BBQ’d for the Faith

Today is the feast of St. Lawrence of Rome, a third-century martyr of the Catholic Church. By chance, Lawrence was the first Saint I ever seriously explored, learning his story from a non-Catholic friend in college. When I decided to become Catholic a few months later, and was told I had to choose a ‘patron’ Saint, I chose Lawrence–partly because of his story, partly because I had few other candidates.

History doesn’t reveal much about St. Lawrence, but the couple of anecdotes that have been passed down never fail to inflame my heart. In 258 A.D., the Roman Emperor Valerian set out on a massive killing campaign, murdering numerous Christians. One of the earliest victims of the persecution was the Pope himself, Sixtus II. According to lore, after the Pope’s martyrdom, the Church put Lawrence–a deacon at the time–in charge of her riches. The treasures included the legendary Holy Chalice, purported to be the cup Christ used while celebrating the first Eucharist.

Now, here’s where the story gets interesting. Valerian, still blood-thirsty after killing the Pope, set his sights on noble Lawrence. Familiar with the Church’s riches, Valerian commanded Lawrence to turn over all the “treasures of the Church” before his death. Lawrence asked for a few days to gather such a mass amount of wealth, to which Valerian agreed. Three days passed, and Valerian beckoned Lawrence to deliver the “treasures”. Lawrence, with unmatched boldness, delivered to Valerian as many of the poor, blind, and crippled citizens he could gather in three days, telling the Emperor that “these are the true treasures of the Church!”

Obviously, Valerian became enraged. He sentenced Lawrence not only to death, but death by torturous grilling. Quite literally, the executioners barbecued Lawrence on a gridiron. This act led to Lawrence’s greatest claim to fame, his hardy response to the roast: after a few minutes of being barbecued, Lawrence turned to his executioners and said, “This side’s done, turn me over and have a bite.”

In her infinite humor, the Church has deemed Lawrence the patron Saint of comedians, butchers, chefs, and roasters–you can’t make that stuff up!

May St. Lawrence’s boldness and love for the poor guide us all to saintliness, teaching us to lay down our lives for the “true treasures of the Church”. St. Lawrence, pray for us!

(If you want to know more about St. Lawrence, the best book I’ve found is Janice Bennett’s “St. Laurence and the Holy Grail” which has a great account of Lawrence’s martyrdom along with an exploration of the Holy Grail.

Also, the excellent SaintCast podcast featured a couple of episodes on St. Lawrence and the Grail, including a moving account of Lawrence’s martyrdom.)