‘ONCE the mother of false gods, but now the bride of Christ, O Rome, it is through Laurence thou art victorious I Thou hast conquered haughty monarchs and subjected nations to thine empire; but though thou hadst overcome barbarism, thy glory was incomplete till thou hadst vanquished the unclean idols. This was Laurence's victory, a combat bloody yet not tumultuous like those of Camillus or of Cæsar; it was the contest of faith, wherein self is immolated, and death is overcome by death. What words, what praises suffice to celebrate such a death? How can I worthily sing so great a martyrdom?'[1]
Thus opens the sublime poem of Prudentius, composed little more than a century after the saint's martyrdom. In this work the poet has preserved to us the traditions existing in his own day, whereby the name of the Roman deacon was rendered so illustrious. About the same time St. Ambrose, with his irresistible eloquence, described the meeting of Sixtus and his deacon on the way to martyrdom.[2] But, before both Ambrose and Prudentius, Pope St. Damasus chronicled the victory of Laurence's faith, in his majestic monumental inscriptions, which have such a ring of the days of triumph.[3]
Rome was lavish in her demonstrations of honour towards the champion who had prayed for her deliverance upon his red-hot gridiron. She inserted his name in the Canon of the Mass, and moreover celebrated the anniversary of his birth to heaven with as much solemnity as those of the glorious apostles her founders, and with the same privileges of a Vigil and an Octave. She has been dyed with the blood of many other witnesses of Christ, yet as though Laurence had a special claim upon her gratitude, every spot connected with him has been honoured with a church. Amongst all these sanctuaries dedicated to him, the one which contains the martyr's body ranks next after the churches of St. John Lateran, St. Mary's on the Esquiline, St. Peter's on the Vatican, and St. Paul's on the Ostian Way. St. Laurence outside the Walls completes the number of the five great basilicas that form the appanage and exclusive possession of the Roman Pontiff. They represent the patriarchates of Rome, Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople, and Jerusalem, which divide the world between them, and express the universal and immediate jurisdiction of the Bishops of Rome over all the churches. Thus through Laurence the Eternal City is completed, and is shown to be the centre of the world and the source of every grace.
Just as Peter and Paul are the riches, not of Rome alone, but of the whole world, so Laurence is called the honour of the world, for he, as it were, personified the courage of martyrdom. At the beginning of this month we saw Stephen himself come to blend his dignity of Protomartyr with the glory of Sixtus II's deacon, by sharing his tomb. In Laurence, it seemed that both the struggle and the victory of martyrdom reached their highest point; persecution, it is true, was renewed during the next half-century, and made many victims, yet his triumph was considered as the death-blow to paganism.
‘The devil,’ says Prudentius, ‘struggled fiercely with God's witness, but he was himself wounded and prostrated for ever. The death of Christ's martyr gave the death-blow to the worship of idols, and from that day Vesta was powerless to prevent her temple from being deserted. All these Roman citizens, brought up in the superstitions taught by Numa, hasten, O Christ, to Thy courts, singing hymns to Thy martyr. Illustrious senators, flamens and priests of Lupercus, venerate the tombs of apostles and saints. We see patricians and matrons of the noblest families vowing to God the children in whom their hopes are centred. The pontiff of the idols, whose brow but yesterday was bound with the sacred fillet, now signs himself with the Cross, and the vestal virgin Claudia visits thy sanctuary, O Laurence.'[4]
It need not surprise us that this day's solemnity carries its triumphant joy from the city of the seven hills to the entire universe. 'As it is impossible for Rome to be concealed,' says St. Augustine, 'so it is equally impossible to hide Laurence's crown.' Everywhere, in both East and West, churches were built in his honour; and in return, as the Bishop of Hippo testifies, ' the favours he conferred were innumerable, and prove the greatness of his power with God; who has ever prayed to him and has not been graciously heard?'[5]
Let us, then, conclude with St. Maximus of Turin that ‘in the devotion wherewith the triumph of St. Laurence is being celebrated throughout the entire world, we must recognize that it is both holy and pleasing to God to honour, with all the fervour of our souls, the birth to heaven of the martyr who by his radiant flames has spread the glory of his victory over the whole Church. Because of the spotless purity of soul which made him a true Levite, and because of that fulness of faith which earned him the martyr's palm, it is fitting that we should honour him almost equally with the apostles.'[6]
FIRST VESPERS
Laurence has entered the lists as a martyr, and has confessed the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Such is the antiphon wherewith the Church opens the first Vespers of the feast; and in fact, by this hour he has already entered the arena; with noble irony he has challenged the authorities, and has even shed his blood.
On the very day of the martyrdom of Sixtus II, Cornelius Secularis,[7] prefect of Rome, summoned Laurence before his tribunal, but granted him the delay necessary for gathering together the riches required by the imperial treasury. Valerian did not include the obscure members of the Church in his edicts of persecution; he aimed at ruining the Christians by prohibiting their assemblies, putting their chief men to death, and confiscating their property. This accounts for the fact that, on August 6, the faithful assembled in the cemetery of Pretextatus were dispersed, the pontiff executed, and the chief deacon arrested and ordered to deliver up the treasures which the Government knew to be in his keeping. 'Acknowledge my just and peaceable claims,' said the prefect. 'It is said that at your orgies your priests are accustomed, according to the laws of your worship, to make libations in cups of gold; that silver vessels smoke with the blood of the victims, and that the torches that give light to your nocturnal mysteries are fixed in golden candlesticks. And then you have such love and care for the brotherhood: report says you sell your lands in order to devote to their service thousands of sesterces; so that while the son is disinherited by his holy parents and groans in poverty, his patrimony is piously hidden away in the secrecy of your temples. Bring forth these immense treasures, the shameful spoils you have won by deceiving the credulous; the public good demands them; render to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's, that he may have wherewith to fill his treasury and pay his armies.’
Laurence, untroubled by these words, and as if quite willing to obey, gently answered: 'I confess you speak the truth; our Church is indeed wealthy; no one in the world, not even Augustus himself, possesses such riches. I will disclose them all to you, and I will show you the treasures of Christ. All I ask for is a short delay, which will enable me the better to perform what I have promised. For I must make an inventory of all, count them up, and value each article.’
The prefect's heart swelled with joy, and gloating over the gold he hoped soon to possess, he granted him a delay of three days. Meanwhile Laurence hastened all over the town and assembled the legions of poor whom their Mother the Church supported; lame and blind, cripple and beggars, he called them all. None knew them better than the archdeacon. Next he counted them, wrote down their names, and arranged them in long lines. On the appointed day he returned to the judge and thus addressed him: ‘Come with me and admire the incomparable riches of the sanctuary of our God.' They went together to the spot where the crowds of poor were standing, clothed in rags and filling the air with their supplications. ‘Why do you shudder?’ said Laurence to the prefect. ‘Do you call that a vile and contemptible spectacle? If you seek after wealth, know that the brightest gold is Christ, who is the light, and the human race redeemed by Him; for they are the sons of the light, all these who are shielded by their bodily weakness from the assault of pride and evil passion; soon they will lay aside their ulcers in the palace of eternal life, and will shine in marvellous glory, clothed in purple and bearing golden crowns upon their heads. See, here is the gold which I promised you—gold of a kind that fire cannot touch or thief steal from you. Think not, then, that Christ is poor: behold these choice pearls, these sparkling gems that adorn the temple, these sacred virgins, I mean, and these widows who refuse second marriage; they form the priceless necklace of the Church, they deck her ears, they are her bridal ornaments, and win for her Christ's love. Behold, then, all our riches; take them: they will beautify the city of Romulus, they will increase the Emperor's treasures and enrich you yourself.'[8]
From a letter of Pope St. Cornelius, written a few years after these events, we learn that the number of widows and poor persons that the Church of Rome supported exceeded 1,500.[9] By thus exhibiting them before the magistrate, Laurence knew that he endangered no one but himself, for the persecution of Valerian, as we have already observed, overlooked the inferior classes and attacked the leading members of the Church. Divine Wisdom thus confronted Csesarism and its brutality with Christianity which it so despised, but which was destined to overcome and subdue it.
This happened on August 9, 258. The first answer the furious prefect made was to order Laurence to be scourged and tortured upon the rack. But these tortures were only a prelude to the great ordeal he was preparing for the noble-hearted deacon. We learn this tradition from St. Damasus, for he says that, besides the flames, Laurence triumphed over ' blows, tortures, torments, and chains.'[10]
We have also the authority of the notice inserted by Ado of Vienne in his martyrology in the ninth century, and taken from a still more ancient source. The conformity of expression proves that it was partly from this same source that the Gregorian Antiphonal had already taken the antiphons and responsories of the feast.
Besides the details which we learn from Prudentius and the Fathers, this office alludes to the converts Laurence made while in prison, and to his restoring sight to the blind. This last seems to have been the special gift of the holy deacon during the days preceding his martyrdom.
1. Ant. Laurentius ingressus est martyr, et confessus est nomen Domini Jesu Christi.
1. Ant. Laurence has entered the lists as a martyr, and has confessed the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ps. Dixit Dominus, page 35.
2. Ant. Laurentius bonum opus operatus est, qui per signum crucis cæcos illuminavit.
2. Ant. Laurence has wrought a good work, who by the sign of the Cross gave sight to the blind.
Ps. Confitebor tibi Domine, page 37.
3. Ant. Adhæsit anima mea post te, quia caro mea igne cremata est pro te Deus meus.
3. Ant. My soul has cleaved to Thee, for my flesh has been burnt with fire for Thy sake, O my God.
Ps. Beatus vir, page 38.
4. Ant. Misit Dominus angelum suum, et liberavit me de medio ignis, et non sum æstuatus.
4. Ant. The Lord sent His angel and delivered me from the midst of the fire, and I have not been consumed.
Ps. Laudate pueri, page 39.
5. Ant. Beatus Laurentius orabat, dicens: Gratias tibi ago, Domine, quia januas tuas ingredi merui.
5. Ant. Blessed Laurence prayed, saying: I give Thee thanks, O Lord, that I have been found worthy to enter Thy gates.
Psalm 116
Laudate Dominum, omnes gentes: * laudate eum, omnes populi.
Quoniam confirmata est super nos misericordia ejus: * et veritas Domini manet in æternum.
Oh, praise the Lord, all ye nations, praise Him, all ye people.
For His mercy is confirmed upon us, and the truth of the Lord remaineth for ever.
Capitulum
(2 Cor. ix.)
Fratres: Qui parce seminat, parce et metet: et qui seminat in benedictionibus, de benedictionibus et metet.
Brethren: He who soweth sparingly shall also reap sparingly: and he who soweth in blessings, shall also reap blessings.
Hymn
Deus tuorum militum
Sors, et corona, præmium,
Laudes canentes martyris
Absolve nexu criminis.
Hic nempe mundi gaudia,
Et blanda fraudum pabula
Imbuta felle deputans,
Pervenit ad cœlestia.
Pœnas cucurrit fortiter,
Et sustulit viriliter,
Fundensque pro te sanguinem,
Æterna dona possidet.
Ob hoc precatu supplici
Te poscimus, piissime:
In hoc triumpho martyris
Dimitte noxam servulis.
Laus et perennis.
Gloria Patri sit, atque Filio,
Sancto simul Paraclito,
In sempiterna sæcula.
Amen.
O God! Thou the inheritance,
crown, and reward of Thy soldiers!
absolve from the bonds of our sins
us who sing the praises of Thy martyr.
For counting the joys of the world
and the deceitful bait of its caresses
as things embittered with gall,
Thy martyr obtained the delights of heaven.
Bravely did he go through,
and manfully did he bear, his pains:
and shedding his blood for Thy sake,
he now possesses Thy eternal gifts.
Therefore, most merciful Father!
we beseech Thee, in most suppliant prayer,
forgive us, Thy unworthy servants, our sins,
for it is the feast of Thy martyr’s triumph.
Praise and eternal glory be
to the Father and to the Son,
as also to the Holy Paraclete,
for everlasting ages.
Amen.
℣. Gloria et honore coronasti eum, Domine.
℟. Et constituisti eum super opera manuum tuarum.
℣. Thou hast crowned him, O Lord, with glory and honour.
℟. And hast placed him over the works of Thy hands.
Antiphon of the Magnificat
Levita Laurentius bonum opus operatus est, qui per signum crucis cæcos illuminavit, et thesauros Ecclesiæ dedit pauperibus.
Laurence the Levite hath wrought a good work: he restored sight to the blind by the sign of the Cross, and distributed to the poor the treasures of the Church.
The Canticle, Magnificat, page 43.
Collect
Da nobis, quæsumus, omnipotens Deus: vitiorum nostrorum flammas exstinguere; qui beato Laurentio tribuisti tormentorum suorum incendia superare. Per Dominum.
Grant us, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, to extinguish the flames of our vices: Thou who unto blessed Laurence didst give a strength that overcame the fire of his torments. Through, etc.
The August sun has set behind the Vatican, and the life and animation, which his burning heat had stilled for a time, begin once more upon the seven hills. Laurence was taken down from the rack about midday. In his prison, however, he took no rest, but wounded and bleeding as he was, he baptized the converts won to Christ by the sight of his courageous suffering. He confirmed their faith, and fired their souls with a martyr's intrepidity. When the evening hour summoned Rome to its pleasures, the prefect recalled the executioners to their work, for a few hours' rest had sufficiently restored their energy to enable them to satisfy his cruelty.
Surrounded by this ill-favoured company, the prefect thus addressed the valiant deacon: 'Sacrifice to the gods, or else the whole night long shall be witness of your torments.' 'My night has no darkness,' answered Laurence, 'and all things are full of light to me.' They struck him on the mouth with stones, but he smiled and said: ‘I give Thee thanks, O Christ.'
Then an iron bed or gridiron with three bars was brought in and the saint was stripped of his garments and extended upon it while burning coals were placed beneath it. As they were holding him down with iron forks, Laurence said: ' I offer myself as a sacrifice to God for an odour of sweetness.' The executioners continually stirred up the fire and brought fresh coals, while they still held him down with their forks. Then the saint said: ' Learn, unhappy man, how great is the power of my God; for your burning coals give me refreshment, but they will be your eternal punishment. I call Thee, O Lord, to witness: when I was accused, I did not deny Thee; when I was questioned, I confessed Thee, O Christ; on the red-hot coals I gave Thee thanks.' And with his countenance radiant with heavenly beauty, he continued: ‘Yea, I give Thee thanks, O Lord Jesus Christ, for that Thou hast deigned to strengthen me.' He then raised his eyes to his judge, and said: ' See, this side is well roasted; turn me on the other and eat.' Then continuing his canticle of praise to God: ‘I give Thee thanks, O Lord, that I have merited to enter into Thy dwelling-place.'[11] As he was on the point of death, he remembered the Church. The thought of the eternal Rome gave him fresh strength, and he breathed forth this ecstatic prayer:' O Christ, only God, O Splendour, O Power of the Father, O Maker of heaven and earth and builder of this city's walls! Thou hast placed Rome's sceptre high over all; Thou hast willed to subject the world to it, in order to unite under one law the nations which differ in manners, customs, language, genius, and sacrifice. Behold the whole human race has submitted to its empire, and all discord and dissensions disappear in its unity. Remember thy purpose: Thou didst will to bind the immense universe together into one Christian Kingdom. O Christ, for the sake of Thy Romans, make this city Christian; for to it Thou gavest the charge of leading all the rest to sacred unity. All its members in every place are united—a very type of Thy Kingdom; the conquered universe has bowed before it. Oh! may its royal head be bowed in turn! Send Thy Gabriel and bid him heal the blindness of the sons of lulus that they may know the true God. I see a prince who is to come—an Emperor who is a servant of God. He will not suffer Rome to remain a slave; he will close the temples and fasten them with bolts for ever.'
Thus he prayed, and with these last words he breathed forth his soul. Some noble Romans who had been conquered to Christ by the martyr's admirable boldness, removed his body: the love of the most high God had suddenly filled their hearts and dispelled their former errors. From that day the worship of the infamous gods grew cold; few people went now to the temples, but hastened to the altars of Christ. Thus Laurence, going unarmed to the battle, had wounded the enemy with his own sword.[12]
The Church, which is always grateful in proportion to the service rendered her, could not forget this glorious night. At the period when her children's piety vied with her own, she used to summon them together at sunset on the evening of August 9 for a first Night Office. At midnight the second Matins began, followed by the first Mass called 'of the night or of the early morning.’[13] Thus the Christians watched around the holy deacon during the hours of his glorious combat. 'O God, Thou hast proved my heart, and visited it by night, Thou hast tried me by fire, and iniquity hath not been found in me. Hear, O Lord, my justice; attend to my supplication.'[14] Such is the grand Introit which, immediately after the night Vigils, hallowed the dawn of August 10, at the very moment when Laurence entered the eternal sanctuary to fulfil his office at the heavenly altar.
Later on certain churches observed on this feast a custom similar to one in use at the Matins of the commemoration of St. Paul; it consisted in reciting a particular versicle before repeating each antiphon of the Nocturns. The doctors of the sacred liturgy tell us that the remarkable labours of the Doctor of the Gentiles and those of St. Laurence earned for them this distinction.[15]
Our forefathers were greatly struck by the contrast between the endurance of the holy deacon under his cruel tortures and his tender-hearted, tearful parting with Sixtus II three days before. On this account, they gave to the periodical showers of 'falling stars,' which occur about August 10, the graceful name of St. Laurence’s tears: a touching instance of that popular piety which delights in raising the heart to God through the medium of natural phenomena.
MASS
The deacon has followed his Pontiff beyond the veil; the faithful Levite is standing beside the ark of the eternal covenant. He now gazes on the splendour of that tabernacle not made with hands, feebly figured by that of Moses, and but partially revealed by the Church herself.
And yet to-day, though still an exile, Mother Church thrills with a holy pride, for she has added something to the glory and the sanctity of heaven. She triumphantly advances to the altar on earth, which is one with that in heaven. Throughout the night she has had her eyes and her heart fixed on her noble son; and now she dares to sing of the beauty, the holiness, the magnificence of our fatherland as though they were already hers; for the rays of eternal light seem to have fallen upon her as the veil lifted to admit Laurence into the Holy of Holies.
The Introit and its verse are taken from Psalm xcv.:
Introit
Confessio et pulchritudo in conspectu ejus: sanctitas et magnificentia in sanctificatione ejus.
Ps. Cantate Domino canticum novum: cantate Domino omnis terra. Gloria Patri. Confessio.
Praise and beauty are before him: Holiness and majesty in His sanctuary.
Ps. Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle; sing to the Lord all the earth, ℣. Glory, etc. Praise.
No doubt our weakness will not be called upon to endure the ordeal of a red-hot gridiron; nevertheless, we are tried by flames of a different kind, which, if we do not extinguish them in this life, will feed the eternal fire of hell. The Church, therefore, asks on this feast of St. Laurence that we may be gifted with prudence and courage.
Collect
Da nobis, quæsumus, omnipotens Deus: vitiorum nostrorum flammas exstinguere; qui beato Laurentio tribuisti tormentorum suorum incendia superare. Per Dominum.
Grant us, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, to extinguish the flames of our vices; who didst grant to blessed Laurence to overcome the fire of his torments. Through our Lord, etc.
Epistle
Lectio Epistolæ beati Pauli Apostoli ad Corinthios.
II. Cap. ix.
Fratres, qui parce seminat, parce et metet: et qui seminat in benedictionibus, de benedictionibus et metet. Unusquisque prout destinavit in corde suo, non ex tristitia, aut ex necessitate: hilarem enim datorem diligit Deus. Potens est autem Deus omnem gratiam abundare facere in vobis: ut in omnibus semper omnem sufficientiam habentes, abundetis in omne opus bonum, sicut scriptum est: Dispersit, dedit pauperibus: justitia ejus manet in sæculum sæculi. Qui autem administrat semen seminanti: et panem ad manducandum præstabit, et multiplicabit semen vestrum, et augebit incrementa frugum justitiæ vestræ.
Lesson of the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians.
II. Ch. ix.
Brethren, he who soweth sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he who soweth in blessings shall also reap of blessings. Every one as he has determined in his heart; not with sadness, or of necessity; for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound in you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work, as it is written: He hath dispersed abroad; He hath given to the poor; His justice remaineth for ever. And He that ministereth seed to the sower, will both give you bread to eat and will multiply your seed, and increase the growth of the fruits of your justice.
He hath dispersed abroad; He hath given to the poor; His justice remaineth for ever. The Roman Church loves to repeat these words of Psalm cxi. in honour of her great archdeacon. Yesterday she sang them in the Introit and Gradual of the Vigil; again they were heard last night in the responsories, and this morning in the versicle of her triumphant Lauds. Indeed, the Epistle we have just read, which also furnishes the Little Chapters for the several Hours, was selected for to-day because of this same text being therein quoted by the apostle. Evidently the choice graces which won for Laurence his glorious martyrdom were, in the Church's estimation, the outcome of the brave and cheerful fidelity wherewith he distributed to the poor the treasures in his keeping. He who soweth sparingly, shall also reap sparingly; and he who someth in blessings, shall also reap of blessings; such is the supernatural economy of the Holy Ghost in the distribution of His gifts, as exemplified in the glorious scenes we have witnessed during these three days.
We may add with the apostle: What touches the heart of God, and moves Him to multiply His favours, is not so much the work itself as the spirit that prompts it. God loveth a cheerful giver. Noble-hearted, tender, devoted, and self-forgetful, heroic with a heroism bom of simplicity no less than of courage, gracious and smiling even on his gridiron: such was Laurence towards God, towards his father Sixtus II, towards the lowly; and the same he was towards the powerful and in the very face of death. The closing of his life did but prove that he was as faithful in great things as he had been in small. Seldom are nature and grace so perfectly in harmony as they were in the young deacon, and though the gift of martyrdom is so great that no one can merit it, yet his particularly glorious martyrdom seems to have been the development, as if by natural evolution, of the precious germs planted by the Holy Ghost in the rich soil of his noble nature.
The words of Psalm xvi., which formerly composed the Introit of the Mass of the night, are repeated in the Gradual of the morning Mass. The Alleluia Verse reminds us of the miracles wrought by St. Laurence upon the blind; let us ask him to cure our spiritual blindness, which is more terrible than that of the body.
Gradual
[...]
Gospel
Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Joannem.
Cap. xii.
In illo tempore: Dixit Jesus discipulis suis: Amen, amen dico vobis, nisi granum frumenti cadens in terram, mortuum fuerit, ipsum solum manet: si autem mortuum fuerit, multum fructum affert. Qui amat animam suam, perdet eam; et qui odit animam suam in hoc mundo, in vitam æternam custodit eam. Si quis mihi ministrat, me sequatur: et ubi sum ego, illic et minister meus erit. Si quis mihi ministraverit, honorificabit eum Pater meus.
Sequel of the Holy Gospel according to John.
Ch. xii.
At that time: Jesus said to His disciples: Amen, amen, I say to you, unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, itself remaineth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world keepeth it unto life eternal. If any man minister to Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there also shall My minister be. If any man minister to Me, him will My Father honour.
The Gospel we have just read was thus commented by St. Augustine on this very feast: ‘Your faith recognizes the grain that fell into the earth, and, having died, was multiplied. Your faith, I say, recognizes this grain, for the same dwelleth in your souls. That it was concerning Himself Christ spake these words no Christian doubts. But now that that seed is dead and has been multiplied, many grains have been sown in the earth; among them is the blessed Laurence, and this is the day of his sowing. What an abundant harvest has sprung from these grains scattered over all the earth! We see it, we rejoice in it, nay, we ourselves are the harvest; if so be, by his grace, we belong to the granary. For not all that grows in the field belongs to the granary. The same useful, nourishing rain feeds both the wheat and the chaff. God forbid that both should be laid up together in the granary; although they grew together in the field, and were threshed together in the threshing-floor.
Now is the time to choose. Let us now, before the winnowing, separate ourselves from the wicked by our manner of life, as in the floor the grain is threshed out of the chaff, though not yet separated from it by the final winnowing. Hear me, ye holy grains, who, I doubt not, are here; for if I doubted, I should not be a grain myself: hear me, I say; or rather, hear that first grain speaking by me. Love not your life in this world: love it not if you truly love it, so that by not loving you may preserve it; for by not loving, you love the more. He that loveth his life in this world, shall lose it.[16]
Thus because Laurence was as an enemy to himself and lost his life in this world, he found it in the next. Being a minister of Christ by his very title, for deacon means minister, he followed the Man-God, as the Gospel exhorts; he followed Him to the altar, and to the altar of the Cross. Having fallen with Him into the earth, he has been multiplied in Him. Though separated from St. Laurence by distance of time and place, yet we are ourselves, as the Bishop of Hippo teaches, a part of the harvest that is ever springing from him. Let this thought excite us to gratitude towards the holy deacon; and let us all the more eagerly unite our homage with the honour bestowed on him by our heavenly Father for having ministered to His Son.
The Offertory repeats the words of the Introit to a different melody; it is earth's echo to the music of heaven. The beauty and sanctity that so magnificently enhance the worship of praise around the eternal altar ought to shine by faith in the souls of the Church's ministers, as the angels beheld them shining in Laurence's soul while he was still on earth.
Offertory
Confessio et pulchritudo in conspectu ejus: sanctitas et magnificentia in sanctificatione ejus.
Praise and beauty are before Him: holiness and majesty are in His sanctuary.
At this point of the mysteries it was once Laurence’s duty to present the offerings; the Church, while now presenting them, claims the suffrage of his merits.
Secret
Accipe, quæsumus Domine, munera dignanter oblata, et beati Laurentii suffragantibus mentis, ad nostræ salutis auxilium provenire concede. Per Dominum.
Graciously accept the offerings made to Thee, O Lord, we beseech Thee; and by the merits of blessed Laurence Thy martyr, which plead for us, grant them to become a help to our salvation. Through, etc.
Laurence worthily fulfilled his august ministry at the Table of his Lord; and He, to whom he thus devoted himself, keeps His promise made in the Gospel, by calling him to live for ever where He is Himself.
Communion
Qui mihi ministrat, me sequatur: et ubi ego sum, illic et minister meus erit.
If any man minister to Me, let him follow Me: and where I am, there also shall My minister be.
After feasting at the sacred banquet of which Laurence was once the dispenser, we beg that the homage of our own service may draw down upon us, through his intercession, an increase of grace.
Postcommunion
Sacro munere satiati, supplices te, Domine, deprecamur: ut, quod debitæ servi tutis celebramus officio, inter cedente beato Laurentio martyre tuo, salvationis tuæ sentiamus augmentum. Per Dominum.
Replenished with Thy sacred gifts, we suppliantly beseech Thee, O Lord, that what we celebrate with due service, by the intercession of blessed Laurence Thy martyr, we may perceive to contribute towards our salvation. Through our Lord, etc.
SECOND VESPERS
This morning, as soon as Laurence had given up his brave soul to his Creator, his body was taken, like precious gold from the crucible, and wrapt in linen cloths with sweet spices. As in the case of Stephen the protomartyr, and of Jesus the King of martyrs, so now, too, noble persons vied with each other in paying honour to the sacred remains. In the evening of August 10[17] the noble converts mentioned by Prudentius bowed their heads beneath the venerable burden; and followed by a great company of mourners, they carried him along the Tiburtian Way, and buried him in the cemetery of Cyriacus. The Church on earth mourned for her illustrious son; but the Church in heaven was already overflowing with joy, and each anniversary of the glorious triumph was to give fresh gladness to the world.
The Office of Second Vespers is the same as that of the First, except for the last psalm, the versicle, and the Magnificat antiphon. This psalm, which the Church sings for all her martyrs, is the 115th. It admirably expresses Laurence's exulting gratitude: his confession of faith was the cause of his triumph over suffering and over snares; he filled with his own blood the chalice committed to his care, thus proving himself a true deacon, a minister of God's altar, and a son of the Church, the handmaid of the Lord. And now that his bonds are broken, he has begun his everlasting service in the company of the saints, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem.
Psalm 115
Credidi, propter quod locutus sum: * ego autem humiliatus sum nimis.
Ego dixi in excessu meo: * Omnis homo mendax.
Quid retribuam Domino: * pro omnibus quæ retribuit mihi?
Calicem salutaris accipiam: * et nomen Domini invocabo.
Vota mea Domino reddam coram omni populo ejus: * pretiosa in conspectu Domini mors sanctorum ejus.
O Domine, quia ego servus tuus: * ego servus tuus, et filius ancillæ tuæ.
Dirupisti vincula mea.: * tibi sacrificabo hostiam laudis, et nomen Domini invocabo.
Vota mea Domino reddam in conspectu omnis populi ejus: * in atriis domus Domini, in medio tui, Jerusalem.
I have believed, therefore have I spoken: but I have been humbled exceedingly.
I said in my excess: Every man is a liar.
What shall I render unto the Lord, for all the things that He hath rendered unto me?
I will take the chalice of salvation, and I will call upon the name of the Lord.
I will pay my vows to the Lord before all His people; precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.
O Lord, for I am Thy servant: I am Thy servant, and the son of Thy handmaid.
Thou hast broken my bonds: I will sacrifice unto Thee the sacrifice of praise, and I will call upon the name of the Lord.
I will pay my vows to the Lord in the sight of all His people: in the courts of the house of the Lord, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem.
After the hymn the following versicle is sung, and then the Magnificat antiphon:
℣. Levita Laurentius bonum opus operatus est.
℟. Qui per signum crucis cæcos illuminavit.
℣. The Levite Laurence wrought a good work.
℟. Who gave sight to the blind by the sign of the Cross.
ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT
Beatus Laurentius dum in craticula superpositus ureretur, ad impiissimum tyrannum dixit: Assatum est jam, versa, et manduca: nam facultates ecclesiæ, quas requins, in cœlestes thesauros manus pauperum deportaverunt.
While blessed Laurence was burning, stretched upon the gridiron, he said to the wicked tyrant: I am now roasted, turn and eat: as to the goods of the Church which thou demandest, the hands of the poor have already conveyed them into the heavenly treasures.
The Greeks in their Menæa echo the homage paid by the West to the conqueror: her glorious son:' Perfectis gaudiis expleatur oblatio. . . . Gratias tibi, Domine, quoniam sanctum Lauretinum Martyrem tuum, te inspirante diligimus: May our offering be made with perfect joy. . . . We give thanks to Thee, O Lord, that, by Thy inspiration, we love Thy holy martyr Laurence.' Such is the character of the formulæ which precede and follow, in the holy Sacrifice, the words we here give:
Preface
Vere dignum. Tuam misericordiam deprecantes, ut mentibus nostris beati Laurentii martyris tui tribuas jugiter suavitatem, qua et nos amemusejus meritum passionis, et indulgentiam nobis semper fidelis ille patronus obtineat.
It is truly right and just to glorify Thee, O God, beseeching Thy mercy, that Thou wouldst ever bestow upon our souls the sweetness of Thy blessed martyr Laurence, whereby we may love the reward of his passion, and he, as an ever-faithful patron, may obtain pardon for us.
The so-called Gothic Missal, which represents, as we know, the liturgy of the churches of France before Pepin and Charlemagne, is to-day in full harmony with the sentiments of Mother Church.
Missa S. Laurenti Mart.
Deus, fìdelium tuorum salvator et rector, omnipotens sempiterne Deus, adesto votis solemnitatis hodiernæ; et ecclesiæ gaudiis de gloriosa martyris tui passione beati Laurentii conceptis, benignus adspira: augeatur omnium fìdes tantæ virtutis ortu; et corda lætantium supplicio martyrum igniantur: ut apud misericordiam tuam illius juvemur merito, cujus exsultamus exemplo. Per Dominum.
O God, the Saviour and guide of Thy faithful, almighty, eternal God, be propitious to our prayers on this day of solemnity, and lovingly favour the joys conceived by the Church for the glorious passion of Thy blessed martyr Laurence: may the faith of all be increased by the appearance of such great virtue; and may the hearts of all who rejoice be kindled by the suffering of the martyrs: that in presence of Thy mercy we may be aided by his merit, at whose example we exult. Through our Lord, etc.
Immolatio Missæ
Vere dignum et justum est, omnipotens sempiterne Deus, tibi in tanti martyris Laurenti laudis hostias immolare: qui hostiam viventem hodie in ipsius levitæ tui beati Laurenti martyris ministerio per florem casti corporis acceptisti. Cujus vocem per hymnidicqm modolamini psalmi audivimus canentis atque dicentis: Probasti cor meum, Deus, et visitasti nocte, id est in tenebris sæculi: igne me examinasti; et non est inventa in me iniquitas. O gloriosa certaminis virtus! O inconcussa constantia confitentis! Stridunt membra viventis super craticulum imposita, et prunis sævientibus anhelantis, incensum suum in modum thymiamatis divinis naribus exhibent odorem. Dicit enim martyr ipse cum Paulo: Christi bonus odor sumus Deo. Non enim cogitabat quomodo in terra positus, a passionis periculo liberaretur, sed quomodo inter martyres in cœlis coronaretur. Per Christum.
It is truly right and just, O almighty, eternal God, to offer, on the solemnity of the great martyr Laurence, sacrifices of praise to Thee: who this day, by the ministry of the same martyr Laurence, Thy blessed Levite, didst receive as a living holocaust the flower of his chaste body. We have heard his voice, attuned to the harmony of the melodious Psalm, singing and saying: 'Thou hast proved my heart, O God, and visited it by night, that is, in the darkness of this world; Thou hast tried me by fire, and iniquity hath not been found in me.’ O glorious valour in the strife! O unshaken constancy of the confessor! His limbs are stretched and hiss upon the gridirons, while yet he lives, and gasping, breathes the fiery heat of the burning coals; and they send up their smoke like incense, a sweet odour to God. For the martyr himself said with Paul: 'We are the good odour of Christ to God.’ For he thought not how on earth he might escape the danger of suffering, but how in heaven he would be crowned among the martyrs. Through Christ our Lord, etc.
From the Mozarabic liturgy we will take but one prayer for to-day:
Capitula
Domine Jesu Christe, qui beatissimum Laurentium igne charitatis tuæ ardentem, et cupiditatum et passionum incendia fecisti evincere: dum et aurum calcat et flammam, et in pauperum erogationem munificus et in combustionem sui corporis reperitur devotus; da nobis obtentu suffragii illius, ut vapore Spiritus Sancti accensi flammas superemus libidinis, et igne concrememur omnimodæ sanctitatis: quo inter sanctos illos sors nostra inveniatur post transitum, pro quibus nunc tibi dependimus famulatum.
O Lord Jesus Christ, who didst enable the most blessed Laurence, burning with the fire of Thy charity, to overcome the heat both of passions and of sufferings: for he trampled alike both on gold and the fire, and was found liberal in giving to the poor and faithful in the burning of his body; grant us, through his intercession, that being kindled by the breath of the Holy Spirit, we may overcome the flames of concupiscence and may be consumed by the fire of all sanctity, so that after our passage through this life, our lot may be found among those saints for whom we now offer Thee our homage.
Adam of St. Victor shall crown the day with one of his admirable sequences:
Sequence
Prunis datum
Admiremur,
Laureatum,
Veneremur
Laudibus Laurentium;
Veneremur
Cum tremore,
Deprecemur
Cum amore
Martyrem egregium.
Accusatus
Non negavit;
Sed pulsatus
Resultavit
In tubis ductilibus,
Cum in pœnis
Voto plenis
Exsultaret
Et sonaret
In divinis laudibus.
Sicut chorda musicorum
Tandem sonum dat sonorum
Plectri ministerio;
Sic, in chely tormentorum,
Melos Christi confessorum
Dedit hujus tensio.
Deci, vide
Quia fide
Stat invictus
Inter ictus,
Minas et incendia:
Spes interna,
Vox superna
Consolantur
Et hortantur
Virum de constantia.
Nam thesauros quos exquiris
Per tormenta non acquiris
Tibi, sed Laurentio.
Hos in Christo coacervat,
Hujus pugna Christus servat,
Triumphantis præmio.
Nescit sancti nox obscurum,
Ut in pœnis quid impurum
Fide tractet dubia;
Neque cæcis lumen daret,
Si non eum radiaret Luminis præsentia.
Fidei confessio
Lucet in Laurentio:
Non ponit sub modio,
Statuit in medio
Lumen coram omnibus
Juvat Dei famulum
Crucis suæ bajulum,
Assum quasi ferculum,
Fieri spectaculum
Angelis et gentibus.
Non abhorret prunis volvi,
Qui de carne cupit solvi
Et cum Christo vivere,
Neque timet occidentes
Corpus, sed non prævalentes
Animam occidere.
Sicut vasa figulorum
Probat fornax, et eorum
Solidat substantiam,
Sic et ignis hunc assatum
Velut testam solidatum
Reddit per constantiam.
Nam cum vetus corrumpatur,
Alter homo renovatur
Veteris incendio;
Unde nimis confortatus
Est athletæ principatus
In Dei servitio.
Hunc ardorem
Factum foris
Putat rorem
Vis amoris
Et zelus justitiæ;
Ignis urens,
Non comburens,
Vincit prunas
Quas adunas,
O minister impie.
Parum sapis
Vim sinapis,
Si non tangis,
Si non frangis;
Et plus fragrat
Quando flagrat
Thus injectum ignibus.
Sic arctatus Et assatus,
Sub labore.
Sub ardore,
Dat odorem Pleniorem
Martyr de virtutibus.
O Laurenti, laute nimis,
Rege victo rex sublimis,
Regis regum fortis miles,
Qui duxisti poenas viles
Certans pro justitia;
Qui tot mala devicisti
Contemplando bona Christi,
Fac nos malis insultare,
Fac de bonis exsultare
Meritorum gratia.
Amen.
Let us admire
Laurence
laid upon
hot coals:
let us with praises
honour the laurel-crowned:
let us reverence
with trembling,
and beseech with love,
this illustrious martyr.
Being accused,
he did not deny;
but being struck
he answered back
with a long-sounding trumpet,
when in his wished-for
sufferings
he exulted
and sounded forth
the divine praises.
As the musical chord
struck with the plectrum
gives forth its loud melody,
so he, stretched on the lyre of the torture,
sounded the strain
of the confessors of Christ.
See, O Decius,
how he
stands invincible in faith,
amid the blows
and threats
and flames:
hope within,
and a voice from above,
console him
and exhort him to constancy.
For the treasures which thou seekest
are not gotten to thee by the torments,
but to Laurence.
He gathers them in Christ,
and for his combat Christ
keeps them for him as the reward of his triumph.
To the holy one the night knows no darkness,
nor in his sufferings is he defiled by wavering faith;
for he could not have given light
to the blind,
had not the light been present shining upon him.
The confession of faith
shines bright in Laurence:
he hides not the light beneath a bushel,
but sets it in the midst before all.
It is pleasant
to the servant of God,
the bearer of His Cross,
to be roasted as food,
to be made a spectacle
to angels and to the nations.
He shrinks not
from being turned upon the coals,
who desires to be delivered from the flesh,
and to live with Christ;
nor fears he them that slay the body,
but are not able to hurt the soul.
As the furnace proves
the potter's vessels,
and hardens their substance,
so does the fire, roasting him,
make him firm by constancy
like the fired clay.
For when the old man is destroyed,
the other is renewed
in the burning of the old;
hence the power of the combatant
is exceedingly strengthened
in the service of God.
Through the strength
of his love
and his zeal
for justice
he deems
this outward
heat but dew;
the fire that burns but not consumes,
outdoes thy heaped-up coals,
O impious minister.
Thou knowest not
the virtue of the mustard-seed,
unless thou touch it,
unless thou crush it;
and more fragrant is the incense
when it smokes
upon the fire;
even so the martyr,
oppressed and burned with suffering
and with heat,
exhales more fully
the fragrance of his virtue.
O Laurence,
exceedingly honourable,
having conquered a king,
thou hast become
an eminent king,
thou, brave soldier of the King of kings,
who didst make small account of sufferings
when fighting for justice; thou who didst
overcome so many evils by contemplating the good things of Christ,
make us by the grace of thy merits spurn evil and rejoice in good.
Amen.
‘Thrice blessed are the Roman people, for they honour thee on the very spot where thy sacred bones repose! They prostrate in thy sanctuary, and watering the ground with their tears they pour out their vows. We who are distant from Rome, separated by Alps and Pyrenees, how can we even imagine what treasures she possesses, or how rich is her earth in sacred tombs? We have not her privileges, we cannot trace the martyrs' bloody footsteps; but from afar we gaze on the heavens. O holy Laurence! it is there we seek the memorial of thy passion; for thou hast two dwelling-places, that of thy body on earth, and that of thy soul in heaven. In the ineffable heavenly city thou hast been received to citizenship, and the civic crown adorns thy brow in its eternal Senate. So brightly shine thy jewels that it seemeth the heavenly Rome hath chosen thee perpetual Consul. The joy of the Quirites proves how great is thine office, thine influence, and thy power, for thou grantest their requests. Thou hearest all who pray to thee, they ask what they will and none ever goes away sad.
‘Ever assist thy children of the queen city; give them the strong support of thy fatherly love, and a mother’s tender, fostering care. Together with them, O thou honour of Christ, listen to thy humble client confessing his misery and sins. I acknowledge that I am not worthy that Christ should hear me; but through the patronage of the holy martyrs, my evils can be remedied. Hearken to thy suppliant; in thy goodness free me from the fetters of the flesh and of the world.’[18]
[1] Prudent. Peristephanon, Hymn ii.
[2] Ambr. De offic. i. 41.
[3] De Rossi, Inscript ii. 82.
[4] Prudent.
[5] Aug. Serm. 303 and 302.
[6] Maxim. Taurin. Homil. 75 and 74.
[7] Elenchus, Philocal.
[8] Prudent.
[9] Cornelius ad Fabium Antioch.
[10] Verbera, camifices, flammas, tormenta, catenas. Vincere Laurenti sola fides potuit.
Hæc Damasus cumulat supplex altaria donis, Martyris egregium suspiciens meritum.
[11] Adon. Martyrol.
[12] Prudent.
[13] De nocte, in prime mane: Sacramentar. Greg. apud H. Menard.
[14] Introit, ex Ps. xvi: Antiphona apud Tommasi.
[15] Beleth. cxlv; Sicard. ix, xxxix; Durand, vii, xxiii.
[16] Aug. Sermo cccv, al. xxvi, In Nat. S. Laurent.
[17] Adon. Martyrolog.
[18] Prudent.