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St
Lawrence
(–258?)
Biographical
One of the seven deacons under Pope Sixtus II,
St Lawrence was one of the victims of the persecution of Valerian in 258,
like Pope Sixtus II and many other members of the Roman clergy. At the
beginning of the month of August 258, the emperor issued an edict, commanding
that all bishops, priests, and deacons should immediately be put to death.
This imperial command was immediately carried out in Rome. On the 6th
of August, Pope Sixtus II was apprehended in one of the catacombs, and
executed forthwith. Two other deacons, Felicissimus and Agapitus, were
put to death the same day. Four days later, on the 10th of August of that
same year, St Lawrence, the last of the seven deacons, also suffered a
martyr's death. According to the Almanac of Philocalus, his grave is to
be found at the Via Tiburtina. Since the fourth century, St Lawrence has
been one of the most honoured martyrs of the Roman Church. Constantine
the Great was the first to erect a little oratory over his burial place,
which was enlarged and beautified by Pope Pelagius II in the sixth century.
In the fifth century, Pope Sixtus III built a large basilica with three
naves, the apse leaning against the older church, on the summit of the
hill where he was buried. In the thirteenth century, Honorius III made
the two buildings into one, and so the basilica of San Lorenzo remains
to this day. St Ambrose of Milan gives particular details about St Lawrence's
death. Ambrose relates that when St Lawrence was asked for the treasures
of the Church, he brought forward the poor, among whom he had divided
the treasure, in place of alms; also that when Pope Sixtus II was led
away to his death, he comforted Lawrence, who wished to share his martyrdom,
by saying that he would follow him in three days. St Ambrose also relates
the manner of St Lawrence's execution—burning on a red-hot gridiron.
St Lawrence is the patron saint of cooks, cutlers, glaziers, against lumbago,
the
poor, and Sri Lanka.
Place of death: Rome
Place of burial: Rome (location of St Lawrence-Outside-the-Walls Church)
© 2024 The Universal Compendium