July 21 St. Lawrence of Brindisi, Doctor of the Church

 

St. Lawrence of Brindisi (1559-1619)

July 21

            Saint Francis wanted his followers to preach what they had learned in prayer.  Lawrence was an excellent example of this. He was born "Caesare de Rossi" to devout middle-class parents in Brindisi of southern Italy. He entered the Capuchins at the age of sixteen and proved an able scholar with a gift for languages.  His ability to preach in multiple languages was put to good use after his ordination in 1582. Lawrence used Scripture extensively in his preaching. His sermons fill eight large volumes.

            His time as a Franciscan falls into three main categories: teaching theology to the friars, serving as an occasional papal nuncio, and holding various leadership positions within the Capuchins. In the last role, he sought to balance the rigors of the Capuchin observance with the needs of the apostolate. A quote from one of his sermons, Sermo Quadragesimalis: “The Word of God is a light to the mind and fire to the will. It enables humanity to know God and to love God. And for the interior person who lives by the Spirit of God through grace, it is bread and water, but a bread sweeter than honey and the honeycomb, a water better than wine and milk.” 

            During his lifetime, Lawrence was the provincial of three different Italian provinces.  He was general counsellor twice and vicar general once. In 1598 he and thirteen other friars went to Germany to establish the Capuchins there; a mission that grew into three provinces. In 1601, Lawrence accompanied the imperial troops which repelled the Turkish advance in Hungary. On returning to Italy, Lawrence learned of a cruel viceroy in Naples, which was ruled by Spain. When Lawrence journeyed to Lisbon to explain the situation to Philip III of Spain, the viceroy was dismissed. Lawrence died in Lisbon on that journey.

            After Lawrence’s death, a preacher said of him: “Heroically virtuous, he was humble without littleness, magnanimous without ostentation, courageous without pride. His faith would have moved mountains, his hope defied every trial, and his charity knew no bounds. He united the life of action with the life of contemplation, so that he gave himself up to incessant labors for the defense of the Church and the salvation of his neighbor, and yet never lost sight of the holy presence of the Divine majesty.”

            Part of what is known as the Counter-Reformation, Lawrence was canonized in 1881 and declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope John 23rd in 1959.