Description

Oil Dedicated to St Lawrence (Patron for Firefighters)

St Lawrence or Laurence (Latin: Laurentius, lit. “laurelled”; 31 December AD 225[1] – 10 August 258) one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II. Who martyred in the persecution of the Christians that the Roman Emperor Valerian ordered in 258. Lawrence encountered the future Pope Sixtus II, who of Greek origin and one of the most famous and highly esteemed teachers, in Caesaraugusta (today Zaragoza). Eventually, both left Spain for Rome. When Sixtus became the Pope in 257, he ordained Lawrence as a deacon, and though Lawrence still young appointed him first among the seven deacons who served in the cathedral church.

St. Lawrence thought to have been born on 31 December AD 225, in Valencia, or less probably, in Huesca. The town from which his parents came in the later region of Aragon that was then part of the Roman province of Hispania Tarraconensis. The martyrs Orentius (Modern Spanish: San Orencio) and Patientia (Modern Spanish: Santa Paciencia) traditionally held to have been his parents.

Lawrence encountered the future Pope Sixtus II, Greek origin and one of the most famous and highly esteemed teachers, in Caesaraugusta (today Zaragoza). Eventually, both left Spain for Rome. When Sixtus became the Pope in 257, he ordained Lawrence as a deacon. While Lawrence still young, Sixtus also appointed him first among the seven deacons who served in the cathedral church. He therefore called “archdeacon of Rome”, a position of great trust that included the care of the treasury and riches of the Church and the distribution of alms to the indigent.