Day 29 of Lent 2023 👨🍳 Saint Lawrence
Thanks for taking the Who’s Your Saint Quiz! I’m finally up-to-date again with answering and am enjoying hearing from those of you taking the Quiz. I know the questions have a confessionalist tone, and that is intentional.
My book, tentatively scheduled for release on April 27, 2023, will also be confessionalist, blending old with new, bold with staid, youth and age, and religion with agnosticism. Can Sacramentals be fashionable? My book answers and speaks for me, “Yes, they can.”
My moto is this:
“Listening is Glistening.”
Today we are celebrating the Patron of Grillers and Barbecues, Saint Lawrence. He was a man of great fortitude and lived in the 3rd Century when Christianity was outlawed. All of the Papal leaders had been executed and it was Lawrence who stood alone as the keeper of the faith.
Valerian told Lawrence to renounce his faith, which Saint Lawrence refused to do. They sent Lawrence to jail to await his execution. Valerian and his cronies wanted all of the writings and historical Papers that Saint Lawrence was responsible for archiving. And, of course, they wanted all the church's treasures, the gold and silver, gems and diamonds. Lawrence said he would provide all of the church wealth on the day of his execution.
Valerian’s rogue followers brought Lawrence to the center of town for his execution. A great crowd had gathered and Valerian demanded that Lawrence inform him where the church treasures had been hidden. So, Saint Lawrence told Valerian:
“Look before you, see the poor and sick,
those marginalized and forgotten
by you and left to suffer.
These are the true church treasures.”
Of course, this made Valerian very angry. He decided that Lawrence would die a slow, painful, excruciating death. Lawrence was placed on a skewer and put atop a roaring, blazing fire to be cooked to death. Again, Valerian asked where the valuable gold and gems of the church were. Lawrence began to speak, and Valerian thought he was going to get the information he wanted. But instead, Saint Lawrence told Emperor Valerian:
“You can turn me over now,
this side’s done.”
Our medal of Saint Lawrence shows him holding a grill, presumably the grill he was placed upon for his execution. Saint Lawrence has become well-known as the patron of chefs, grillers, archivists, wine lovers and barkeepers. His unwavering faith through adversity is remarkably similar to the story of the patron saint invoked against breast cancer, Saint Agatha, whom we wrote about on Day 28.
Thanks for reading to the bottom line.
Martin of Tours, Hand-Painted Saint Medal, Patron of Bartenders, Wine Lovers, "Party-Goers"
Saints for Sinners$29.95
Agatha Breast Cancer Saint Medal, Patron Saint Cancer Patients, Especially Breast Cancer
Saints for Sinners$29.95