afar, and that doctors examined the body and could   
   give no explanation for its incorrupted state (Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney,   
   Schamoni, Walsh).   
      
   In art, Saint Laurence is best recognized by his face, which is typically   
   Venetian: thin, long-nosed, and austere. He has dark, hollow eyes, and an   
   ascetic, rather Dantesque mouth. Laurence seldom wore the grandiose insignia of   
      
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