Feast of Saint Lawrence (d. 258)

Friday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Readings of the Day
RB: Ch 57 The Artisans of the Monastery
Mass: 2 Co 9:6-10; Resp Ps 112; Jn 12:24-26

St Lawrence Distributing the Treasure of the Church

by Bernardo Strozzi

Today we remember St Lawrence, one the saints whose name occurs in the Roman Canon of Mass, or Eucharist Prayer I. It is said that Lawrence was called by Pope Sixtus II (also listed in the Roman Canon) to be a deacon of the early Church in Rome. When ordered by the city prefect to hand over the Church's valuables, Lawrence gathered the poor and sick and presented them to the prefect saying, 'Here is the Church's treasure.' Arrested in 258, Lawrence was martyred during the persecution of Valerian. The Papal Minor Basilica of St Lawrence Outside the Walls in Rome was built over his tomb and is a popular place of pilgrimage. St Lawrence is the patron saint of rotisserie operators, restaurant owners, cooks, librarians, booksellers, pastry chefs, firefighters, and glaziers. 

God is able to make every grace abundant for you, so that in all things, always having all you need, you may have an abundance for every good work.

2 Co 9:8

SAINT LAWRENCE, PRAY FOR US.