From the Eastern Christian Bulletin Service
Aflame with Divine Fire
Lawrence, one of the seven deacons of Rome, was born, according to tradition , at Huesca, Spain. He suffered martyrdom in Rome during Emperor Valerian's persecution of Christians. According to several early Christian writers, among them St. Ambrose and Prudentius, he was a deacon of Pope Sixtus II and was overwhelmed with grief when Sixtus was condemned to death in the year 258. Overjoyed when Sixtus predicted he would follow him in three days, Lawrence sold many of the Church's possessions and gave the money to the poor.
When the Roman prefect heard of his action, he had Lawrence brought before him and demanded all the Church's treasures for the Emperor. Lawrence said he would need three days to collect them and then presented the blind, the crippled, the poor, the orphans and other unfortunates to the prefect and told him they were the Church's treasures. Furious, the prefect prepared a red-hot griddle and bound Lawrence to it. Lawrence bore the agony with unbelievable composure and in the midst of his torment instructed the executioner to turn him over, as he was broiled enough on the one side.
According to Prudentius, Lawrence's death and example led to the conversion of many and was a signal of the end of paganism in the city. There is no doubt that his death inspired a great devotion in Rome that quickly spread throughout the entire Church.
Wow! I love the part where he asks to be turned over!
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