On the Feast of Saint Lawrence the Martyr

Dearly beloved, the height of all virtues and the fullness of all righteousness are born of that love with which God and one’s neighbor are loved. And surely in no one is this love found more conspicuous and brighter than in the blessed martyrs, who are as near to our Lord Jesus, who died for all, in imitating his love as they are in the likeness of their suffering. For the love with which the Lord has redeemed us cannot be equaled by any human kindness, because it is one thing for a man who is bound to die someday to die for a righteous man, and another for one who is free from the debt of sin to lay down his life for the wicked. Yet the martyrs too have done great service to all. For the Lord, who gave them their boldness, has used it to show that the penalty of death and the pain of the cross need not be terrible to any of his followers, but might be imitated by many of them. So if no good man is good for himself alone, and no wise man’s wisdom benefits himself only, and the nature of true virtue is such that it leads many away from the dark error on which its light is shed, then no model is more useful in teaching God’s people than that of the martyrs. Eloquence may make pleading easy, and reasoning may persuade effectively; but examples are stronger than words, and there is more teaching in practice than in precept. [a]

The blessed martyr Lawrence, whose sufferings mark this day, is gloriously strong in this most excellent kind of teaching, and even his persecutors could feel how strong he was. For they found that his wonderful courage, born above all of love for Christ, not only did not give way itself but also strengthened others by the example of his endurance. For when the fury of the pagan rulers was raging against Christ’s most chosen members, and attacked especially those who were of priestly rank, the wicked persecutor’s anger was turned on Lawrence the deacon. He stood out not only in performing the sacred rites but also in managing the church’s property, and the persecutor promised himself a double prize from capturing one man: if he forced him to hand over the sacred treasures, he would also drive him outside the bounds of true religion. And so this man, so greedy for money and such an enemy of the truth, armed himself with a double weapon: with greed, to plunder the gold; with ungodliness, to carry off Christ. He demanded of the guileless guardian of the sanctuary that the church’s wealth, on which his greedy mind was set, should be brought to him. But the holy deacon showed him where he had it stored by pointing to the many crowds of poor saints. In feeding and clothing them he had a store of riches that he could not lose, and that were all the more completely safe because the money had been spent on so holy a cause. [c]

So the baffled plunderer frets. Blazing out in hatred of a religion that had put riches to such a use, and finding no solid hoard of money in Lawrence’s possession, he determines to seize a still greater treasure by carrying off the sacred deposit with which Lawrence was enriched. He orders Lawrence to renounce Christ, and prepares to attack the deacon’s stout courage with frightful tortures; and when the first draw out nothing, fiercer ones follow. His limbs, torn and mangled by many cutting blows, are ordered to be roasted over the fire on an iron frame. The frame was already hot enough by itself to burn him, and on it his limbs were turned from time to time to make the torment fiercer and the death slower. [d]

You gain nothing, you achieve nothing, savage cruelty. His mortal body is set free from your schemes, and when Lawrence departs to heaven you are defeated. The flame of Christ’s love could not be overcome by your flames, and the fire that burned outside was less fierce than the one that blazed within. In your rage, persecutor, you only served the martyr; in adding to the pain you only increased the reward. For what did your cunning devise that did not turn to the conqueror’s glory, when even the instruments of torture were counted as part of the triumph? So let us rejoice, dearly beloved, with spiritual joy, and let us glory over the happy end of this illustrious man in the Lord, who is “wonderful in his saints.” In him the Lord has given us a support and an example, and has so spread his glory throughout the world that from the rising of the sun to its setting the brightness of his deacon’s light shines, and Rome has become as famous through Lawrence as Jerusalem was made noble by Stephen. By his prayer and intercession we trust to be helped at all times, so that, since, as the apostle says, “all who wish to live a holy life in Christ suffer persecution,” we may be strengthened with the spirit of love, and fortified to overcome all temptations by the perseverance of steadfast faith. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen. [f]