Saint Lawrence of Brindisi:

Feast day : 21 July

Saint Lawrence of Brindisi was a Capuchin priest who lived during the period 1559-1619. He was one of the greatest preachers of the Church and strived for the restoration of the Church and for the conversion of Protestants and Jews to one unified Church. He was canonized in 1881 by Pope Leo XIII and given the title Doctor of the Church by Pope John XXIII on March 19, 1959. During his lifetime, St. Lawrence took on varied roles but whether he preached, went on diplomatic mission or engaged in any other activity he was always labouring with apostolic zeal for the salvation of souls. It is likely that he was the greatest linguist among all the Doctors of the Church. He knew the Scriptural languages of Hebrew, Chaldean, Syriac and Greek. He was also well versed in Latin, German, Bohemian, French, Spanish and Italian. He died at the age of 60 years on July 22 1619.

Early life:

He was born in Brindisi to Wiiliam Russo and Elizabeth Masella, parents of a noble descent on July 22 1559 and was named Guilo Cesare. He began his studies at the day school of the Conventual Fathers at Brindisi. Later when he lost his parents at a young age, he went to Venice to attend the private school of his uncle who was a priest. At Venice he joined the Franciscan Capuchin Order and became Brother Lawrence of Brindisi. Soon he finished his studies and was ordained a deacon while still under the age of 23 years and in 1982 he was ordained as a priest.

Vocational life:

After his ordination, his first assignment was to be a lector of Theology and Scripture in the Capuchin school in Venice till 1586. His activities were unusually varied. He was often sent as a diplomat on official missions for the Pope. He was a powerful confidant of many people and for a time a military chaplain too. The Capuchin Order gave him a remarkable variety of positions of authority, including the highest that of Vicar General. He was Definitor General five times; he was elected Vicar Provincial four times, in four different provinces. He was appointed as Commissary General of the German Missions. During his assignment as guardian, spiritual director of clerics and novice master he was considered strict in demanding an exact and holy life among the Friars. Throughout his life he was idolized by people who ardently followed him and his preaching.

He was a great instrument of God in preserving faith which was evident in the missions he was involved in. His mission in Prague began a new chapter in Capuchin history because from this new beginning the Order spread throughout southern Germany forming six provinces. The preachings, charity to the poor and sick, life of prayer and penance of the Capuchins played an important role in saving the Catholic Faith in that region. He had a strong effect in shaping the religious and political outlook of men like Maximilian, Duke of Bavaria who was the most forceful princely leader in the Catholic Counter Reformation in Germany.

One of the remarkable events of his lifetime occurred in October 1601 when he was the Chief Chaplain in the imperial army under Archduke Mathias, the brother of the Emperor, Rudolph II. The Christian army was greatly outnumbered by the Turks. At the request of the Archduke, Saint Lawrence spoke to the men and said that he would march at their head with the cross, to fight the enemies of the Cross. He rode into the battle holding the cross aloft whilst cannonballs, bullets, arrows whizzed all around him. The battle was miraculously won and amongst the Protestant and Turks who witnessed it, several Protestants are known to have converted to Catholic faith because of Saint Lawrence.

He had a great number of followers and often people flocked to the monasteries where he stayed during his missionary travels. His popularity was partly due to his magnetic personality, fearless preaching and the miracles that were attributed to his intercession. When he was the Franciscan Provincial of Tuscany, he is known to have cured a blind man. At the court of Philip III, he cured a woman of paralysis. Once at an inn in Germany, St. Lawrence and his companions were made the butt of jokes and insulting remarks by one of the diners there. Later the man began to blaspheme and curse St. Lawrence’s cross at which he is believed to have held up his cross and said “To vindicate the honor of this cross which you have blasphemed, may God punish you!” and immediately, the man fell dead before the crowd! His love for the Holy Mass was extraordinary. The length of his Masses was most often six, eight, and ten hours long. The longest Mass which he offered was on the last Christmas of his life and it was 16 hours long!!

He was undoubtedly one of the greatest preachers the Church has ever known. However, very few of his sermons have been written. Out of his collected sermons, 800 are in Latin and only 9 are in Italina. Another hindrance in publishing his works was the difficulty in reading his manuscripts as he had his own system of shorthand. It was only in the twentieth century that some of his works were published namely The Opera Omnia, Mariale, Lutheranismi Hypotyposis and Explanatio in Genesism.

Death and Canonization:

He is known to have predicted his own death. On July 22 1619, he announced it was his last day and received Viaticum in the morning and asked for Extreme Unction about noon. He died about sunset when he was 60 years of age. Before his death, he gave his most holy cross which he wore and as of today is with the Capuchin Generals in Rome. The people of Lisbon came in great crowds to view his remains and cut away pieces of his habit as relics. His body remains were taken to Villafranca. One half of his heart is kept at Brindisi in the convent of the Capuchin nuns and the other half was given to Maximilian of Bavaria and is preserved in Munich in a Capuchin Church.

He was canonized in 1881 by Pope Leo XIII and given the title Doctor of the Church by Pope John XXIII on March 19, 1959. His feast is celebrated on July 21.