From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   August 10th - St. Lawrence (Laurence) of Rome, Martyr   
      
   Born in Huesca (?), Spain; died in Rome, Italy, 258. Lawrence was said to be   
   a   
   Spaniard who came to Rome to serve Pope Saint Sixtus II as one of the seven   
   deacons of Rome. The pope himself was martyred in 258 during the Valerian   
   persecution, the year after the first publication of the decrees against the   
   Christians. While one version of the martyrdom of Sixtus has him beheaded at   
   the   
   time of discovery in the catacombs, the another has him taken away for   
   questioning and returned within a few hours to the spot for execution. In   
   either   
   case, several early Christian writers, among them Saints Ambrose and   
   Prudentius,   
   record that Lawrence was overwhelmed with grief when Sixtus was condemned.   
      
   The latter one tells us that Lawrence followed the pope and his captors to   
   the   
   place of execution, asking why Sixtus II should be murdered and not his   
   deacon   
   (however, six deacons were martyred with Sixtus). Sixtus replied, "My son, I   
   am   
   not leaving you. In a few days you will follow me."   
      
   Lawrence, overjoyed that he was to follow his master to martyrdom, had one   
   task   
   left. As a deacon, Lawrence was a steward of the property and wealth of the   
   church. It was his duty to provide alms to those in need. Lawrence gathered   
   together all the poor, the orphans, and the widows he could find and gave   
   them   
   all he possessed. Lawrence even sold some of the church's gold and silver,   
   handing over this money too to the needy.   
      
   The prefect, Cornelius Saecularis, believing that the Church was wealthy,   
   ordered that everything of value be turned over to the emperor for the   
   upkeep of   
   his armies. The prefect said, "I understand that according to your teaching   
   you   
   must render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's. Your God didn't bring   
   any   
   money into the world with him, all He brought was words. So give us the   
   money,   
   and you can keep the words."   
      
   Lawrence said he would need three days to gather it together. In those three   
   days he sold the rest of the property that he administered and brought   
   together   
   thousands of lepers, the blind, and the sick, the destitute, widows,   
   orphans,   
   and the aged. These he presented to the prefect, observing, "The church is   
   truly   
   rich, far richer then your emperor."   
      
   In his rage the prefect threatened to kill Lawrence slowly. He took a huge   
   gridiron, heated it until it glowed, and binding Lawrence to the metal,   
   roasted   
   him to death. Ambrose tells us that the fire of Divine love burned so   
   brightly   
   in Lawrence that he bore the agony with unbelievable calm and in the midst   
   of   
   his torment instructed the executioner to turn him over, as he was broiled   
   enough on the one side. Later he said, "It is cooked enough. You may eat."   
   It is   
   said that as he lay dying, his face seemed to be surrounded by a beautiful   
   light. After praying for the conversion of Rome, he died.   
      
   According to Prudentius, his death and example led to the conversion of Rome   
   and   
   signaled the end of paganism in the city. There is no doubt that his death   
   inspired a great devotion in Rome, which quickly spread throughout the   
   entire   
   Church. Both he and Sixtus are named in the canon of the Mass.   
      
   The existence and martyrdom of Saint Lawrence are attested by the very   
   ancient   
   Deposito Martyrum. However, scholars are not wholly in agreement about how   
   much   
   credence can be given to such particulars about Saint Lawrence because his   
   passio was not written until at least a century after his death. The fact of   
   his   
   martyrdom was widely accepted by the Fathers, but there is room to doubt the   
   details. For example, it is more likely that he was beheaded, as was Sixtus,   
   because this was the usual manner of execution at that time. The gridiron   
   appears to be derived from a Phrygian source through the acta of Saint   
   Vincent   
   of Saragossa.   
      
   He was buried in the cemetery of Cyriaca in the Campo Verano on the Via   
   Tiburtina (on the way to Tivoli), on the site of what is now the Church of   
   Saint   
   Lawrence-outside-the-Walls. Five ancient churches are dedicated to Lawrence   
   in   
   Rome, 228 were dedicated to him in England prior to the Reformation, as well   
   as   
   the cathedral of Lund and the Escorial in Spain. Pope Vitalian sent some of   
   his   
   relics to King Oswy of Northumbria in the 7th century. Lawrence's   
   intercession   
   was reputed to have caused the victories of Christian armies in the battle   
   of   
   Lichfeld against the Magyars in 955, and at Saint-Quentin, in 1557   
   (Attwater,   
   Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Farmer, White).   
      
   Generally, he is pictured as a deacon with a gridiron, or giving money to   
   the   
   poor [Pope Sixtus II or greeted by him on his way to martyrdom; (3) putting   
   a   
   chalice on Saint Michael's scales to save the Emperor's life; (4) leading a   
   soul   
   from purgatory (which he is reputed to do every Friday); (5) baptizing in   
   prison; (6) scourged and roasted on gridiron (Roeder); or (7) carrying a   
   long   
   cross on his shoulder and a Gospel book in his hand as in the Ravenna   
   mosaics   
   (White). The most complete cycle of his life was painted by Bl. Fra Angelico   
   for   
   the chapel of Nicholas V in the Vatican. These include Saint Lawrence   
   Receiving   
   the Treasures of the Church, The Ordination of Saint Lawrence, and Saint   
   Lawrence in Justice and his Martyrdom. Bourges and Poitiers has notable   
   stained   
   glass windows depicting Lawrence (Farmer).   
      
   He was one of the most popular and powerful saints of the Middle Ages, which   
   accounts for his many patronages. He is the patron of deacons (Farmer),   
   schoolboys, students, armorers, brewers, confectioners, cooks (what did you   
   expect-he was roasted ), cutlers, glaziers, and launderers (Roeder).   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Who has lost and who has won in the struggle-the one who keeps the premises   
   [buildings] or the one who keeps the Faith?  The Faith obviously. That   
   therefore   
   the ordinances which have been preserved in the churches from old time until   
   now   
   may not be lost in our days,... rouse yourselves, brethren,... seeing them   
   now   
   seized upon by aliens.   
   -St. Basil the Great  (ca. 330-ca. 379)   
      
   Bible Quote   
    Jesus said to them: Because of your unbelief. For, amen I say to you, if   
   you   
   have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain,   
   Remove   
   from hence hither, and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to   
   you.   
   (Matthew 17:19)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   PRAYER FOR PROTECTION AGAINST DEMONS   
      
   O Mary, powerful Virgin,   
   You are the mighty and glorious Protector of the Church.   
   You are the Marvelous Help of Christians.   
   You are Terrible as an Army set in Battle Array.   
   You alone have destroyed every heresy in the entire Church.   
   In the midst of my anguish, my struggles and my distress,   
   Defend me from the power of the enemy,   
   And at the hour of my death,   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)