Saint Lawrence

Lawrence was Spanish, from Osca in Aragon, at the foot of the Pyrenees. As a young man he was sent to Zaragoza to study, and there he met his teacher, the future Pope Sixtus II. He followed him to Rome, and once Sixtus became pope he made him one of the seven deacons of the city, in charge of managing the Church’s goods and distributing them to the poor. In 258 Valerian ordered bishops, priests and deacons to be put to death. Sixtus II was seized while celebrating Mass in the catacombs and beheaded on August 6. Lawrence was arrested a few days later. The prefect ordered him to hand over the treasures of the Church. Lawrence asked for three days. He used them to give away to the poor everything there was, and on the third day he showed up with a procession of beggars, the lame, the blind and widows, saying: these are the treasures of the Church. He died on August 10, 258. Tradition, already told by Ambrose and Prudentius, has it that he was put on a gridiron — and that at one point he told his executioners to turn him over, because that side was done. Many historians today believe he was beheaded like the others, and that the gridiron comes from an ancient copying mistake. The story, though, is one all of Europe has held on to. The night of August 10 is called the Night of San Lorenzo, and the shooting stars you see that night are, according to tradition, his tears. If your name is Lawrence or Lorenza, today is your name day.