Thirsting for God
Psalm 62
O God, you are my God, I wait for you from the dawn.
My soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you.
I came to your sanctuary,
as one in a parched and waterless land,
so that I could see your might and your glory.
My lips will praise you, for your mercy is better than life itself.
Thus I will bless you throughout my life,
and raise my hands in prayer to your name;
my soul will be filled as if by rich food,
and my mouth will sing your praises and rejoice.
I will remember you as I lie in bed,
I will think of you in the morning,
for you have been my helper,
and I will take joy in the protection of your wings.
My soul clings to you; your right hand raises me up.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
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August 10th - St. Lawrence (Laurence) of Rome, Martyr
Born in Huesca (?), Spain; died in Rome, Italy, 258. Lawrence was said to
be a
Spaniard who came to Rome to serve Pope Saint Sixtus II as one of the
seven
deacons of Rome. The pope himself was martyred in 258 during the Valerian
persecution, the year after the first publication of the decrees against
the
Christians. While one version of the martyrdom of Sixtus has him beheaded
at the
time of discovery in the catacombs, the another has him taken away for
questioning and returned within a few hours to the spot for execution. In
either
case, several early Christian writers, among them Saints Ambrose and
Prudentius,
record that Lawrence was overwhelmed with grief when Sixtus was condemned.
The latter one tells us that Lawrence followed the pope and his captors to
the
place of execution, asking why Sixtus II should be murdered and not his
deacon
(however, six deacons were martyred with Sixtus). Sixtus replied, "My son,
I am
not leaving you. In a few days you will follow me."
Lawrence, overjoyed that he was to follow his master to martyrdom, had one
task
left. As a deacon, Lawrence was a steward of the property and wealth of
the
church. It was his duty to provide alms to those in need. Lawrence
gathered
together all the poor, the orphans, and the widows he could find and gave
them
all he possessed. Lawrence even sold some of the church's gold and silver,
handing over this money too to the needy.
The prefect, Cornelius Saecularis, believing that the Church was wealthy,
ordered that everything of value be turned over to the emperor for the
upkeep of
his armies. The prefect said, "I understand that according to your
teaching you
must render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's. Your God didn't bring
any
money into the world with him, all He brought was words. So give us the
money,
and you can keep the words."
Lawrence said he would need three days to gather it together. In those
three
days he sold the rest of the property that he administered and brought
together
thousands of lepers, the blind, and the sick, the destitute, widows,
orphans,
and the aged. These he presented to the prefect, observing, "The church is
truly
rich, far richer then your emperor."
In his rage the prefect threatened to kill Lawrence slowly. He took a huge
gridiron, heated it until it glowed, and binding Lawrence to the metal,
roasted
him to death. Ambrose tells us that the fire of Divine love burned so
brightly
in Lawrence that he bore the agony with unbelievable calm and in the midst
of
his torment instructed the executioner to turn him over, as he was broiled
enough on the one side. Later he said, "It is cooked enough. You may eat."
It is
said that as he lay dying, his face seemed to be surrounded by a beautiful
light. After praying for the conversion of Rome, he died.
According to Prudentius, his death and example led to the conversion of
Rome and
signaled the end of paganism in the city. There is no doubt that his death
inspired a great devotion in Rome, which quickly spread throughout the
entire
Church. Both he and Sixtus are named in the canon of the Mass.
The existence and martyrdom of Saint Lawrence are attested by the very
ancient
Deposito Martyrum. However, scholars are not wholly in agreement about how
much
credence can be given to such particulars about Saint Lawrence because his
passio was not written until at least a century after his death. The fact
of his
martyrdom was widely accepted by the Fathers, but there is room to doubt
the
details. For example, it is more likely that he was beheaded, as was
Sixtus,
because this was the usual manner of execution at that time. The gridiron
appears to be derived from a Phrygian source through the acta of Saint
Vincent
of Saragossa.
He was buried in the cemetery of Cyriaca in the Campo Verano on the Via
Tiburtina (on the way to Tivoli), on the site of what is now the Church of
Saint
Lawrence-outside-the-Walls. Five ancient churches are dedicated to
Lawrence in
Rome, 228 were dedicated to him in England prior to the Reformation, as
well as
the cathedral of Lund and the Escorial in Spain. Pope Vitalian sent some
of his
relics to King Oswy of Northumbria in the 7th century. Lawrence's
intercession
was reputed to have caused the victories of Christian armies in the battle
of
Lichfeld against the Magyars in 955, and at Saint-Quentin, in 1557
(Attwater,
Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Farmer, White).
Generally, he is pictured as a deacon with a gridiron, or giving money to
the
poor [Pope Sixtus II or greeted by him on his way to martyrdom; (3)
putting a
chalice on Saint Michael's scales to save the Emperor's life; (4) leading
a soul
from purgatory (which he is reputed to do every Friday); (5) baptizing in
prison; (6) scourged and roasted on gridiron (Roeder); or (7) carrying a
long
cross on his shoulder and a Gospel book in his hand as in the Ravenna
mosaics
(White). The most complete cycle of his life was painted by Bl. Fra
Angelico for
the chapel of Nicholas V in the Vatican. These include Saint Lawrence
Receiving
the Treasures of the Church, The Ordination of Saint Lawrence, and Saint
Lawrence in Justice and his Martyrdom. Bourges and Poitiers has notable
stained
glass windows depicting Lawrence (Farmer).
He was one of the most popular and powerful saints of the Middle Ages,
which
accounts for his many patronages. He is the patron of deacons (Farmer),
schoolboys, students, armorers, brewers, confectioners, cooks (what did
you
expect-he was roasted ), cutlers, glaziers, and launderers (Roeder).
This Version taken from:
http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/ss-index.htm
Saint Quote:
has lost and who has won in the struggle-the one who keeps the premises
[buildings] or the one who keeps the Faith? The Faith obviously. That
therefore
the ordinances which have been preserved in the churches from old time
until now
may not be lost in our days,... rouse yourselves, brethren,... seeing them
now
seized upon by aliens.
-St. Basil the Great (ca. 330-ca. 379)
Bible Quote
19. Jesus said to them: Because of your unbelief. For, amen I say to you,
if you
have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain,
Remove
from hence hither, and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to
you.
(Matthew 17:19)
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PRAYER FOR PROTECTION AGAINST DEMONS
O Mary, powerful Virgin,
You are the mighty and glorious Protector of the Church.
You are the Marvelous Help of Christians.
You are Terrible as an Army set in Battle Array.
You alone have destroyed every heresy in the entire Church.
In the midst of my anguish, my struggles and my distress,
Defend me from the power of the enemy,
And at the hour of my death,
Receive my soul into Paradise.
(Saint John Bosco, C. 1880)
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