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Lawrence of Brindisi in a Capuchin habit, raising a cross before a red banner, painted by Augusto Mussini (Fra Paolo)

Saint Lawrence of Brindisi

Capuchin preacher and peacemaker who rode before the imperial army with a crucifix

Honoured as
Doctor of the Church, Apostolic Doctor
Western calendar
21 July
Orthodox calendar
Not kept

Lawrence of Brindisi was Julius Caesar Russo until he became a Capuchin friar and took his new name, and he learned Greek, Hebrew and Syriac so well that even the rabbis who heard him preach treated him with esteem. Named chaplain of the imperial army as it marched against the Turks in 1601, he was too weak to march and rode at its head on horseback with a crucifix in his hand. He died in Lisbon in 1619 on one of the peace missions popes and princes gave him, pleading for the oppressed people of Naples before King Philip III, and in 1959 John XXIII named him a Doctor of the Church, the Apostolic Doctor.

Sources

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It is the day each year when the Church remembers a saint in its prayers, and for most saints it is the day they died and went home to God. Many saints here have two dates, because the Western and Orthodox Churches keep their own calendars, and some Orthodox churches still count by the old Julian calendar, which runs thirteen days behind ours.

What is a patron saint?

A patron saint is one we ask to pray for us in a particular place, work or need, as many ask Anthony of Padua for help when something is lost, and as Ireland looks to Patrick. A few patronages were declared by a pope, and most grew from long custom. A card says “Patron of” only where a source we checked names one.

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We began with the saints people search for most, by name, by need and by date, along with the apostles and the saints Orthodox Christians look for. Then we made sure every day of the year has at least one saint. That gives 378 so far, and we keep adding the saints readers ask for.

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