“There is no prayer or Good work so great, so pleasing to God, so useful to us, as the Holy Mass.”
Lawrence was born in 1381 and was the descendant of the Giustiniani, a Venetian patrician family.
At the age of 19, he received a vision telling him to seek only the Eternal Wisdom of God. All earthly things paled before this beautiful site and as it faded away, it left a void in his heart which none but God could fill. He refused the offer of marriage and entered the monastery of the Canons Regular of Saint Augustine on the Island of Alga near Venice where his uncle was a priest.
When he 1st entered, a nobleman and friend went to dissuade him from the folly. Lawrence listened patiently to the appeal which soon changed into scorn and violent abuse. He calmly responded with the shortness of life, the uncertainty of earthly happiness, and the incomparable superiority of eternal life with our Lord that he sought. His friend had no answer, and in truth thought himself the fool. He also left the worldly desires and joined Lawrence.
He was ordained in 1406 and was chosen as Prior of the community. Shortly after he was then chosen as General of the Congregation. He gave them their constitution, and was so zealous in spreading the same that he was looked upon as the founder. His reputation for saintliness as well as his zeal for souls attracted the notice of Pope Eugene IV. At the age of 52, he was made Bishop of Castello.
In his position, he restored churches, established new parishes in Venice, aided the foundation of convents, and reformed the life of the canons. Above all, he was noted for his charity. All the money he could raise, went to the poor while he led a life of simplicity and poverty. He wrote tirelessly to create theological treatises and popular pamphlets. He offered everyone a guide to personal reform in faith and practice. He urged the faithful to recover a sense of communion wit the whole Church and encouraged trust in God’s mercy rather than fear of His Justice.
He was greatly respected throughout by both the Church and State and greatly encouraged communion.
In 1451 he was named the 1st Patriarch of Venice and exercised his office till his death on January 8, 1456 but remained in his heart and soul, a humble priest, thirsting for the vision reserved in heaven.
“Humility is possessed only by those to whom God has given it by infusion, as a reward for their persevering efforts and their spirit of prayer.”
His feast day is September 5.
“Whosoever should try to lay open all God’s blessings to the full would be like a man trying to confine in a little vase the mighty currents of the wide ocean; for that would be an easier work than to publish with human eloquence the innumerable gifts of God. Yet although these are unspeakable, both from their multitude, their magnitude, and their incomprehensibility, they are by no means to be concealed in silence, or left without commemoration, although it be impossible to commemorate them adequately. They are to be confessed with the mouth, revered in the heart, and religiously worshiped, as far as the littleness of man can do so. For although we cannot explain them in words, we can make acknowledgment of them in the pious and enlarged affection of our hearts. Indeed, the immense mercy of our Eternal Creator condescends to approve not only what man can do, but what he would desire to do; for the merits of the just are counted up by the Most High, not only in the doing of the work, but in the desire of the will.”
For God’s Glory.
