Saint Lawrence of Rome

Saint Lawrence of Rome is one of the most venerated early Catholic martyrs, the deacon of Pope Sixtus II who was killed by slow roasting on a gridiron in August 258 under the persecution of the Roman Emperor Valerian. The unique manner of his martyrdom and the famous anecdote of his presentation of the poor as "the treasures of the Church" made him a beloved figure across the patristic and medieval Catholic Church.

Early life and the seven deacons of Rome

Lawrence was born around 225, probably at Huesca in the Roman province of Hispania (modern Spain), though some sources place his birth at Rome itself. He came to Rome as a young man, studied under the future Pope Sixtus II (then a deacon), and was ordained as one of the seven deacons of the Roman Church. In the third-century Roman Church, the seven deacons assisted the bishop directly, served the liturgy, distributed alms, and managed the material treasury of the Church.

When Sixtus was elected Pope in August 257, he made Lawrence his archdeacon, the most senior of the seven, with responsibility for the Roman Church's charitable distributions to the poor and for the safekeeping of the Church's liturgical vessels.

The Valerian persecution

In 257, the Roman Emperor Valerian issued the first of two edicts against Christians. The second edict, of August 258, was harsher: it specifically targeted Christian clergy and ordered the execution of bishops, priests, and deacons, the confiscation of Christian property, and the death of Christian senators and equestrians.

On August 6, 258, Pope Sixtus II was arrested while celebrating the Eucharist at the catacomb of Praetextatus and immediately beheaded. Tradition records that as Sixtus was being led away to execution, Lawrence wept and said: "Where are you going, Father, without your deacon?" Sixtus replied: "Three days from now, you will follow me."

The treasures of the Church

The Roman prefect, knowing that Lawrence was the Church's treasurer, demanded that he hand over the wealth of the Christian community. Lawrence asked for three days to gather everything. During those three days, he distributed all the gold and silver in his keeping to the poor of Rome.

On the third day, August 10, 258, Lawrence presented himself to the prefect with a procession of the poor, the blind, the lame, lepers, widows, and orphans, all of whom Lawrence had assembled. He turned to the prefect and said: "These are the treasures of the Church."

The prefect, enraged at the perceived mockery, ordered Lawrence's death by slow roasting on a gridiron, a unique form of execution reserved for him.¹

The martyrdom on the gridiron

The traditional account, attested in Saints Ambrose, Augustine, and Prudentius among many others, describes Lawrence's death in detail. He was bound to a gridiron with a fire underneath. After he had endured the burning for some time, he reportedly said to his torturers, with characteristic Catholic-martyrdom humor: "Turn me over; I am done on this side." This anecdote is the basis for his patronage of cooks and comedians.

Lawrence continued to pray and to preach to the bystanders even from the gridiron, exhorting them to embrace the Catholic faith. He died praying, his last recorded words: "I thank thee, O Lord, that I am permitted to enter thy gates."

Whether the gridiron account is wholly historical or contains later legendary embellishment has been debated in modern critical scholarship. The earliest mention of the gridiron is in Saint Ambrose, writing approximately 130 years after Lawrence's death (in De Officiis Ministrorum, c. 386). What is undisputed historically is that Lawrence was a Roman deacon who was martyred under Valerian in August 258, on a date the Roman Church has continuously commemorated ever since.

Burial and the Roman basilica

Lawrence was buried in the catacomb of Cyriaca on the Via Tiburtina, east of Rome. The Emperor Constantine, in the early fourth century, built a small basilica over the tomb. Pope Pelagius II rebuilt it in the late sixth century, and Pope Honorius III rebuilt it again in the thirteenth century. The present Basilica of Saint Lawrence Outside the Walls (San Lorenzo fuori le Mura), one of the seven traditional pilgrimage basilicas of Rome, stands over the original tomb.

The basilica suffered serious damage during the Allied bombing of Rome on July 19, 1943, but was rebuilt and reconsecrated.

Patronage and devotion

Saint Lawrence is patron of deacons, of cooks (from the gridiron), of comedians (from his quip on the gridiron), of Rome, and of the poor (whom he served and whom he presented as the Church's treasures). His feast on August 10 is celebrated as a Feast in the universal Catholic Church (a higher rank than most saints' memorials, reflecting his unique standing in the Roman Church).

The Catholic devotion to Saint Lawrence centers on:

• The Roman archdeaconate as a category of ordained ministry (Lawrence is the patron of the archdeacon's office where it survives).
• Charitable service: the Catholic distribution of material goods to the poor under the diaconal-charitable banner traces back conceptually to Lawrence.
• The August 10 feast: in Mediterranean Catholic countries, the night of August 10 is also the peak night of the Perseid meteor shower, which folk tradition has called "the tears of Saint Lawrence."

For the related early Catholic martyrs whose feasts and lives parallel Lawrence's, see Saint Stephen the Protomartyr and Saint Sebastian. For the broader Catholic understanding of the the Communion of Saints that Lawrence's death witnesses, see the related learn page.

Sources

Footnotes

1. For the principal early account, see Saint Ambrose of Milan, De Officiis Ministrorum I.41 (c. 386). The hymn Hymnus de Sancto Laurentio by Prudentius (early fifth century) is the most extensive poetic account of the martyrdom. See also Saint Augustine of Hippo, Sermons 302-305, preached at Hippo on Lawrence's feast across many years. ↩