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Home > Catholic Encyclopedia > L > St. Lawrence


ST. LAWRENCE

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Martyr; died 10 August, 258.

St. Lawrence, one of the deacons of the Roman Church, 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 ("episcopi et presbyteriet diacones incontinenti
animadvertantur" — Cyprian, Epist. lxxx, 1). This imperial command was
immediately carried out in Rome. On 6 August Pope Sixtus II was apprehended in
one of the catacombs, and executed forthwith ("Xistum in cimiterio animadversum
sciatis VIII id. Augusti et cum eo diacones quattuor." Cyprian, ep. lxxx, 1).
Two other deacons, Felicissimus and Agapitus, were put to death the same day. In
the Roman Calendar of feasts of the fourth century their feast day is on the
same date. Four days later, on the 10th of August of that same year, Lawrence,
the last of the seven deacons, also suffered a martyr's death. The anniversary
of this holy martyr falls on that day, according to the Almanac of Philocalus
for the year 354, the inventory of which contains the principal feasts of the
Roman martyrs of the middle of the fourth century; it also mentions the street
where his grave is to be found, the Via Tiburtina ("III id. Aug. Laurentii in
Tibertina"; Ruinart, "Acta sincera", Ratisbon, 1859, 632). The itineraries of
the graves of the Roman martyrs, as given in the seventh century, mention the
burial-place of this celebrated martyr in the Catacomb of Cyriaca in agro Verano
(De Rossi, "Roma Sott.", I, 178).



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 (579-90). Pope Sixtus III (432-40) 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. Pope
St. Damasus (366-84) wrote a panegyric in verse, which was engraved in marble
and placed over his tomb. Two contemporaries of the last-named pope, St. Ambrose
of Milan and the poet Prudentius, give particular details about St. Lawrence's
death. Ambrose relates (De officiis min. xxviii) 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. The saintly Bishop of Milan
also states that St. Lawrence was burned to death on a gridiron (De offic.,
xli). In like manner, but with more poetical detail, Prudentius describes the
martyrdom of the Roman deacon in his hymn on St. Lawrence ("Peristephanon",
Hymnus II).

The meeting between St. Lawrence and Pope Sixtus II, when the latter was being
led to execution, related by St. Ambrose, is not compatible with the
contemporaneous reports about the persecution of Valerian. The manner of his
execution--burning on a red-hot gridiron--also gives rise to grave doubts. The
narrations of Ambrose and Prudentius are founded rather on oral tradition than
on written accounts. It is quite possible that between the year 258 and the end
of the fourth century popular legends may have grown up about this highly
venerated Roman deacon, and some of these legends have been preserved by these
two authors. We have, in any case, no means of verifying from earlier sources
the details derived from St. Ambrose and Prudentius, or of ascertaining to what
extent such details are supported by earlier historical tradition. Fuller
accounts of the martyrdom of St. Lawrence were composed, probably, early in the
sixth century, and in these narratives a number of the martyrs of the Via
Tiburtina and of the two Catacombs of St. Cyriaca in agro Verano and St.
Hippolytius were connected in a romantic and wholly legendary fashion. The
details given in these Acts concerning the martyrdom of St. Lawrence and his
activity before his death cannot claim any credibility. However, in spite of
this criticism of the later accounts of the martyrdom, there can be no question
that St. Lawrence was a real historical personage, nor any doubt as to the
martyrdom of that venerated Roman deacon, the place of its occurrence, and the
date of his burial. Pope Damasus built a basilica in Rome which he dedicated to
St. Lawrence; this is the church now known as that of San Lorenzo in Damaso. The
church of San Lorenzo in Lucina, also dedicated to this saint, still exists. The
feast day of St. Lawrence is kept on 10 August. He is pictured in art with the
gridiron on which he is supposed to have been roasted to death.




ABOUT THIS PAGE

APA citation. Kirsch, J.P. (1910). St. Lawrence. In The Catholic Encyclopedia.
New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09089a.htm

MLA citation. Kirsch, Johann Peter. "St. Lawrence." The Catholic Encyclopedia.
Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910.
<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09089a.htm>.

Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Paul T. Crowley.
Dedicated to Mr. Larry Cope.

Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. October 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, Censor.
Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.

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