“So death will come to fetch
you? - No, not death, but God
Himself.
Death is not the horrible
specter we see represented in
pictures.
The catechism teaches that
death is the separation
of the soul from the body; that is all. I am not afraid of a separation
of the soul from the body; that is all. I am not afraid of a separation
which will unite
me forever with God.” - St Therese of
Lisieux
"The
Pope and the faithful had gathered in the catacombs in
the evening of August 6, 258. Being Christians in a cemetery, theirs was an
illegal assembly punishable by death. There is every reason to believe
that the catacomb Mass that evening was to be offered specifically to strengthen
the faithful to endure the new persecution... Pope Sixtus was preaching...
soldiers burst into the crypt. The congregation drew together before them,
baring their breasts and extending their necks to signify that they were ready
to die to protect the Pope. But Sixtus would have none of that. He came
forward and they took him, along with four of his
deacons.
Another
deacon, Lawrence, cried out: "Father,
where are you going without your deacon?"
Sixtus replied: "I
do not leave you, my son. You shall follow me in three
days."
The
Vicar of Christ was taken up the nearby stairs and beheaded on the spot, along
with the four deacons. For some 1,500 years his name was mentioned in the Canon
said by every Catholic priest of the Latin rite, anywhere in the world.
Deacon
Lawrence was temporarily spared in order to give the persecution officials
access to the treasure supposedly accumulated by the Roman church. What he
actually brought forth before the prefect of Rome
St
Lawrence
Deacon, Martyr - d.
258
FEAST
DAY - August 10
Among
the Christian martyrs of ... The early Roman days ...
Was
good St. Lawrence, who was famed ... For his unselfish ways ...
He
loved the humble and the poor ... And helped them all he could
...
And
in those persecution days ... In their defense he stood ...
The
Romans has the notion that ... The Church was rich in treasures
...
And
they demanded all its wealth ... With threats of dire measures
...
"Here
are the riches of the Church" ... St Lawrence then replied ...
As
he embraced the sick and lame ... And beggars at his side ...
And
so they roasted him alive ... Above a fire slow ...
But
on the martyr's face remained ... A happy, holy glow.
From Poem Portraits of the Saints, James J Metcalfe (1956)
From Poem Portraits of the Saints, James J Metcalfe (1956)
St
Lawrence, pray for us!
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