The life and miracles of Lawrence were collected in The Acts of St Lawrence but those writings have been lost. The earliest existing documentation of miracles associated with him is in the writings of Gregory of Tours (538–594), who mentions the following:
A priest named Fr. Sanctulus was rebuilding a church of St. Lawrence, which had been attacked and burnt, and hired many workmen to accomplish the job. At one point during the construction, he found himself with nothing to feed them. He prayed to St. Lawrence for help, and looking in his basket he found a fresh, white loaf of bread. It seemed to him too small to feed the workmen, but in faith he began to serve it to the men. While he broke the bread, it so multiplied that his workmen fed from it for ten days.[5][better source needed]
The mediaeval Church of St Mary Assumed (Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta) in the small commune of Amaseno, Lazio, Italy houses the famous reliquary of the ampulla containing relics of Lawrence, namely a quantum of his blood, a fragment of his flesh, some fat and ashes. Tradition holds that annually, on the Feast of St. Lawrence, and sometimes on other occasions, the blood in the ampulla miraculously liquefies during the Feast and re-coagulates by the following day.[14][better source needed]
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8a/Saint_Lawrence_stone.jpg/220px-Saint_Lawrence_stone.jpg)
The stone on which St Lawrence's body was laid after death, in
San Lorenzo fuori le mura
Due to his conspiring to hide and protect the written documents of the Church, Lawrence is known as the patron saint of archivists and librarians.[15]
Roman Catholic Church
[edit]
Lawrence is one of the most widely venerated saints of the Roman Catholic Church. Legendary details of his death were known to Damasus, Prudentius, Ambrose, and Augustine. Devotion to him was widespread by the fourth century. His liturgical celebration on 10 August has the rank of feast in the General Roman Calendar, consistent with the oldest of Christian calendars, e. g. the Almanac of Philocalus for the year 354, the inventory of which contains the principal feasts of the Roman martyrs of the middle of the fourth century. He remains one of the saints enumerated in the "Roman Canon" of the Holy Mass as celebrated in the Latin Church.[citation needed]
Lawrence is especially honoured in the city of Rome, of which he is considered the third patron after St. Peter and St. Paul.[16] The church built over his tomb, the Papal Minor Basilica di San Lorenzo fuori le Mura, became one of the seven principal churches of Rome and a favourite place of Roman pilgrimages.[11] The area proximate to the Basilica di San Lorenzo fuori le Mura is named the "Quartiere San Lorenzo".[citation needed]
Because the Perseid Meteor Shower typically occurs annually in mid-August on or proximate to his feast day, some refer to the shower as the "Tears of St Lawrence".[5]
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/09/San_lorenzo%27s_grill.png/250px-San_lorenzo%27s_grill.png)
The shrine containing the
gridiron that was used to roast St Lawrence to death according to tradition is in the Church of
San Lorenzo in Lucina,
Rome.
His intercession to God is invoked by librarians, archivists, comedians, cooks and tanners as their patron. He is the patron saint of Ampleforth Abbey, whose Benedictine monks founded one of the world's leading public schools for British (and other) Roman Catholics, located in North Yorkshire.
The Festival of San Lorenzo is a religious celebration occurring every year in Tarapacá, Chile.[17]
Anglican Communion
[edit]
Within Anglicanism Lawrence's name is traditionally spelled Laurence or Lawrence. His feast is on 10 August which is in the calendar of the Book of Common Prayer, the volume of prayers which, in its 1662 format, was the founding liturgical document of a majority of Anglican provinces. In the Book of Common Prayer the feast is titled "S Laurence, Archdeacon of Rome and Martyr". His feast on 10 August has been carried into the contemporary calendars of most Anglican provinces,[18] Laurence is remembered in the Church of England[19] with a Lesser Festival under the title "Laurence, deacon, martyr, 258" on 10 August.[20]
Anglo-Catholics venerate Lawrence, who is the patron of many Anglican parish churches, including 228 in England.[21][22] A major church in Sydney, Australia, in the former civil parish of St Laurence, is known as "Christ Church St Laurence". The Anglican charitable society, Brotherhood of St Laurence also bears his name.[citation needed]
According to Francesco Moraglia the role of deacon is distinguished by service of the poor. He is destined both to the service of the table (corporal works of mercy) and to the service of the word (spiritual works of mercy). "The beauty, power and the heroism of [d]eacons such as Lawrence help to discover and come to a deeper meaning of the special nature of the diaconal ministry."[6]
El Escorial, near Madrid, laid out in a pattern resembling a gridiron
Many churches, schools, parishes, towns, and geographic features throughout the world are named for Lawrence of Rome. Depending on locality they are named St. Lawrence, St. Laurence, San Lorenzo, St. Laurent, St. Lorenz or similarly in other languages. San Lorenzo del Escorial, the monastery built by King Philip II of Spain, commemorates his victory at the Battle of St. Quentin (1557) on the Feast of St. Lawrence.[23] The monastery and the attached palace, college, and library are laid out in a pattern that resembles the gridiron of Lawrence's martyrdom. The gridiron of Lawrence is also thought the basis of the design of the Certosa di San Lorenzo di Padula, which is a monastery in Padula, Salerno, Italy.
Canada's patron saint is St. Lawrence. On his second voyage, French explorer Jacques Cartier, arriving in the river estuary of the North American Great Lakes on the Feast of St. Lawrence in 1535, named it the Gulf of St. Lawrence.[24] The river emptying into the gulf was named the St. Lawrence River. Many names in what are now Québec and the Maritime Provinces of Canada are references to this important seaway, e. g., the Laurentian mountains north of the city of Montreal, Saint-Laurent (borough), Saint Lawrence Boulevard which spans the width of the Island of Montreal, and St. Lawrence County, New York, United States near Lake Ontario. In the province of Ontario, St. Lawrence is a prominent, historic neighbourhood in old centre of Toronto (formerly named York), now most known for the expansive St. Lawrence Market. The Laurentian Mountains gave rise to the name for the Laurential Plateau, or the Canadian Shield. In Switzerland, Saint Lawrence is represented on the coat of arms of the city of Bülach with a gridiron.
The rescue operation for the miners trapped in the 2010 Copiapó mining accident in Chile was named Operacíon San Lorenzo after Lawrence, patron saint of miners.[25]
Bernalillo, New Mexico celebrates three days of devotions to the Saint, in honor a devotional promise made by Spanish settlers during the 1692 Pueblo Revolt. Among the festivities are a set of dances performed by matachines. An image of the saint is kept in the house of a local family throughout the year, and a vigil and feast are held from 9–11 August. It is one of the oldest dancing processions in the New World.[26]