July 21: St. Lawrence of Brindisi, Priest & Doctor

A little-known Doctor of the Church did it all and did it well

Julius Caesar Russo was born into a religious family, yet from a young age was drawn to join another religious family—that of Saint Francis of Assisi. After his father’s early death, little Julius was placed in the care of the Friars Minor by his mother. Upon moving to Venice, though, he came to know the Capuchins, another expression of Franciscanism, and joined their Order as a teenager. He took the religious name of Lawrence, was ordained a priest in 1582, and from that point on plowed his way through life like a high speed train. Father Lawrence bulleted north and south, east and west, stopping in Italy, Germany, Austria, Hungary, France, Bohemia, Spain, and Portugal. This one-man army seemed to be everywhere, doing everything, and yet always made the salvation of his own soul his highest priority.

Father Lawrence was smart. Very smart. His intellectual gifts were fully deployed in the service of the Lord to master whatever discipline he studied. He learned the biblical languages of Greek, Hebrew, Latin, and Syriac. In addition to his native Italian, he also spoke Spanish and German, which he put to extensive use in his ministry in Central Europe. His knowledge of Scripture was so wide and so deep that it seemed he had memorized the entire....

Attributions

[CM-stdl]

Asking prayers for don Gaetano of Cavarzere (across the water from Venice)
A good priest gone now from this earth.
R.I.P. my friend.

[RoyNo-fh]

ST Lawrence of Brindisi, Priest and Doctor. Pray for us. Thank you...❤❤❤❤❤😊😊😊😊😊