Saint Laurence or Saint Lawrence
Although 10th August is the day the saint was martyred, we will celebrate the feast of the saint on Sunday, 12th August 2018. St.Laurence is considered as patron of cooks, chefs, and comedians.
St Lawrence is thought to have been born on
31 December AD 225 in Valencia, The martyrs St. Orentius (Modern Spanish: San
Orencio) and St Patientia (Modern Spanish: Santa Paciencia) are traditionally
held to have been his parents.
When Sixtus became the Pope in 257, he
ordained St Lawrence as a deacon, and though Lawrence was still young appointed
him first among the seven deacons who served in the patriarchal church. He is
therefore called "archdeacon of Rome", a position of great trust that
included the care of the treasury and riches of the Church and the distribution
of alms to the indigent.
On 10 August, St. Lawrence, the last of the
seven deacons, and therefore, the ranking Church official, suffered a martyr's
death.
By tradition, St Lawrence was sentenced at
San Lorenzo in Miranda, imprisoned in and baptized fellow prisoners at San
Lorenzo in Fonte, martyred at San Lorenzo in Panisperna, and was buried in San Lorenzo
fuori le Mura.
The Prefect was so angry that he had a great gridiron
prepared with hot coals beneath it, and had Lawrence placed on it, hence St
Lawrence's association with the gridiron. After the martyr had suffered pain
for a long time, the legend concludes, he cheerfully declared: "I'm well
done on this side. Turn me over. From this derives his patronage of cooks,
chefs, and comedians.
Emperor Constantine I is traditionally held to have
erected a small oratory in honour of St Lawrence, which was a station on the
itineraries of the graves of the Roman martyrs by the seventh century. Pope
Damasus I rebuilt or repaired the church, now the Basilica di San Lorenzo fuori
le Mura, while the Minor Basilica of San Lorenzo in Panisperna was erected over
the site of his martyrdom. The gridiron of the martyrdom was placed by Pope
Paschal II in the Minor Basilica of San Lorenzo in Lucina.
