Saint Lawrence, deacon and martyr

I can hardly lay claim to the blog title "Catholic Deacon" and fail to post something on today's Feast of Saint Lawrence. Lawrence was one of the seven deacons of the Church of Rome in the mid-third century. During this time, the Church lived under the relatively constant threat of persecution by the empire (how far we've come but how far we've regressed!). It appears that Lawrence was the chief deacon of Rome, something like the archdeacon- an office that does not exist today in the Roman Catholic Church.

Like his bishop, Pope Saint Sixtus II, and his six fellow deacons, Lawrence was martyred by the imperial power under the Emperor Valerian. Like many early martyrs, there are several stories told about Lawrence's martyrdom. Some of them might even be true. True or not, the purpose of such stories is not necessarily to accurately convey what happened but to focus our attention on what it means to follow Christ. According to these accounts, the manner of his death was being roasted alive on an iron grill.

As chief deacon, he was steward of the Church's worldly goods. Along with his fellow deacons, he had charge of the poor and the infirm. The immediate cause of Lawrence's arrest was his refusal to turn over what wealth the Church had to the imperial authorities. Instead, as one story goes, when asked to take agents of the state to the treasures of the Church, Lawrence brought them to a group of the poor and the infirm, insisting these men, women, and children were the Church's treasure.

The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence, by Hipólito de Rioja, 17th century

Over the centuries of the Church, Lawrence has had a large cultus. One of Rome's Papal Basilicas in San Lorenzo fuori le mura (i.e., Saint Lawrence outside the Walls). Interred in this basilica in addition to Lawrence are Pope Pius IX, Pope Hilarius, Alcide de Gaspari, along with relics of Saint Stephen, one of the first deacons and Christian proto-martyr.

Father, you called Saint Lawrence to serve you by love
and crowned his life with glorious martyrdom.
Help us to be like him in loving you and doing your work.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God for ever and ever