Saint Lawrence of Brindisi
Priest and Doctor of the Church
- Feast Day
- July 21
- Life
- 1559–1619
- Canonized
- 1881
- Doctor of the Church
- 1959
- Order
- Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (OFM Cap.)
- Born
- Brindisi, Kingdom of Naples
Saint Lawrence of Brindisi was born Giulio Cesare Russo at Brindisi on July 22, 1559. Educated by the Conventual Franciscans of Brindisi and at Saint Mark's College, Venice, he entered the Capuchin friars at Verona in 1575 at age sixteen, taking the religious name Lawrence, and pursued his theological studies at Padua. A linguistic prodigy, he mastered Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, French, German, Bohemian, and Spanish; his preaching to the Jewish communities of Italy in Hebrew was famous in his own day.
Ordained priest at Venice in 1582, Lawrence held nearly every major office in his order, including Definitor General, Provincial of Tuscany, Switzerland, and Venice, and finally Minister General (1602-1605). At the request of Pope Clement VIII he led the Capuchin missions to Bohemia, Austria, and Germany after 1599, helping to establish the order's German province. He served as Imperial Chaplain to Emperor Rudolf II.
Most famously, Lawrence served as chaplain and de facto field commander of the imperial army against the Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Szekesfehervar in Hungary on October 11, 1601. Carrying only a crucifix, he rallied the Christian forces against a much larger Turkish army; Christian sources, including the Capuchin chronicles, attribute the victory to his preaching and his presence at the head of the army. He undertook diplomatic missions on behalf of the papacy to Spain, Bavaria, and elsewhere. He died at Lisbon, exhausted by a final embassy to King Philip III on behalf of the people of Naples, on July 22, 1619, his sixtieth birthday.
His collected works fill fifteen folio volumes (the Opera omnia, edited by the Capuchins of Padua, 1928-1956) and include scriptural commentaries, sermons, and the Lutheranismi hypotyposis, an extensive controversial work against Lutheran theology. Pope Leo XIII canonized him on December 8, 1881. Pope Saint John XXIII declared him a Doctor of the Universal Church on March 19, 1959, with the title Doctor Apostolicus, the Apostolic Doctor.
Pope Benedict XVI, in his General Audience of March 23, 2011, said that Saint Lawrence of Brindisi reminds us that the heart of Christian preaching is Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, and the love of his Mother. The Apostolic Doctor exemplifies the Capuchin combination of austere asceticism, prolonged contemplation, and tireless apostolic activity in defense of the Catholic faith.
Patronages
Brindisi · Capuchin Franciscans
Catholic Churches Named After Saint Lawrence of Brindisi
20 parishes on Catholic Church Times share Saint Lawrence of Brindisi's name. Find their Mass times, confession schedules, and adoration hours:
- St. Lawrence O'Toole — IRISHTOWN, NB
- St. Lawrence the Martyr Quasi-Parish — Cotmon, Camalig, ALBAY
- St. Lawrence the Deacon Parish — Prieto-Diaz, SORSOGON
- St. Lawrence the Deacon Parish — Buenavista, QUEZON
- St. Lawrence of Rome Parish — Villaviciosa, CAR
- St. Lawrence the Deacon Parish — Bangui, ILOCOS NORTE
- Saint Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr Parish — Dapitan City, IX
- St. Lawrence the Deacon Parish — CAPIZ
- St. Lawrence O’Toole Parish — Barry's Bay, ON
- St. Lawrence Parish — Mulgrave, NS
- St. Lawrence O'Toole Catholic Church — Green Meadows, PE
- St. Lawrence — Maple Creek, SK
- St. Lawrence of Rome — Harrisburg, PA
- St Lawrence's Church — Stanhope, VIC
- St. Lawrence Martyr — New Bedford, MA
- St. Lawrence Catholic Church — Hartford, WI
- St. Lawrence the Martyr — Webbwood, ON
- St. Lawrence of Ahousaht — BC
- St Lawrence — Chipping Sodbury, ENG
- St. Lawrence Parish — Thompson, MB
Sources