Feast Day of St. Lawerence

Today the church celebrates a martyr, St. Lawrence. I've always loved the stories of this saint, as he seemed to me that is that he must of had a witty and good sense of humor, which he used in his ministries. St. Lawrence was a deacon, during the early church and he served under Pope Sixtus the second during one of the persecutions of the early church. He was one of seven deacons who was responsible for the material goods of the church  and the distribution of alms  to the needy and poor of the city.When the Pope, during the persecution was condemned to death, St. Lawrence followed after him weeping saying to the Pope "Father where are you going without your deacon?" The Pope in turn answered "I am not leaving you my son, in three days you will follow after me."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.The Saint was tied on top of an iron grill over a slow fire that roasted his flesh little by little, but Lawrence was burning with so much love of God that he almost did not feel the flames. In fact,God gave him so much strength  and joy that he even joked. "Turn me over," he said to the judge. "I'm done on this side!" And just before he died, he said, "It's cooked enough now." Then he prayed that the city of Rome might be converted to Jesus and that the Catholic faith might spread all over the world. After that, he went to receive the martyr's reward.

St. Lawrence is the Patron Saint of Rome, Rotterdam, Birgu. Malta, Spain, San Lorenzo, The Philippians, Canada, Sri Lanka, comedians ;3,  librarians, students, miners, tanners, chefs/cooks, and roasters.:D

St. Lawrence Pray for Us!

God Love You <3-Heart