Today is the feast of St. Lawrence, or as they call him in Rome, San Lorenzo. St. Lawrence is a favorite in Rome, and there are actually several churches there dedicated to him. San Lorenzo Fuori le Mura (St. Lawrence Outside the Walls) is where his tomb is, and we usually visit that church on our pilgrimages. I'll post some photos.

St. Lawrence is the one famous for having been martyred by being burned on a gridiron, and according to the story, as he was dying, he mocked his executioners by saying, "turn me over, I'm done on this side." And so he is the patron saint of cooks and comedians. He is also the patron saint of seminarians and other students, wine makers, and poor people - that last one because of another famous story about him.

He was a deacon in Rome in the third century, during a brutal wave of persecution. The pope, and all six of the other deacons had been martyred, and when the Romans finally caught up with Lawrence and arrested him, they demanded that he bring them "the treasures of the church" - because they heard that he was the deacon in charge of collecting and distributing the church's alms. So he went to get the treasures of the church, and when he came back, be brought with him the poor and the sick and said, "these are the treasures of the church."

One last story about Lawrence. When the relics (remains) of St. Stephen, the first martyr of the Church, were brought to Rome from the east, it was decided that they would be deposited in the same tomb with St. Lawrence in San Lorenzo (don't ask me why St. Stephen doesn't get his own tomb, because there is a church of St. Stephen in Rome) - anyway, when they opened St. Lawrence's tomb to put in the relics of St. Stephen, it was said that St. Lawrence's body shifted on it's own - moving over to make room for his brother martyr.