The esteem in which the Church holds Lawrence is seen in the fact that the celebration in his honor ranks as a feast (August 10). We know very little about his life. He is one of those whose martyrdom made a deep and lasting impression on the early Church. Celebration of his feast day spread rapidly.
He was a Roman deacon under Pope St. Sixtus II. Four days after this pope was put to death, Lawrence and four clerics suffered martyrdom, probably during the persecution of the Emperor Valerian.
Legendary details of his death were known to Damasus, Prudentius, Ambrose and Augustine. The church built over his tomb became one of the seven principal churches in Rome and a favorite place for Roman pilgrimages.
A well-known legend has persisted from earliest times. As deacon in Rome, Lawrence was charged with the responsibility for the material goods of the Church, and the distribution of alms to the poor. When Lawrence knew he would be arrested like the pope, he sought out the poor, widows and orphans of Rome and gave them all the money he had on hand, selling even the sacred vessels to increase the sum. When the prefect of Rome heard of this, he imagined that the Christians must have considerable treasure. He sent for Lawrence and said, “You Christians say we are cruel to you, but that is not what I have in mind. I am told that your priests offer in gold, that the sacred blood is received in silver cups, that you have golden candlesticks at your evening services. Now, your doctrine says you must render to Caesar what is his. Bring these treasures—the emperor needs them to maintain his forces. God does not cause money to be counted: He brought none of it into the world with him—only words. Give me the money, therefore, and be rich in words.”
Lawrence replied that the Church was indeed rich. “I will show you a valuable part. But give me time to set everything in order and make an inventory.” After three days he gathered a great number of blind, lame, maimed, leprous, orphaned and widowed persons and put them in rows. When the prefect arrived, Lawrence simply said, “These are the treasure of the Church.”
The prefect was so angry he told Lawrence that he would indeed have his wish to die—but it would be by inches. He had a great gridiron prepared, with coals beneath it, and had Lawrence’s body placed on it. After the martyr had suffered the pain for a long time, the legend concludes, he made his famous cheerful remark, “It is well done. Turn me over!”
Go ahead. Ask me. Why the interest in St. Lawrence? To tell you the truth, I’m a little freaked today. If you’ll remember a couple of days ago, I wrote that I read somewhere if you ask your Guardian Angel point blank, “What is your name?” just before going to bed, you will get an answer when you wake up. I didn’t really put much stock in it, even suggesting that it might be a bad idea to play with superstition. I figured, “What can the harm be?” So last night just before going to sleep, I said jokingly, “Alright, Mr. Guardian Angel, what’s your name? Better make it something pronounceable!”
I can’t believe what happened this morning. At about 1:30 this morning, I woke up with a “start” and the name “Lawrence” was the first thing that came into my head! I was, and remain dumbfounded! The only “Lawrence” I am acquainted with or even ever had anything to do with, was my uncle Lawrence, my mom’s brother, who passed away several years ago.
I haven’t seen any television shows or listened to any radio programs when the name Lawrence was used recently. And usually, when I wake up, I think about the tasks I have to do that day—I never think about names of people, especially names of people I don’t know!
I thought, just to be on the “safe” side, that if I shouldn’t have “performed” this weird act (superstition) and the thought that came to me with the name of Lawrence is of other than natural origin, I would look up the name St. Lawrence on the computer and pray to him and ask him to ask God to forgive me if I opened a can of worms.
As I said the other day, what harm can there be in naming our Angel? And, unless I hear otherwise, after reading the account of St. Lawrence, I couldn’t have picked a better name! I’m just glad it wasn’t something really weird.
So from now on, when I feel I’ve been protected or guided by my guardian angel, I’ll just say, “Thanks, Larry!”—I’m assuming it’s OK to use the familiar form of his name.
It would be interesting to know if anyone else has tried this and what name, if any, they “heard” when they woke up. Let me know!
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