September 1980 Print

 

The Feast of Saint Lawrence, August 10th, was the occasion of the official opening of the newly-restored church of St. Vincent de Paul in Kansas City. More than 1,100 attended the Mass which was celebrated by Father Douglas Laudenschlager, assisted by Fr. Joseph Collins as Deacon and the Rev. Eugene Berry as Subdeacon. The choirs of St. Vincent's and St. Mary's combined to provide the music for the Mass. Since its opening, Saint Vincent's has had a regular attendance of more than 700 for Sunday Mass. Saint Vincent's is the newest chapel of the Society of Saint Pius X which has provided Holy Mass in the Kansas City area for the past six years.

This sermon was preached by Father Laudenschlager on August 10th.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

"For the instruction of God's people," St. Leo the Great tells us, "there is no more useful sort of teaching than the examples of the holy martyrs. The eloquence of preachers may easily stir hearts; their arguments may succeed in persuading. But examples are still more powerful than words; and it is more noble to teach with one's life than with one's lips."

This explains why, ever since our childhood, we have listened with particular eagerness to the stories of the martyrs; why we feel our hearts swell with pride at the memory of our brothers and sisters who had the courage to imitate Jesus Christ not only in His life, but even in His bloody and agonizing death. Perhaps we doubt that we could ever do the same; still we cannot help but admire, if only from a distance, these heroes who stand out in the pages of Christian history.

Unfortunately many Catholics are unaware that, after St. Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, the Church of Rome honors St. Lawrence more than any other saint. Even the normal Sunday Mass gives way to his feast today; and he is the only saint after the Apostles whose feast also has a vigil the preceding day. The basilica of St. Lawrence-Outside-the-Walls, where his body lies next to that of St. Stephen, the first martyr, counts among the most important churches in Rome—Rome that had as many as forty churches dedicated to him in the Middle Ages. "It would be as easy to conceal the City of Rome itself as it would be to hide the glory of St. Lawrence," exclaims St. Augustine; and St. Leo says that "from the rising to the setting of the sun, Rome is as resplendent with the shining glory of the deacon Lawrence as Jerusalem was made famous by Stephen." For well over a thousand years, his tomb has drawn crowds of pilgrims; and the saintly Pope Pius IX, a martyr in his own way, chose this basilica as his final resting place. In fact, in the late 1800's, when Rome trembled before the attack of the sacrilegious revolutionaries of Garibaldi and Victor Emmanuel, Pius temporarily brought the relics of St. Lawrence to a church within the city to encourage her citizens, while he interceded with Almighty God for the city where he had shed his blood.

We might ask with St. Augustine: "What must his glory before God not be, when he is so honored by man?"

In the middle of the third century, St. Lawrence served as the first of the seven deacons of the City of Rome. In the celebration of the Sacred Mysteries he regularly assisted Pope Sixtus II at the altar; and he also managed all the material possessions of the Roman Church, from her sacred vessels, to the contributions made by the faithful for the care of the poor. In the midst of all the temptations of a sinful pagan city, we know that this "most chaste Levite," as St. Leo calls him, led an irreproachable life; and far from betraying his sacred duties in any way, gave an example to everyone of an ardent love for Jesus Christ, and a great devotion to the Successor of St. Peter and to all his fellow Christians.

But his life was not a safe and secure one. The emperors still hated the Church; and in the year 257, Valerian had cleverly decided that exterminating the Pope and the clergy would be the best way to put an end to the Christian religion. Finally they captured Sixtus II the following year, and we can imagine the anguish of St. Lawrence when he learned that the soldiers were leading the Pope away to put him to death. He caught up to them with tears in his eyes—tears, not of selfish sadness, but of a holy jealousy—and our language has no words to describe their last meeting in this world.

"Where are you going without your son, Father? Where are you hurrying to, holy priest, without your deacon? You have never offered the Holy Sacrifice without your minister. What then have I done to displease you, Father? Have you found me unworthy? Try me and see whether you have chosen a worthy minister! You confided to me the care of Our Lord's Precious Blood; will you now deny me the company of your own blood? Abraham offered his son, and Peter let Stephen die before him. Show forth your own strength now in your son, Father, and offer him whom you have taught."

But St. Sixtus answered, "I am not deserting you, my son; a greater contest lies in store for you. We who are old received a lighter trial; for you, young man, there remains a more glorious triumph over this tyrant. Soon you will come; stop weeping. You will follow me in three days. It is not for you to conquer under your teacher, as if you needed a helper. Why do you desire to share my sufferings? Why do you need my presence? Weak disciples go before their teachers; strong ones follow them. They who no longer need to be taught conquer without their teacher. Thus also Elias left Eliseus behind him. And so I command you to follow me."

This prophecy consoled St. Lawrence, and he set out with all a young man's enthusiasm to prepare for the day when his holy desires would be fulfilled. He went from one poor family to the next, to the widows and the orphans that he already well knew, distributing all the money he had at hand as archdeacon of Rome. News of this promptly reached the prefect of the city, and he ordered St. Lawrence arrested at once in the hope of a double plunder: the riches of the Church and the apostasy of Lawrence. "I know that you Christians are rich," he informed him, "and that in your worship you use vessels of gold and silver. Bring out these treasures; the emperor needs them to maintain his armies. Besides I am told that according to your doctrine you must render to Caesar the things that belong to him."

St. Lawrence answered calmly: "I do not deny that our Church is rich, and has so much gold and wealth that no one in the world is richer, not even the emperor. Nor do I refuse to hand it over. I will bring forth all the precious things that belong to Christ, if only you will give me a little time to gather everything together." The prefect agreed, as he dreamed of what he could do with the money.

For three days, Lawrence ran about the city, collecting the Church's treasures. But they were not the sort of treasures the greedy prefect was dreaming of. Instead he searched through all the alleys and squares of Rome for the poor, the lame, the crippled, the blind, the homeless, the lepers—all those suffering souls to whom he used to administer the Church's alms. He lined them up on the appointed day outside the courthouse, and hurried in to bring out the prefect.

Our Lord has said: "I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in; naked, and you covered me; sick and you visited me. As long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me" (Matt. 25:35-6, 40). "And what better treasures does Jesus have," St. Ambrose asks, "than those in whom He loves to have us see Himself?"

"These are the treasures of the Church of Christ!" St. Lawrence declared as he presented that ragged crowd to the astonished prefect. "Their bodies may not be beautiful, but within these vessels of clay they bear all the treasures of divine grace." Again, what better treasures does Christ possess than those in whom He tells us that He Himself dwells?

But the Roman official did not appreciate the supernatural beauty of Lawrence's gesture, and his surprise quickly turned to rage. Having failed to extort any money from the holy deacon, he determined to take away from him what is more sacred than riches: he ordered Lawrence to deny Christ, and prepared to try the young man's fortitude by cruel tortures. They stripped him and placed him, as you know, on a red hot iron grill over a low fire, to roast him to death slowly. "But if we consider the heat of charity which burned in his breast," says St. Augustine, "the external flames of his persecutors were cold in comparison." While the horrible smell of burning flesh choked his torturers, the Christians smelled only a heavenly perfume, and St. Lawrence himself rejoiced as he saw heaven opening to receive him in glorious triumph.

"You have obtained nothing, profited nothing, O savage cruelty," St. Leo cries. "Lawrence has departed for paradise, and you have failed. For your flames could not overcome the fire of the love of Christ; and more fierce was the fire that burned within him than that which you lit without."

Thus the earthly life of St. Lawrence ended in a splendid supernatural victory. He had understood what St. John says: "As Christ hath laid down His life for us, so we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren" (I Jn. 3:16). He had understood these words, and he lived up to them. He loved Christ in his life, and imitated Him in his death. And we too, friends, if we truly love Christ, must imitate Him: "because Christ also suffered for us," writes St. Peter, "leaving you an example that you should follow His steps" (I Pt. 2:21). St. Peter seems to be saying that Christ suffered only for those who will follow in His footsteps. The holy martyrs have done so, to the point of shedding their blood as He did; but they are not the only followers of Christ. Otherwise what hope would the rest of us have, if only those who shed their blood were His followers? At present it seems that we have little chance of martyrdom. Shall we imagine that all the sons of the Church perish in times of peace?

Of course not! Christ suffered for all of us, and wishes all of us to be saved. There are many ways for us to follow Him without shedding our blood, without chains and prisons, without whips and hooks, without grills and fires. We can win the same eternal reward as Lawrence did if we follow Christ by practicing in our daily lives the same virtues this Saint practiced in his own.

St. Paul warns us: "If you be risen with Christ," to a new life by sanctifying grace, "seek the things that are above; where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God: mind the things that are above, not the things that are upon the earth." All around us we see people tiring themselves out to squeeze out of this life—as if there were nothing after it—every last drop of pleasure and of comfort, with entire disregard for the Law of God. They love this life and cling to it desperately; we should love eternal life at least as much. If we see them racing to enjoy every second in this world, should we not be striving at every moment to prepare for the eternal joys of heaven?

Imagine that St. Lawrence were alive today: would we find him killing himself for a high-paying job and an expensive apartment? for a shiny sport car and a fancy stereo? for an athletic physique and an elegant wardrobe and a pretty girlfriend? These things may not be evil in themselves; but all too easily we come to love them too much, even to the point of disobeying God to obtain them. St. Lawrence overcame his self-love by a greater love for God and for his fellow Christian. He overcame the flesh by his life of chastity as a deacon. He conquered the temptations of greed that must touch any man who sees so much money by spending it generously for charitable purposes. By using all his youthful energy in fulfilling his sacred duties in church and caring for the poor, he overcame laziness and the love of comfort and luxury. And with the help of God's grace, we can do the same. We can imitate the daily life of St. Lawrence, even if God does not call us to imitate his death.

At present, I said, it seems that we have little chance of martyrdom. But appearances may be deceiving. Let us not suppose that the 'Age of Persecutions' is only a forgotten chapter in the history books. The Age of Persecutions began with the Crucifixion of Christ and will end only in His Second Coming! There has not been a century, there has not been a decade and still is not, when Christ is not suffering somewhere in His Mystical Body the Church. Do you know that in the 1800's two Popes were dragged off as prisoners into a foreign country? Do you know that another Pope had to escape from Rome alone and in disguise, and that at his funeral a mob tried to throw his body into the river? Do you know that at the turn of the century, France, which we still think of as a Catholic country, expelled all monks and nuns and seized all property belonging to the Catholic Church? That in the 1930's in Spain eight bishops and over sixteen thousand priests and sisters were put to death, without counting the faithful who perished? And we all know how the Communists have been treating Catholics in the countries they have occupied since World War II. Cardinal Mindszenty and Bishop Walsh and others have survived to tell us. At this very moment our fellow Catholics in Vietnam are suffering horrible tortures for the Name of Jesus Christ. How easily too events in the world could change, and we could find ourselves faced with the possibility of martyrdom at the hands of Christ's enemies!

If soldiers were to enter the church at this very moment, and drag off Father Bolduc to put him to death, perhaps not many of us would run after him with jealous tears in our eyes, begging for the privilege to die alongside him! But if we live every day in the love of Jesus Christ as St. Lawrence did, using the things of this world only to serve God and to prepare for eternity, without becoming their slaves, then we will also be ready to suffer martyrdom as heroically as he did, if ever we must. Let us pray to St. Lawrence for the graces we need to imitate him; St. Augustine says that no one has every prayed to him and failed to receive an answer. Then let the enemies of Christ take our churches and our chalices; let them have our money; let them torture us and take our very lives! Like St. Lawrence, we shall be content to seek the kingdom of God and its justice, eagerly awaiting that day when we shall join him in heaven, in the company of the Blessed Virgin and of all the Saints, praising God forever and ever.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.