Saint Lawrence
Lawrence, martyred in the third century, is one of the more recognized ‘saints’ of the Roman Catholic Church. A staunch believer and a personal friend of Pope Sixtus II, he was asked in the year 257, at age 32, to be one of the seven Deacons in Rome. In his case, it was a great position of trust which included care and maintenance of the treasury of the church and distribution of alms to the poor.
A year after he was appointed, the Roman Emperor Valerian issued an edict that all leaders in the church should be put to death and all church properties and wealth seized. In the middle of Church services, Pope Sixtus was seized and immediately put to death. Lawrence was arrested and, the Prefect of Rome knowing Lawrence knew the details of the church’s wealth, offered Lawrence his freedom if he would present the full wealth of the church to him. Lawrence replied, “I need three days to gather the wealth of the church, the church is very rich.” The Prefect agreed and freed Lawrence.
According to Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, Lawrence spent the time arranging for the security of vital church documents and distributing the full wealth of the church to the poor and indigent. On the third day, he appeared before the Prefect and invited him outside to see the riches of the Church. Eagerly following him, the Prefect was astonished to see not gold, but an assembly of the blind, the lame, and the sick. “Here are the true treasures of the church,” Lawrence told him, “In these vessels of clay reside the treasure of God, the Holy Spirit. You see, the church is truly rich, far richer than your emperor!”
Furious, the Prefect ordered the preparation of a great gridiron, a large metal grate on which the prisoner would be chained and slowly roasted alive over hot coals. His intention was for Lawrence to suffer slowly before dying. Many sources report that, as he was being tortured, he defiantly shouted to his persecutors, “I am cooked on that side, you might want to turn me over!”
Many conversions to the Faith followed his execution, including a number of Roman Senators who witnessed the execution.
Christian History e-mail, 10 August 2021
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Lawrence
https://www.britannica.com/topic/martyr
