Happy Saints Cyril and Methodius Day!

Poor little heart boy got bumped in our calendar by these major leaguers who went ahead and evangelized the Slavic world. Our Mass today was at another major leaguer's church: Saint Lawrence, early deacon martyred on this site under the emperor Valerian. As a deacon in the 200's, he followed in the legacy of Saint Stephen, first martyr and one of seven original deacons of the Church. Lawrence was killed four days after Pope Sixtus II (not Pope Secundus VI--OK, that's probably getting old . . . ). According to the account, he was ordered to collect the Church's holdings and hand over the assets, so he brought together the poor and the ill and presented them to the city prefect, saying, "Here are the Church's riches."

They laughed and laughed. And then they cooked him on grill. Actually, the record doesn't mention that they found it very funny at all. They were probably annoyed. So they did roast him over a fire. Lawrence however apparently was a fan of the wisecracks, so after a bit mentioned, "You can turn me over--I'm done on that side."

I'm thinking that when he showed up at the Pearly Gates Saint Peter was going to ask him a bunch of questions but then they said, "Don't worry, he's already been grilled . . . "

The impressive fresco behind the altar shows his sentencing with Lawrence getting barbecued in the foreground--one person is adding extra coals, another is poking at the fire. Up above Lawrence is already being greeted with the crown and palm of martyrdom, images taken from Revelation (a well utilized book for imagery!) for those having arrived in glory.