"My Shepard and Pope, what have I done that cannot die with you?"
The Pope said to Laurence in reply,
"Be still, you shall be with me in four days"
Sensing the end was near, Laurence went into prayer with our Lord. At that same time, the Roman Emperor began to ran sack the church's goods wanting its material wealth for his own. Laurence, now in controll of the Catholics in Rome, gave all of the Church's goods away to the poor so that the Emperor could not get his hands obtain it.
The Emperor, enfuriated, demanded that Laurence gather the riches of the Church and hand them over to him. Laurence went around the streets of Rome and gathered the sick and dieing and brought them before the Roman Emperor saying,
"These are the Church's riches"
The Emperor, red with anger, sentanced Laurence to death as Pope Sixtus had fortold. Laurence was to be grilled on a gridiron untill death. But, as the fires were burning beneath him, Laurence chuckled and joked saying,
"Turn me over, for I am done on this side already!"
And upon his death cried out in a load voice,
"I am finished"
St. Laurence martyr is considered one of the Seven Doctors of the Church for his devotion to God and his wisdom beyond his young age. His feast day is August 10, the day of his execution.
You were like a mighty warrior at the judgment seat of the Emperor,
You set in front of your tormentors your blood-stained hands.
You were a follower of Him, who is most desirable and mighty,
Who with His hands alone conquered the evil of your persecutors,
And who's love makes His warriors holy.
Even as you saw the Lord in your own death,
You scorned the emblems of the Caesar, and laughed at your judge.
They, in vanity, took your life with torture,
You, from their vanity, were burned on a gridiron.
The Eternal City's prefect, who was mighty,
Was conquered by the broiled fish, the food of Christ.
You were like the honeycomb, broken and battered, who rejoices in the Lord,
And who, on the Last Day, will rise, filling to the fullest with Christ.
Oh Laurence, greatest amongst God's warriors,
Oh unconquerable soldier of the everlasting King,
Pray for us so that He may pardon we lowly servants,
Oh martyr and mighty foot-soldier,
Pray for Us.