Fr. Scott Haynes
In the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City there is a small round glass medallion dating from the fourth century that depicts Saint Lawrence. The medallion bears the simple inscription: “Live with Christ and Lawrence.” What some would see as a simple cultural artifact is for us a beautiful witness to the unchanging faith of the Church. The saints are those who have passed into eternal life with Christ. To live with Christ is to live in the society of the saints of Christ. Not only do we remember each year the anniversary of their birthday into the life of heaven; we seek their intercession and rely on it. We make our pilgrimage through this life in their company, having “over our head,” as St. Paul’s Epistle to the Hebrews says, “so great a cloud of witnesses” (Heb. 12:1).
In the year 1450, the artist Blessed Fra Angelico painted a series of frescoes showing the life of Saint Lawrence. This is remarkable in itself: a saint painting a saint. In one scene he shows Saint Lawrence, coming out of a basilica to meet the poor who are waiting for him. Lawrence is youthful; he is dressed as a deacon for the liturgy. His dalmatic is deep rose in color, symbolic of joy; it is trimmed in gold, hinting at the eternal glory that is already transforming him.
On the ground in front of him is a crippled man holding out his hand and begging for alms. To his right is an old man with a white beard, quite bent over, and leaning on his walking stick; he too is asking for alms. To Lawrence’s left stands an impoverished widow in a dark dress and, just behind her, a young mother with a baby in her arms.
Again, to his left, is a man in need of medicine, pointing to a wound in his knee. On both sides of Lawrence are little children; two of them, having already received their alms, are walking away, while a third is still waiting to receive something. The fresco is a kind of homily on the Scriptures traditionally associate with the Mass of St. Lawrence. St. Lawrence is the cheerful giver, beloved of God that St. Paul describes in his Second Epistle to the Corinthians (cf. 2 Cor 9: 7). And what Psalm 111 says perfectly describes St. Lawrence, “Lavishly he gives to the poor; his generosity shall endure forever.”
In these frescoes of St. Lawrence, the brilliant artist, Blessed Fra Angelico, painted theology. By showing the open basilica in the background, he is indicating that the Church must share the hospitality of God, with her doors open to all peoples. By painting Saint Lawrence in his dalmatic, he is trying to tell us that the holy Deacon Lawrence has just come from Mass where it is the deacon’s function to sing the dismissal, Ite, missa est, “Go, the Mass is ended” – “Go, be Christ’s hands in the world to do good to your neighbor” – “Go, be Christ’s voice in the world to speak the truth in charity.”
We know that the mission of the Church begins at the Altar. Now leaving the altar, Lawrence goes straight out the front door of the church to the poor who wait for him. He goes from Christ to Christ. In the language of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, we could say St. Lawrence went from the glory of Christ on the altar to Christ in the street, Christ is his “most distressing disguise.” Not only did St. Lawrence go to serve the poor; he went with promptness and joy.
In yet another fresco, Fra Angelico shows Saint Lawrence kneeling before Pope Saint Sixtus. The scene takes places shortly before the martyrdom of Pope Sixtus together with four of his deacons on August 6, 458. St. Lawrence’s death followed four days later. The bishop of Rome and his faithful deacon are looking at one another deeply; both understand what is to come. Just as St. John’s Gospel mentions, they will both fall into the earth like grains of wheat (cf. Jn 12:24) to produce a harvest for Christ and for the Church.
Fra Angelico depicts Saint Sixtus handing over a chalice and paten to Saint Lawrence. Again Lawrence, clothed in his rose dalmatic, extends his hands to receive the sacred vessels because they are the sign of Christ’s sacrifice. It is as if the Pope is saying to his deacon, “Receive these sacred vessels and become what they are destined to contained: the Body and Blood of Christ offered in sacrifice and given for the life of the world.”
All around Saint Sixtus and Saint Lawrence, Fra Angelico shows the clergy of Rome. They have a grave demeanor because they are engaged in serious conversation as they talk about the persecution of the Roman Emperor. Everyone is aware of the drama that is about to unfold. The painting depicts the tense drama of the scene. Here again, Fra Angelico is preaching, not merely painting. He is showing that what is made present in the Eucharist must unfold in the life of every Christian, as we incorporate the suffering of Our Lord into each of our lives each in our own unique way and in our own circumstances.
Finally, in his third fresco, Fra Angelico shows Saint Lawrence standing before the Roman Emperor Valerian. The Emperor is crowned and seated on his throne in an apse. The hands of Lawrence are bound and he is surrounded by soldiers. Lawrence is dressed in the same rose-colored dalmatic. He appears before the Emperor as a deacon of Christ, consecrated for the service of Christ’s altar and of Christ’s poor.
Lawrence looks at Valerian with a pure and steady gaze; he is not intimidated. He reminds us of that other deacon, Saint Stephen, of whom it is written in the Acts of the Apostles, that “all who sat in council saw that his face was like that of an angel” (Ac 6:15).
The Emperor cannot look Lawrence in the face; he lowers his eyes. The servant of Christ is possessed of a majesty that the world cannot give and the majesty of this world fades and shrinks before it.
At this scene let us remember the Gospel of St John which assures us: “If anyone serves me, the Father will honour him” (Jn 12:26). What a consolation that before our persecutors we can stand with a sweet and innocent countenance, free of human fear, and this, simply because of God’s grace.
As we have meditated upon these holy images of St. Lawrence today, let us beg the mercy of God our loving Father, in order that we might be permitted to taste and see the Divine and Holy Mysteries of the Altar, so that, like St. Lawrence, we might be transformed from grace to grace after the glory of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
“Live with Christ and Lawrence.”
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