St. Lawrence the Deacon

The feast of St. Lawrence is a Double of the Second Class with a Simple Octave in the Universal Kalendar. St. Lawrence is, least amongst many other things, Patron of the Saint Lawrence Press. St. Lawrence's body is interred in the basilica of St. Lawrence-without-the-Walls in Rome. St. Lawrence was the first of the seven Roman deacons and known for his generosity to the poor. He was martyred in 258, according to tradition, on a grid iron and asked his tormentors to turn him over as his flesh was fully roasted on the one side. The liturgical colour of the feast is red. St. Lawrence is listed in the Communicantes of the Canon. The feast is ancient and appears in the Leonine and other early sacramentaries. The feast was preceded by a Vigil yesterday. The ninth Sunday after Pentecost, and this year the second Sunday of August, is commemorated in the Office and at Mass.

The stone on which the body of St. Lawrence was laid after his martyrdom in San Lorenzo fuori le mura, Rome. Image: Wikipedia

At Vespers yesterday afternoon the antiphons Laurentius ingressus est martyr etc were sung, doubled, with the psalms from the Common of Apostles, Pss. 109, 110, 111, 112 & 116. The Office hymn was Deus, tuorum militum. The chapter, antiphon on the Magnificat and collect were proper, the rest of the Office was taken from the Common of Martyrs. After the collect of the feast commemorations were sung of St. John Mary Vianney and of the Sunday (the antiphon on the Magnificat being Ego in altissimis for the Saturday before the second Sunday of August). The Suffrage was omitted as were the Dominical preces at Compline. At Compline the Dominical psalms were sung.

At Mattins the invitatory is Beatus Laurentius, Christi Martyr, triumphat coronatus in caelis: Venite, adoremus Dominum and the Office hymn is, again, Deus, tuorum militum. In the first nocturn the antiphons Quo progredis etc are sung with psalms 1, 2 & 3. The lessons in the first nocturn are from the Book of Eccesiasticus. In the second nocturn the antiphons Beatus Laurentius etc are sung with psalms 4, 5 & 8. The lessons are from a sermon of St. Leo on St. Lawrence. In the third nocturn the antiphons Strinxerunt etc are sung with psalms 14, 16 & 20. The lessons in the third nocturn are from a sermon of St. Augustine on St. John's Gospel. The ninth lesson is of the Sunday. The Te Deum is sung. At Lauds the antiphons Laurentius ingressus est martyr etc are sung with Dominical psalms and the Office hymn is Invicte Martyr, unicum. After the collect of the feast a commemoration of the Sunday is sung.

At Prime and the Hours the antiphons from Lauds, Laurentius etc., are sung with the festal psalms. At Prime, Pss. 53, 118(i) & 118(ii) the Dominical preces are omitted and the lectio brevis is Potens est autem.

Mass is sung after Terce. The Gloria is sung, the second collect is of the Sunday. The Creed is sung, the preface is of the Blessed Trinity and the last Gospel is of the Sunday.

At second Vespers the antiphons Laurentius etc are again sung, doubled, with Pss. 109, 110, 111, 112 & 115. The V&R are proper to the feast. After the collect of the feast a commemoration of the Sunday is sung. At Compline the Dominical preces are omitted.

In the 'liturgical books of 1962' the Sunday takes precedence over the feast and St. Lawrence is reduced to a commemoration at Lauds and said Masses. The Vigil, which survived the cull of Vigils in 1955 and 1960, was omitted this year as the feast occurs on a Sunday (c.f. R.G (1960) 33). The Octave has been abollished. At Vespers, of the Sunday, there were no commemorations. Mattins has a single nocturn of three lessons. At Lauds a commemoration of St. Lawrence is sung. At sung Mass there are no commemorations.