Saint of the Day Online - St Lawrence Martyr

Saint of the day online, Thursday, August 10,2017

Saint Name:St Lawrence
Place: Spain
Birth: 26 December AD 225
Death:10 August AD 258
Feast: August 10

St Lawrence is thought to have been born on 26 December AD 225 in Valencia, or less probably, in Huesca, the town from which his parents came in the later region of Aragon that was then part of the Roman province of Hispania Tarraconensis.The martyrs St Orentius (Modern Spanish: San Orencio) and St Patientia (Modern Spanish: Santa Paciencia) are traditionally held to have been his parents.

After the death of Sixtus, the prefect of Rome demanded that St Lawrence turn over the riches of the Church. St Ambrose is the earliest source for the narrative that St Lawrence asked for three days to gather the wealth.He worked swiftly to distribute as much Church property to the indigent as possible, so as to prevent it's being seized by the prefect. On the third day, at the head of a small delegation, he presented himself to the prefect, and when ordered to deliver the treasures of the Church he presented the indigent, the crippled, the blind, and the suffering, and declared that these were the true treasures of the Church.One account records him declaring to the perfect,"The Church is truly rich, far richer than your emperor."This act of defiance led directly to his martyrdom and can be compared to the parallel Roman tale of the jewels of Cornelia.

A priest named Fr.Sanctulus was rebuilding a church of St Lawrence, which had been attacked and burnt, and hired many workmen to accomplish the job.At one point during the construction, he found himself with nothing to feed them.He prayed to St Lawrence for help, and looking in his basket he found a fresh, white loaf of bread.It seemed to him too small to feed the workmen, but in faith, he began to serve it to the men.While he broke the bread, it so multiplied that his workmen fed from it for ten days.

In great anger, the Prefect condemned Lawrence to a slow, cruel death. The Saint was tied on top of an iron grill over a slow fire that roasted his flesh little by little, but Lawrence was burning with so much love of God that he almost did not feel the flames.In fact, God gave him so much strength and joy that he even joked."Turn me over," he said to the judge."I'm done on this side!"And just before he died, he said,"It's cooked enough now."Then he prayed that the city of Rome might be converted to Jesus and that the Catholic Faith might spread all over the world.After that, he went to receive the martyr's reward.

Saint Lawrence's feast day is August 10th.