Every August 10, Saint Lawrence is celebrated, one of the seven deacons of Rome at the time of Pope Sixtus II and one of the most famous saints of antiquity.
Here we present some curious facts about his life.
1. An astronomical phenomenon bears his name
“Tears of Saint Lawrence” is the popular name for a shower of shooting stars (the Perseids) visible every year around the 11th and 12th; or August 12 and 13. The name began to be used in memory of the martyred deacon, much later in medieval Europe.
2. A football club bears his name
The name of Pope Francis’ favorite soccer team, Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro, is in honor of the martyred deacon. As was the wish of the Salesian Fr. Lorenzo Massa, at the beginning of the team’s foundation.
3. In Rome he is the most important saint after Peter and Paul
With tranquility that no one had imagined, during his martyrdom, he prayed for the conversion of Rome and the spread of the religion of Christ throughout the world, until he breathed his last.
The professor of systematic theology, Francesco Moraglia, explains in an article that “the city, which attributed the definitive victory over paganism to him, chose him as its third patron and has celebrated his festival since the fourth century, as the second festival in order of importance after that of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul”.
Likewise, “34 churches and chapels were raised in his honor, a tangible sign of gratitude to him who, faithful to his ministry, had been among them a true minister and servant of charity.”
4. A Basilica in Rome is dedicated to him
The Basilica of San Lorenzo Outside the Walls, where the tomb of the saint is located, is one of the five patriarchal or papal basilicas.
Inside the Basilica there is a marble stone where, according to tradition, the body of San Lorenzo was placed immediately after his martyrdom, leaving part of his silhouette imprinted.
Every year in the San Lorenzo neighborhood there is a pilgrimage and a Mass in his honor. The pilgrimage is accompanied by a relic of the saint carried in a small monstrance.
5. He is the patron saint of cooks
Saint Lawrence of Rome is the patron saint of cooks. After enduring terrible torture with lashes, hot iron bars, he was sentenced to die on a kind of giant iron grill.
According to tradition, after burning on the grill for a while, he told the judge: “I’m already roasted on one side. Now turn me to the other side so that I’m completely roasted.” The executioner ordered them to turn it over and thus it was completely burned.
6. His martyrdom was predicted by Pope Saint Sixtus II
Saint Lawrence was one of the deacons assisting Pope Saint Sixtus II, who was assassinated by the emperor’s police while celebrating Mass in a Rome cemetery.
The ancient tradition says that when Lorenzo saw that the Supreme Pontiff was going to be killed, the latter said:
“To us, because we are old, the course of an easier race has been assigned to us; to you, because you are young, is due a more glorious triumph over the tyrant. You will come soon, he stops crying: in three days you will follow me. Between a bishop and a Levite it is appropriate that this interval exists” (Saint Ambrose, De Officiis, n. 206).
7. Pope Saint Leo the Great dedicated a beautiful homily to him
In the fifth century, the Doctor of the Church and Pope, Saint Leo the Great, said of Saint Lawrence that “the flames could not overcome the charity of Christ; and the fire that burned him outside was weaker than that which burned within him.” “.
He added: “The Lord wanted to exalt his glorious name throughout the world to such an extent that, from East to West, in the vivid splendor of the light irradiated by the greatest deacons, the same glory that Jerusalem received through Stephen also touched Rome. for the merits of Lorenzo” (Homily 85, 4: PL 54, 486).
Lorenzo was placed immediately after his martyrdom, leaving part of his silhouette imprinted.
Every year in the San Lorenzo neighborhood there is a pilgrimage and a Mass in his honor. The pilgrimage is accompanied by a relic of the saint carried in a small monstrance.
(Translated from ACI Prensa)