ST LAWRENCE
PROTO-DEACON OF THE ROMAN CHURCH
Fr. Francesco Moraglia
Professor of Dogmatic Theology
Genua
The history of the Church has transmitted to
us several accounts of the great Bishops and Priests who have illuminated the
profound mystery of the Ordained ministry at a pastoral and theological level.
Among the Bishop we remember Ireneus of Lyons, Augustine Winfried, Boniface,
Barolomeo Las Casas and Ildefonso Schuster. In the present age priests such as
Philip Neri, John Mary Vianney, Don Bosco, Peter Chanel and Maximillian Kolbe
have been significant figures. The ministry of Deacons also becomes more clear
when seen in the light of the great deacons of the Church's history. An example
is St Lawrence, Martyr and Porto-Deacon of the Roman Church. Together with St
Stephen and St Philip, Lawrence must certainly be one of the most renowned
Deacons of antiquity.
In the West, the diaconate, considered as a
permanent ministry in itself, and not just oriented towards the Priesthood, was
less frequent by the fifth century. Up to that time it had been a flourishing
institution but by the beginning of the fifth century, largely because of
greater involvement of priests in the pastoral ministry, the first grade of Holy
Orders was largely reduced to the role of an access to the successive grade of
the Priesthood. It is therefore easy to understand why the Diaconate became
restricted, indeed almost fossilized at the level of theological reflection and
pastoral practice.
In the sixteenth century, the Council of Trent
attempted to respond to this situation but we had to await the Second Vatican
Council and the middle of the twentieth century to see the restoration of the
diaconate "as a proper and permanent grade of the hierarchy...".
Immediately following this affirmation article 29 of the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen
Gentium states "Should the roman Pontiff think fit, it will be possible
to confer this diaconal order even upon married men, provided thy be of more
mature age, and also on suitable young men, for whom, however, the law of
celibacy must remain in force." In his Apostolic Letter Sacrum
Diaconatus Ordinem (8 June 1967) Pope Paul VI reiterates that the diaconate
"is not to be considered as a mere step towards the priesthood, but it is
so adorned with its own indelible character and its own special grace so that
those who are called to it 'can permanently serve the mysteries of Christ and
the Church'" (EV, 2/1369).
The fact also that the diaconate in the Latin
Church did not have a permanent form for some fifteen centuries would suggest a
certain need to make up for lost time on the level of theological reflection and
pastoral practice by means of a wide ranging reflection on the part of the
entire ecclesial community. The permanent Diaconate indeed constitutes an
important enrichment for the Church's mission.
Clearly, the restoration of the permanent
Diaconate, desired authoritatively by the last Council, can only come about in
harmony with the Church's venerable tradition. Particularly important in this
respect is the joint declaration of 22 February 1988 made by the Congregation
for the Catholic Education and the Congregation for the Clergy which prefaces
the Basic norms for the formation of permanent deacons and the Directory
on the Ministry and Life of Priests. This declaration serves as a
clarification and can be taken as an orientation for the future. It says:
"The total reality of the Diaconate — embracing its fundamental doctrinal
vision, discernment of vocation, as well as the life, ministry, spirituality and
formation of deacons — calls for a review of the journey thus far made, so as
to arrive at a global vision of this grade of Sacred Orders corresponding to the
desire and intention of the Second Vatican Council" (Basic norms for the
formation of permanent deacons - Directory for the ministry and life of
permanent deacons. Vatican City 1998, pg. 7).
Returning to what we have said about the great
Bishops, Priests and Deacons who have illustrated and marked the ordained
ministry, thereby winning for it a profound understanding, it is logical that we
should turn the figure of Lawrence, whose personal experience forces us to
re-examine the first grade of the ordained ministry, which, because of the
aforementioned historical factors, still awaits full appreciation and acceptance.
New emphasis is required to be given to the re-discovery of the diaconal
ministry understood as a permanent ministry which can express itself with
greater fruitfulness in the life of the Church.
The personal adventures of Lawrence, Proto
Deacon of the Roman Church, come down to us trough an ancient tradition, already
widely known by the fourth century. This tradition, accepted by the Church, is
also to be found in the liturgical texts. The most notable events of Lawrence's
life are described particularly well in the Passio Polychromi of which we
have three version (dating from the fifth to the seventh centuries). It is a
fact that this account of Lawrence contains elements of legend, although some of
the information contained in the Passio were known to earlier writers
such as St Ambrose, which is clear from his De Officiis (cf PL XVL,
89-92).
In our efforts to amplify the few details of
Lawrence's life, let us begin with those preserved for the feast of his
Martyrdom (10 August) in the Depositio Martyrm which dates from 354 A.D..
According to the Roman Missal "Lawrence, the renowned Deacon of the
Roman Church, confirmed his service of charity by martyrdom under Valerian
(258), four days after the decapitation of Pope Sixtus II. According to a
tradition widely diffused by the fourth century, he patiently sustained a
terrible martyrdom on the grid-iron, having distributed the goods of the
community to the poor whom he regarded as the true treasure of the Church".
These notes end by recalling that Lawrence's martyrdom is also mentioned in the
Roman Canon. Thus the Church in her official liturgical texts takes to herself
what tradition, even in its differing internal versions, hands down concerning
Lawrence. It is not our intention to enter into the merits of a number of
contemporary hypotheses advanced by recent historical criticism which tend to
place the martyrdom of Lawrence at the beginning of the third century and which
present a figure substantially different from the traditional one. For example,
Lawrence was Spanish rather than Roman. On this specific point it should be
recalled that the Praefatio Mensae of the twelfth century Leonine
Sacramentary tells us that Lawrence was a civis Romanus. Paolo Toschi,
however, notes with regard to these recent studies that they "do not a
priori eliminate the possibility of a true and proper tradition existing in
Rome. St Ambrose, with obvious rhetorical embellishments, retells the tragic
capture and death by fire of Lawrence. We know this sentence was inflicted on
Fruttoso and on the deacons Eulogius and Augurius of Tarragona during the reign
of Valerian. Moreover, the word "animadvertere" used in the decree of
presentation in the redaction of Cyprian can also refer to forms of capital
execution other than "decollation" (cf Bibliotheca Sanctorum,
1539). Here we shall accept the traditional date for the Martyrdom of Lawrence
as transmitted to us in the liturgical texts, and limit ourselves to stating it
in a more articulate manner.
Lawrence is believed to have been born in
Spain, at Osca, a town in Aragon, near the foot of the Pyrenees. As a youth he
was sent to Saragoza to complete his humanistic and theological studies. It was
here that he first encountered the future Pope Sixtus II, who was of Greek
origin. He was a teacher in what was then one of the most renowned centres of
learning. The future Pope was one of the most famous and esteemed teachers.
Lawrence, who would subsequently become the
head of the deacons of the Roman Church, was remarkable for his human qualities,
his subtlety of mind and for his intelligence. Between master and disciple a
communion of life and friendship grew. With the passage of time a love for Rome,
the centre of Christianity and seat of the Vicar of Christ was consolidated and
grew stronger in both. Eventually, following a migratory wave which was then
very pronounced, both left Spain for the City where the Apostle Peter had
established his See and given supreme witness. Thus Master and disciple were
able to realize their ideal of evangelization and missionary activity to the
point of shedding their blood, in Rome, the heart of Christianity. Sixtus was
raised to the Chair of Peter and began a pontificate that would last for less
than a year. Without hesitation, he desired to have Lawrence, his friend and
disciple, at his side so as to entrust to him the important office of
proto-deacon. Both sealed their life of communion and friendship by dying at the
hands of the same persecutor, a few days apart from each other. St Cyprian,
Bishop of Carthage, preserves an account of the death of St Sixtus in one of his
letters. Commenting on the situation of great uncertainty and unease in which
the Church found herself because of increasing hostility towards Christians, he
notes: "The Emperor Valerian has consigned to the Senate a decree by which
he has determined that all Bishops, Priests and Deacons will be immediately put
to death". Cyprian then continues: "I communicate to you that Sixtus
suffered martyrdom on 6 August together with four Deacons while they were in a
cemetery. The Roman authorities have established a norm according to which all
Christians who have been denounced must be executed and their goods confiscated
by the Imperial treasury" (CSEL 3, 839-840).
The cemetery to which the holy Bishop of
Carthage alludes is that of St Callixtus. Sixtus was captured here while
celebrating the Sacred Liturgy. His remains were entered in the cemetery of St.
Calixtus after his martyrdom.
In his De Officiis (1, 41, 205-207) we
have Ambrose's particularly eloquent account of the martyrdom of St Lawrence. It
was subsequently taken up by Prudentius and by St Augustine. Hence it passes to
Maximus of Turin, St Peter Chrisologus and to Leo the Great before emerging
again in some of the formularies of the Roman Sacramentals, the Missale
Gothicumm and in the Caerimoniale Visigoticum (Bibliotheca Sanctorum,
.....1538-1539).
Ambrose dwells, firstly, on the encounter and
dialogue of Lawrence and Sixtus. He alludes to the distribution of the Church's
goods to the poor and ends by mentioning the grid-iron, the instrument of
Lawrence's torture, and remarks on the phrase which the proto-Deacon of the
Roman Church addresses to his torturers: "assum est...versa et manduca"
(cf. Bibliotheca Sanctorum ...., col 1538-1539).
We shall dwell on the Ambrosian text of the De
Officiis (Cap. 41,nn. 205-206-207), which is very moving in its intensity
and strength of expression. Thus writes St Ambrose:
"St Lawrence wept when he saw his Bishop,
Sixtus, led out to his martyrdom. He wept not because he was being let out to
die but because he would survive Sixtus. He cried out to him in a loud voice: 'Where
are you going Father, without your son? Where do you hasten to, holy Bishop,
without your Deacon? You cannot offer sacrifice without a minister. Father, are
you displeased with something in me? Do you think me unworthy? Show us a sign
that you have found a worthy minister. Do you not wish that he to whom you gave
the Lord's blood and with whom you have shared the sacred mysteries should spill
his own blood with you? Beware that in your praise your own judgment should not
falter. Despise the pupil and shame the Master. Do not forget that great and
famous men are victorious more in the deeds of their disciples than in their own.
Abraham made sacrifice of his own son, Peter instead sent Stephen. Father, show
us your own strength in your sons; sacrifice him whom you have raised, to attain
eternal reward in that glorious company, secure in your judgment".
In reply Sixtus says: "I will not leave
you, I will not abandon you my son. More difficult trials are kept for you. A
shorter race is set for us who are older. For you who are young a more glorious
triumph over tyranny is reserved. Soon, you will see, cry no more, after three
days you will follow me. It is fitting that such an interval should be set
between Bishop and Levite. It would not have been fitting for you to die under
the guidance of a martyr, as though you needed help from him. Why do want to
share in my martyrdom? I leave its entire inheritance to you. Why do need me
present? The weak pupil precedes the master, the strong, who have no further
need of instruction, follow and conquer without him. Thus Elijah left Elisha. I
entrust the success of my strength to you".
This was the contest between them which was
worthy of a Bishop and of a Deacon: who would be the first to die for Christ (It
is said that in tragedy, the spectators would burst into applause when Pilade
said he was Orestes and when Orestes himself declared that he was Orestes) the
one who would be killed instead of Orestes, and when Orestes prevented Pilades
from being killed in place of himself. Neither of these deserved to live for
both were guilty of patricide. One because he had killed his father, the other
because he had been an accomplice in patricide.) In the case of Lawrence,
nothing urged him to offer himself as a victim but the desire to be a holocaust
for Christ. Three days after the death of Sixtus, while the terror raged,
Lawrence would be burned on the grid-iron: "This side is done, turn and eat".
With such strength of soul he conquered the flames of the fire" (Ambrose, De
Officiis).
According to Ambrose, the Deacon is one who:
1. having been sacramentally constituted in
the service of offering (diakonia), lives his diaconal ministry giving supreme
witness to Christ in martyrdom - the theological meaning of the service of
charity by acceptance of that greater love or charity which is martyrdom;
2. in virtue of the structural link which
binds him to the Bishop (the first stage of Orders), lives "ecclesial
communion" by specific service to the Bishop, beginning with the Eucharist
and in reference to the Eucharist;
3. in virtue of the Sacrament (that is, to the
extent tat he is rooted in the first grade of Orders), devotes himself totally
to the service of an integral charity and not merely to a human or social
solidarity, and thereby manifests the most characteristic element of the
diaconia.
Let us now examine these characteristics
starting with:
1. The Deacon is one who having been
sacramentally constituted in the service of offering (diakonia), lives his
diaconal ministry giving supreme witness to Christ in martyrdom - the
theological meaning of the service of charity by acceptance of that greater love
or charity which is martyrdom.
The principle characteristic defining the
Deacon in se, and his ministry, is that he is ordained for the service of
charity. Martyrdom, which is a witness to the point of shedding one's blood,
must be considered an expression of greater love or charity. It is service to a
charity that knows no limits. The ministry of charity in which the Deacon is
deputed by ordination is not limited to service at table, or indeed to what
former catechetical terminology called corporal works of mercy, nor to the
spiritual works of mercy. The diaconal service of charity must include imitation
of Christ by means of unconditional self-giving since he is the fruitful witness
...... (cf Ap 1, 5:13; 14).
In the case of Lawrence, as St Ambrose
explains, "no other desire urged him but that of offering himself to the
Lord as a holocaust" (de Officiis, 1,41, n. 207). By means of the
witness borne before his persecutors, it is evident that the diaconal ministry
is not to be equated with that of service to one's neighbour, understood or
reduced solely to their material needs. Lawrence, in that act which expresses a
greater love for Christ and which leads to his giving up his own life, also
permits his tormentors, in a certain sense, to experience the Incarnate Word who,
in the end, is the personal and common destiny of all mankind. This is a
theological service of charity to which every Deacon must tend or, at least, be
disposed to accept.
This does not mean that in his ministry the
Deacon gives exhaustive witness to charity which is, and always remains, the
vocation and mission of the Church. Rather it means that, in virtue of
Ordination, the Deacon in a specific sacramental way, bears in himself the
"forma Christi" for the service of charity. It implies a "ministerial
exercise" of charity which is done for Christ and the brethren. It can
reach the point of demanding the complete giving of self...the point of
sacrificing one's life. Thus the words addressed to Sixtus by Lawrence are
perfectly clear: "Abraham made sacrifice of his own son, Peter instead sent
Stephen. Father, show us your own strength in your sons; sacrifice him whom you
have raised, to attain eternal reward in that glorious company, secure in your
judgment" (De Officiis 1, 41, n. 205.
It should be mentioned however, that this
witness to greater charity/love by those ordained for the service of charity
does not exempt the Church as Spouse from giving herself to Christ in the gift
of martyrdom through which is made manifest the absolute value and the
unbreakable union of truth and charity in the Lord's disciples. In martyrdom
this is made manifest beyond any form of ambiguity or reticence (cf I Cor 13,
4-5; Phil 4, 15). Here it is useful to recall article 42 of Lumen Gentium:
"Martyrdom makes the disciple like his master, who willingly accepted death
for the salvation of the world, and through it he is conformed to him by the
shedding of blood. Therefore the Church considers it the highest gift and
supreme test of love. And while it is given to few, all however must be prepared
to confess Christ before men and to follow him along the way of the cross amidst
the persecutions which the Church never lacks".
Notwithstanding the universal call to heroic
charity, one fact is incontrovertible: there is a specific "ordained
ministry" in the Church which is an ordained ministry of men who are
sacramentally constituted for the service of charity.
2. The Deacon, in virtue of the structural
link which binds him to the Bishop (the first stage of Orders), lives "ecclesial
communion" by specific service to the Bishop, beginning with the Eucharist
and in reference to the Eucharist.
This is another characteristic which emerges
from the exchange between Sixtus and Lawrence in the cemetery of St Calixtus. It
clearly emphasises that it is the sacramental bond which unites the Deacon with
the Bishop. It underlines that the Deacon is a "man of communion",
precisely through a specific service to the Bishop. This service, then, is
realized concretely in faithfully discharging what is required of him, in
ecclesial needs and urgencies, by the Bishop, in virtue of the fullness of the
priesthood and the government of the Church, in communion with the Bishop of
Rome, which is entrusted to him.
In the diaconal ministry, everything revolves
around the altar, since in the Church, everything, beginning with charity, has
its origin in the Most Holy Eucharist. This point is especially important for
Ambrose's account of the martyrdom of Lawrence. ... (De Officiis 1,41,
n.205).
The communion and affection between Bishop and
Deacon which are manifest in a common dependence and in a common link with the
Eucharist, expresses a profoundly theological vision of the Church, surpassing
concepts which abuse or reduce the Church as Spouse to the merely political or
sociological or which equiparate her to one of many human institutions. It is
therefore necessary to free oneself of every secular or secularizing outlook
which leads ultimately to loss or compromise of the meaning and regenerating
power of the Mystery. There is a risk of seeing in the Pope and the Bishops, as
well as in Priests and Deacons as just so many steps in an infinite bureaucracy,
similar in many respects to the civil service, whose only competence is to
oversee a not too clearly defined general public order.
The encounter between Sixtus and Lawrence
invites us, should such be necessary, to reject such a vision and to re-discover
in the heart of the institutional Church -which is always indispensable- and in
ecclesial structures -which are necessary instruments, the living and infinite
reality of grace which animates them and which invites us to re-discover the
theological link which binds them to Christ, the One, True, Bishop, Priest and
Deacon. Paul in his letter to the Philippians (Phil 1,1) and in his first letter
to Timothy (3, 1-3) already associates Bishop and Deacon. This close bond is
subsequently attested to in the "Traditio Apostolica" (beginning of
the third century, Hippolytus of Rome ?) which defines the grace given to the
Deacon at Ordination as "a simple service to the Bishop", without the
priesthood. The mid-third century "Didascalia Apostolorum" describes
the Deacon as the "servant of the Bishop and of the poor".
Finally, the structural relationship between
Deacon and Bishop is clearly expressed in to-day's liturgy of Ordination. The
ceremony, in contrast with that for the Ordination of Bishops and Priests,
reserves the imposition of hands to the Ordaining Bishop alone, precisely to
highlight this characteristic, singular bond linking Bishop and Deacon.
3. The Deacon, in virtue of the Sacrament (that
is, to the extent that he is rooted in the first grade of Orders), devotes
himself totally to the service of an integral charity and not merely to a human
or social solidarity, and thereby manifests the most characteristic element of
the diaconia.
Ambrose's account of the martyrdom of Lawrence
portrays Lawrence as one who, in virtue of the Sacrament received, is totally
dedicated to the service of charity in the specific context of third century
Imperial Rome, in the throws of violent persecution. In this situation, Lawrence
is called to concrete action before the ecclesial community and before the
world. These actions would be transformed into signs of God's love and charity,
from which all things derive and to which all things return. By this service the
Deacon expresses the characteristic ministry of his diaconia which consists in
the service of charity, in accord with a sacramental mandate. His is an
animation which affects the Church or areas of Catholic life which is truly
catholic in character (katalon= the totality without exclusion). His service
aspires to the totality of mankind without exception. Its content is a good
which responds to all the expectations of man's soul, mind and body (cf 1Thes 5,
23). It eschews all partiality and interest groups.
The Ambrosian account of Lawrence's martyrdom
also contains a useful allusion for our reflection: Sixtus, already a prisoner,
entrusts the entire Church to the first of his Deacons, Lawrence, for a period
that would last for three days. "A shorter race is set for us who are older.
For you who are young a more glorious triumph over tyranny is reserved. Soon,
you will see, cry no more, after three days you will follow me. It is fitting
that such an interval should be set between Bishop and Levite" (De
Officiis, n.206).
In a spirit of service and obedience to his
Bishop - who had been definitively taken from his people - Lawrence, as Deacon,
would guide the Church for three days, and for the last time would administer
the goods of the Bride of Christ. This he would do in a manner which, in itself,
would have significance. It would show how , in the Church, everything is
oriented and consummated by values which begin with charity and with realities
which are destined to remain, even when this world has passed away (cf Cor
13,8).
For those who look on this reality from the
outside or merely superficially, all this seems exclusively bound up with
material needs and with the present. It would appear solely to be no more than
the distribution of material goods to the poor. In reality, however, Lawrence's
act, done in a spirit of fidelity to the office entrusted to him by the Bishop
and by ecclesial ministry, propels him and the entire Church entrusted to him
until his own martyrdom, beyond history into an eschatological dimension - the
"time" and "space" in which God manifests the fullness of
his charity and love.
Thus Lawrence, an ordained minister of
charity, brings to completion the task given to him. This he does not only by
following his Bishop in the shedding of his own blood in martyrdom, but also in
his act of distributing the communities resources (as expressed in material
goods) to the poor. His gesture shows how, in the Church, all things have a
value once oriented towards charity, or when placed at the service of charity or
when they can be transformed into charity.
As the letter to the Thessalonians reminds,
this service extends not only to the "body" but also to the "mind"
and to the "soul". This is perfectly clear from the prayer which,
according to the acts of the martyrdom of Lawrence contained in the Passio
Polychromi, was recited by Lawrence for the City of Rome before being exposed on
the grid-iron. The city accorded him ultimate victory over paganism and chose
him as its third patron. From the fourth century, Rome celebrates his feast as
next in importance after that of Peter and Paul. In honour of the holy Deacon
some thirty-four chapels and churches would be dedicated to the holy Deacon in
ancient and medieval Rome. This would be a visible sign of gratitude to him who,
in fidelity to his ministry, was a true minister of charity in midst of Rome.
At the end of our reflection on the ministry
of deacons, understood in a "permanent" form, we can say the following:
1. It is necessary to look critically on those
positions- which in reality have been superseded - which interpret or present
the diaconate as a ministry leading to the clericalisation of the laity and to
the laicization of the clergy, thereby weakening the identity of both.
2. The Deacon, who is distinguished from
Bishops and Priests in that he is not ordained "ad sacerdotium sed ad
ministerium", is constituted in an authentic grade of the hierarchy and
cannot be regarded merely as an accessory to the priesthood.
3. The Deacon is destined for the service of
charity in close dependence on the Eucharist and to the privileged service of
the poor. He is destined both to the service of the table (corporal works of
mercy) and to the service of the word (spiritual works of mercy). He also
remains open to that service of a greater love or charity which is martyrdom.
Finally, the institution of the permanent
diaconate represents, and is a sign of an important enrichment for the Church
and her mission, especially in the light of the Holy Father's continued appeals
for new evangelization at the dawn of the third Christian Millennium. The
beauty, power and the heroism of Deacons such as Lawrence help us to discover
and come to a deeper meaning of the special nature of the diaconal ministry.
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