St. Laurence, MARTYR, A.D. 258.
by VP
Posted on Thursday July 10, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
O Glorious Saint Lawrence, Martyr and Deacon, who, being subjected to the most bitter torments, didst not lose thy faith nor thy constancy in confessing Jesus Christ, obtain in like manner for us such an active and solid faith, that we shall never be ashamed to be true followers of Jesus Christ, and fervent Christians in word and in deed.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be.
V. Pray for us, O holy Lawrence,
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray: Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, the grace to quench the flames of our vices, Thou who didst enable blessed Lawrence to overcome his fiery torments. Through Christ our Lord Amen. The Raccolta, 1957
"St. Lawrence was a holy deacon at Rome; who, envying the glory of the martyrs, desired to lay down his life for Christ. Pray for this spirit, and beg of God that in all your troubles you may suffer with the patience of a martyr. He was seized by the persecutors, and after many torments, his torn body was laid on a gridiron, where he expired, giving praise and thanks to God. Pray for the love of God, which sweetened all the torments of this martyr. It is for want of this, that your troubles banish all content from your breast. Pray for remedy.
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
THE TREASURES OF THE CHURCH. The holy Pope Sixtus was being dragged to martyrdom; Lawrence, his disciple and friend, the first of the Seven Deacons of Rome, followed him with streaming eyes. "Whither art thou going, O my father," he said, "whither without thy son? Priest of God, wherefore dost thou abandon thy deacon?" "Take heart, my son!" replied the martyr, "thou art reserved for a still greater combat, yet three days and thou shalt follow me." The emperor, having imagined that the Christians had amassed great treasures, despatched the Prefect of Rome with orders to take possession of them. “We have indeed great treasures!" said Lawrence to him; " but allow me sufficient time to get them together." On the following day he showed to the prefect all the suffering and infirm poor, the orphans and old people whom the Church maintained by means of alms. "Behold!" he said, " our treasures; take them into your keeping." The prefect, deeply enraged, caused his body to be lacerated by scourgings with rods and with hooks of iron, and then to be stretched on live coals. The face of the martyr was all radiant with happiness and joy. In the midst of his torture he said to his executioners, "Now turn me to the other side!" He expired, while praying for Rome, on the 10th August, 258.
MORAL REFLECTION.-“ Religion clean and undefiled is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their tribulation, and to keep one's self unspotted from the world." -(Jas. i. 27.) Pictorial Half Hours with the Saints, by Abbe Lacanu
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.
#24 Acts of Adoration Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament in reparation for all the offenses committed against Him by mankind [Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament]
by VP
Posted on Thursday July 10, 2025 at 12:00AM in Thursday Reparation
24. We adore Thee, Son of the ever-glorious Virgin! And to make a general reparation, as much as lies in our power, for all the indignities Thou hast suffered from men, since the institution of this Adorable Mystery, we have recourse to Thy Holy Mother, looking upon her, as, under Thee, the greatest and most secure refuge of sinners. Eternal praise and thanksgiving be to the Most Holy and Most Divine Sacrament.
O Queen of heaven and earth, hope of mankind, who adores thy Divine Son incessantly! We entreat thee, that, since we have the honor to be of the number of thy children, thou would interest thyself in our behalf and make satisfaction for us, and in our name, to our Eternal Judge, by rendering to Him the duties which we ourselves are incapable of performing. Amen.
CAPGSeven Brothers, Felicitas their mother and Ss. Rufina and Secunda, Virgins, Martyrs second century
by VP
Posted on Thursday July 10, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
St. Felicitas and her Seven Sons
"The seven brothers were the sons of St. Felicitas, a noble pious Christian widow in Rome, who brought them up in the most perfect sentiments and practice of heroic virtue. The mother and sons were apprehended, and brought before Publius, the prefect of Rome. He used the strongest inducements to bring them to sacrifice to the pagan gods; but despairing of overcoming their resolution, the prefect laid the whole process of the examination before the Emperor Antoninus. He, having read the interrogatory, gave orders that they should be condemned to different deaths. One of the brothers was scourged to death; two were beaten with clubs till they expired. Another was thrown headlong down a steep precipice. The three youngest were beheaded; and the same sentence was executed upon the mother four months after.
SS. Rufina and Secunda were sisters, who having consecrated their virginity to God, and resolutely refused all offers of marriage made by their parents, were accused for their faith in Christ; and after many torments of scourges and fire, were beheaded at Rome under Valerian. Pray for all those who are dejected in troubles; that God would give them the patience of the martyrs.
Consider what it is to want comfort; have compassion on those who stand in need of it, and pray for their relief. Humble yourself under your present troubles, and beseech God to sanctify them to you. All your disquiets avail you nothing; but a patient submission may save your soul. Pray for all those who have consecrated their virginity to God, and for those who live in that state in the world. The devil and the world are so much their enemies, and so many snares are before them, that all good Christians have reason to stand on their side. Be ever cautious in making vows; and never do it but with good advice. But if you have obliged yourself, see that you be faithful in the performance." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
"The Christian Mother: A mother has not done her entire
duty when she has trained for the world, and according to the spirit
prevailing in the world, her children as honorable citizens. A Roman
matron, name Felicitas, has inspired her seven sons with sentiments of
the purest Christianity, and the example of this excellent family
exercised so great an influence, that many pagans, at the sight thereof,
became Christians. The pagan priests denounced her to the emperor
Antoninus, and Felicitas and her sons were soon cited to appear before
the prefect Publius. No manner of remonstrance, threat, or promise did
he refrain from making to each one separately, but all in vain; and when
the generous mother beheld the moment of their sentence approaching,
she thus addressed her sons: "Look heavenward, my children, behold Jesus
Christ stretching forth His arms and battling for your souls!" They
were condemned to difference kinds of torture, and martyred at
intervals. Felicitas died with the last of her children, four months
after the death of the first who had suffered martyrdom. This glorious
event occurred in the year 164 of the Christian era.
Moral reflection:
A Christian mother should ever keep before her eyes this example, as
also that of the mother of the Maccabees, ever "to be admired above
measure, and worthy to be remembered by good men." (2 Mach.7.20) Pictorial half hours with the saints by Auguste François Lecanu
A Motherʼs Prayer
O God, grant that one of my sons may become a priest!
I myself want to live as a good Christian
and want to guide my children always to do what is right,
so that I may receive the grace, O God,
to be allowed to give you a holy priest! Amen.
Mothers of Lu (Italy)
A Mother’s Prayer for a Seminarian
O Jesus, eternal High Priest, Who hast
entrusted to priests the important work of saving souls, and Who has
deigned to inspire my child, my own flesh and blood, to strive after the
high office of the Priesthood, I pray Thee most fervently to bless and
assist him, and to make him more worthy day by day.
Give him success and perseverance in his studies and constant growth in
virtue and holiness. Help him, O Jesus, overcome all temptations arising
from the world, the flesh and the devil, which seek to frustrate his
holy vocation. Fill his heart with burning love for God and for souls
redeemed by Thy most Precious Blood.
Grant me, O Lord, the unmerited grace one day to behold my own child in
priestly garb ascending the holy altar of God, and to receive from his
consecrated hands the priestly blessing and the Bread of Life Eternal.
As long as I live, O Jesus, I shall every day offer Thee, through the
hands of Mary, the Mother of priests, all my prayers, works and
sacrifices, to call down God’s blessing upon the work of priests, and
especially upon my son.
The Catholic Standard and Times, Volume 61, Number 32, 4 May 1956
