The spirit of this holy deacon is no where more manifest than in the address which he made to the holy Pope St. Xystus, who was going to martyrdom. He had often assisted him at the altar, as his deacon; and seeing him led by the executioners
to give his life for Christ, he hastily made up to him with this
complaint: "Father, whither art thou going without thy son? Whither
goest thou, O holy priest, without thy deacon? Thou wert never wont to
offer sacrifice without me thy minister. Wherein have I now displeased
thee? Hast thou found me wanting to my duty? Try me now and see, whether
thou hast made choice of an unfit minister for dispensing the blood of our Lord." This was his complaint to his bishop going to suffer without him. And who cannot imagine here the spirit,
that moved him to this complaint? To see himself at liberty, and desire
to be in chains; to see himself at liberty, and importune for the rack and the axe; to judge himself ill-treated, because he is not to die with his bishop: whence can all this proceed, but from the love of God, and the earnest desire to be with Christ? For this, he contemned liberty and life; for this, he thought of no other honor, but that of suffering for his Lord; for this, he reputed the world to be nothing, and that his happiness was in leaving it, that so he might come to the enjoyment of his God. How much do we see here to raise our admiration, and oblige us to praise the goodness of God, who in so weak vessels shewed the wonderful power of his grace? And how much do we see here to reproach ourselves with the perverse indispositions of our own hearts, who place all our comforts in the things of this life; who think nothing honorable, but what carries with it the applause of this
world; and who are so far from desiring to suffer, that we dread it as a
misfortune, and then only think ourselves unhappy, when we are under the trials of divine appointment? O God, what can we do, but humble ourselves at the consideration of this our misery, beg for thy mercy, and beseech thee to mould over again this unhappy clay, and quicken it with a more lively faith, and a more perfect love of thee!
It is for want of this faith and love, that we are thus miserable: for did we truly believe, as we profess, that the next life is eternal, that the goods of it are unspeakable, that the evils of this life bear no proportion with them, and that it is by patience and humility under these evils that we are to come to the possession of those eternal goods; this faith would change all the sentiments of our soul, and oblige us to frame our judgments of all the things of this world, not from their agreeableness to sense or inclination, but only from the consideration of their being helpful or prejudicial in regard of our future happiness. And, therefore, though the judgment of persecution, violent death, and all manner of troubles, as it is framed from their disagreeableness to sense, and the aversion
which nature has to them, has something terrible in it, and condemns
them all as real evils, which are to be avoided; yet when faith comes in
and assures us, that going through all these evils is the way to eternal happiness, and the most effectual means of obtaining it, this shews their value, and that to the spiritual and Christian man, they are not evils, but real and desirable goods." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
Saint Lawrence, Martyr
By Parochial hymn
book, 1881 Hymn 482
Holy Deacon! By the yearning
For the Martyr’s
glorious crowns;
By thy tortures, by
they burning,
By thy death of
bright renown;
When the world and
flesh and devil
Tempt our souls to
sin and evil,
Dear Saint Lawrence,
pray for us!
By the love that
thou didst ever
To thy
Pontiff-Father bear,
Pray that no base
act may sever
Us from Peter’s
loving care!
But when men would
once more lead us
Into bonds from
which Christ freed us,
Dear Saint Lawrence,
pray for us!
By the Pontiff’s
words of warning,
Bidding all thy
sorrows cease,
Words foretelling
bitter mourning
Leading unto lasting
peace!
That to Jesus in our
sadness
We may look for help
and gladness,
Dear Saint Lawrence,
pray for us!
By thy love, which
knew no measure,
For the needy and
the old,
Giving them the
Church’s treasure -
Teaching us that
alms well given
Are but treasures
stored in heaven,
Dear Saint Lawrence,
pray for us!
By thy fervent love
for Jesus,
By thy strong and
constant faith,
Or our sinful
burdens ease us!
Help us at the hour
of death!
When the fears of
death confound us,
When the cleansing
fires surround us,
Dear Saint Lawrence,
pray for us.
