Sermon 303
SERMO 303
On the Birthday of the Martyr Lawrence
Laurence the archdeacon was ordered to bring forth the riches of the Church.
The illustrious martyrdom of Blessed Lawrence is well-known, but it occurred in Rome, not here: for I see your small number is so great. Just as Rome cannot be hidden, so Lawrence's crown cannot be hidden. But why this city should still be obscure, I do not know. Therefore, few, listen to a few words: because we too, in this weariness of body and amidst the heat, cannot speak much. He was a deacon, following the Apostles: he lived in the time after the Apostles. When the persecution, which you just heard foretold for Christians in the Gospel, was raging violently in Rome, as in other places, and as the properties of the Church were demanded from the archdeacon; it is said that he replied: "Let vehicles be sent with me, in which I may bring the riches of the Church." Covetousness opened its jaws: but wisdom knew what it was doing. Immediately it was ordered: as many vehicles as he asked for, so many went. And he asked for many: and the more the vehicles were, the greater was the hope of the conceived plunder. He filled the vehicles with the poor and returned with them: and it was said to him, "What is this?" He replied: "These are the riches of the Church." The persecutor, mocked, demanded flames; but he was not cold so as to fear the flames: he burned nearly with rage, but more with love in his soul. What more can be said? A gridiron was brought, and he was roasted. And when he had burned on one side, it is said that he endured those torments with such tranquility that what we just heard in the Gospel was fulfilled in him: "In your patience, you will possess your souls." Finally, scorched by the flame, but tranquil in patience: "Now," he said, "it is cooked; turn me over and eat." Such was his martyrdom: he was crowned with this glory. His benefits in Rome are so clear that they cannot be counted at all. This is he of whom Christ said: "Whoever loses his life for my sake shall save it." He saved it by faith, saved it by contempt of the world, saved it by martyrdom. How great is his glory with God, when his praise is so great among men?
The reward of the martyrs, prepared for those who follow Christ.
Let us follow His footsteps in faith, and let us follow Him also in contempt of the world. Not only are heavenly rewards promised to martyrs, but also to those following Christ with complete faith and perfect love. For among the martyrs, he is honored, as the truth itself promises, saying: No one leaves house, or field, or parents, or brothers, or wife, or children, and does not receive seven times as much in this time, and in the future age will have eternal life. What is more glorious for a man than to sell everything, and buy Christ, to offer to God the most acceptable gift, the incorrupt virtue of the mind, the whole praise of devotion; to accompany Christ, when He begins to come to receive vengeance from His enemies; to stand beside Him when He sits to judge; to become a co-heir of Christ, to be made equal with Angels, to rejoice in the possession of the heavenly kingdom with the Patriarchs, with the Apostles, with the Prophets? What persecution can overcome these thoughts, what torments can surpass them? A mind grounded in hard, strong, and stable religious meditations, and a spirit that stands immovable against all the terrors of the devil and the threats of the world, is strengthened by firm and solid faith of the future. Eyes are closed in persecutions; but heaven is open. Antichrist threatens; but Christ protects. Death is inflicted; but immortality follows. The world is taken away from the slain; but paradise is restored to them. Temporal life is extinguished; but eternal life is renewed. What great dignity and what great security to leave here joyfully, to leave gloriously amid pressures and distresses; to close in a moment the eyes with which men and the world were seen; to open them immediately, so that God may be seen, even in a happy departure! What great speed! Suddenly you are withdrawn from the earth, so that you are placed in the heavenly kingdoms. These things ought to be embraced by mind and thought, meditated on day and night. If persecution finds such a soldier of God, a virtue prompt to battle cannot be conquered. Or if the call comes beforehand; the reward for the faith that was prepared for martyrdom is returned without loss of time, with God as judge. In persecution, military service is crowned; in peace, constancy is crowned.