Spirituality as the call to holiness (Lumen Gentium, par. 39)
The ancient fathers of the Church recorded little information about the birth or education of Lawrence in the early part of the 3rd century. The Spaniards claim him as one of their own. He possessed extraordinary virtues as a youth. St. Xystus, then archdeacon of Rome, took him under his protection and mentored him in the study of sacred scripture and in the wisdom of the Christian virtues. When Xystus was elected Pope in 257, he ordained Lawrence a deacon and appointed him the first among the seven deacons who served the Roman Church.

The Emperor Valerian, in 257, began a bloody persecution against the Church. The prefect of Rome summoned Lawrence and asked for an inventory of the treasures of the Church. Lawrence responded by gathering the decrepit, the blind, the lame, the lepers, orphans, widows, and virgins and said to the prefect, "Behold in these poor persons the treasures of the Church to which I will add pearls and precious stones - those widows and consecrated virgins, which are the church's crown. The Church has no other riches; make use of them for the advantage of Rome, of the emperor, and yourself." For this insolence he was condemned to be burned to death.

While his body was being broiled, St. Ambrose observed that the fire of divine love made him immune to pain. Having suffered a long time he turned to the torturers and with a smiling countenance said, "Let my body be now turned; one side is broiled enough." He was given an honorable burial in the Veran field, near the road to Tibur, on August 10, 258. His death, says Prudentius, was the death of idolatry in Rome.


LITANY

God of sinners……………We praise you.

God of martyrs……………We worship you.

God of saints………………We extol you.

Lawrence, Deacon of Rome, schooled in Holy Scripture,

Guide us in our service of God.

Lawrence, Deacon of Rome, formed in Christian virtues,

Guide us in our service of God.

Lawrence, Deacon of Rome, entrusted with the Church's treasury,

Guide us in our service of God.

Lawrence, Deacon of Rome, servant of the poor,

Guide us in our service of God.

Lawrence, Deacon of Rome, giver of alms to widows & orphans,

Guide us in our service of God.

Lawrence the Martyr - burned to death on Aug. 10, 258,

Companion us in our suffering.

Lawrence the Martyr - full of the fire of divine love,

Companion us in our suffering.

Lawrence the Martyr - endured torture with a cheerful countenance,

Companion us in our suffering.

Lawrence the Martyr - converted unbelievers by imploring divine mercy,

Companion us in our suffering.

Lawrence the Martyr - buried by Roman noblemen converted by his witness,

Companion us in our suffering.

St. Lawrence - praised by the Latin fathers,

Nurture us in our call to holiness.

St. Lawrence - praised by his loving manner of death,

Nurture us in our call to holiness.

St. Lawrence - praised for treating the poor as treasure of the Church,

Nurture us in our call to holiness.

St. Lawrence - praised for being an instrument of God,

Nurture us in our call to holiness.

St. Lawrence - praised by his life of glory with God,

Nurture us in our call to holiness.

Lamb of God - sanctify us through the holiness of martyrs

have mercy on us.

Lamb of God - love us through the witness of martyrs

have mercy on us.

Lamb of God - forgive us through the suffering of martyrs

have mercy on us.


Let us pray,
O God, in St. Lawrence of Rome, you have given to the Church the example of one whose life as a deacon and whose witness as a martyr stirs us to live the gospel of life by the way we love and care for the poor. In extolling his goodness we implore you to bless us with the graces we need to continue his mission by the way we serve your Son, Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen.