Ampleforth Abbey

I would like to begin my own reflection today by drawing to your attention two interesting features of the iconography of the statue of St Laurence in the arch behind me. We know the stature represents St Laurence because he is clad in the familiar vesture of a deacon and beneath the statue there is the gridiron motif. Notice, however, that Laurence holds in his hands what appears to be a model of a Church and a large bag of money.

The model of a Church usually denotes that the saint is the founder of a particular church. In this case it reminds us that Laurence is held up for veneration in Rome as the third founder of the Church in Rome. The two other founders are, of course, the Princes of the Apostles: Peter the leader of the Apostles appointed by Christ himself, holder of the keys of the kingdom; and Paul, the Preacher to the Gentiles. Their patronage of the Church in Rome is well understood. It is interesting that Laurence should be regarded as the third patron ahead of the claims of others, for example his own bishop Sixtus who was martyred three days before Laurence. It is generally said that the example of Laurence was instrumental in completing the conversion of Rome which was already well advanced by the time of his martyrdom as we may judge from the fact that there were some 250 clergy in Rome by the time of the Valerian persecution.

Again we are all aware that in the early Church the deacon was responsible for the care of the book of the Gospels and for proclaiming the Gospel during the liturgy, he was ordained to minister the blood of Christ to the faithful at the celebration of the Eucharist, and he was entrusted with the temporalities of the Church and especially with the relief of the sufferings of the poor and the sick. Hence Laurence is shown in our statue with a bag of money. The astonishing thing about Laurence is that the early commentators make it plain that he was not tainted by the duties he performed. He did not succumb to temptation in the same way as did Judas Iscariot and many others since that time.

Why was this? In his long hymn celebrating the martyrdom of Laurence, Prudentius on several occasions compares and contrasts the behaviour of pagans and the behaviour of Christians. He tells us that the Prefect of imperial Rome was “Athirst for money and for blood, driven by his greed for gold” and compares him to the sobriety and honesty of Laurence who points out that

“For gold, bright innocence is lost;
For gold, integrity is stained,
Peace is destroyed, faith set at naught,
The very laws abjured and scorned.”

He portrays Laurence handing over the riches of the Church of Rome – the poor and the sick to whom he has given relief – and where the Prefect sees only the halt and lame, the ulcerated limbs, the foul corruption of disease, Laurence by contrast sees the heavenly vision:

“These humble paupers you despise,
And look upon as vile outcasts.
Their ulcerous limbs will lay aside
And put on bodies incorrupt.
They will shine resplendent with new life
In their celestial fatherland.”

Prudentius develops his theme after the condemnation of Laurence when he tells his readers that the martyrs face was luminous in the same way as the face of Moses and Stephen but that this effulgent glow could only be seen by the Christians present since the pagans had been blinded in the same way as the Israelites by their worship of the golden calf.

In a similar fashion he tells us that

“The very odour given forth
By holy Laurence’s burning flesh
Was noxious to the unredeemed
And to the faithful nectar sweet.”

What we see here, clearly enough, is the illumination of the soul and understanding which is the result of being afire with love of Christ. Laurence and Christians generally see things, or in our case perhaps I had better say should see things, differently to the pagans.

Laurence, even before his martyrdom was afire with love of his saviour. He had proclaimed the Gospel. He had received the blood of the Paschal Lamb and had ministered it to others; he had been transformed by what he had received. Hence his comment to the Prefect as he was roasted on the gridiron over the “slow, consuming heat”:

“I am well baked,
And whether better cooked or raw,
Make trial by a taste of me”

is not merely a jest addressed to the Prefect alone. Rather this comment is addressed at the same time to the Christian community and reflects the Christian understanding that, like the Paschal Lamb, he has been roasted entire over the fire and now he hands over to them his entire self, all his words and deeds, the very stuff of his life, as food given to the Chosen People to strengthen them for their journey to the Promised Land.

Laurence has been purified not by fire alone; he was already transformed by Word and Sacrament into another Christus, anointed one. Those who have been purified by love of Christ need have no fear when they handle the things of this world for they see them with the eyes of Christ, that is to say they see things as they really are.

There is a clear lesson for us then, the sons of St Laurence, on this our patronal feast. We are invited to accept the Gospel of Christ. Laurence calls us to listen to the words of the Gospel and to make them our own, to take them deep into our hearts, to allow them to transform us, to set us afire with love of Christ as he was afire with love for Christ. We are called to come to the Eucharistic feast, to receive here the Body and Blood of the One, True, Paschal Lamb and to minister the Food of Life to our brothers and sisters.

To the extent that we allow the Word and Sacrament to transform us, we will learn to see the world as it really is, we will be freed from the lust for domination, for influence, for power; we will be freed from self-seeking and self-aggrandisement and will become Christ for our world.

But, as is ever the case, we are invited to allow this change, we are not forced to accept it. Generally speaking we are timid, afraid of the consequences of acceptance and the change within us is slow and faltering, indeed to our own eyes it may not be visible at all. Nevertheless, let us be of good heart. Let us renew today the commitment we made at the Easter Vigil when we accepted the grace of our baptism and let us ask St Laurence to join his prayers to ours so that we may become true sons of St Benedict, dedicated to seeking God and sharing what we have been given with our brothers and sisters.