Dear Friends in Christ,

We are almost at the halfway point in Lent. For many of us, we may be looking forward to relief from our Lenten penances, while others may be quietly savoring this time of renewal to the Lord. This weekend’s Gospel shows to us that Jesus wishes to quench the thirst we have for true happiness as he shows to the Samaritan woman that he has come to bring water that gives eternal life (Jn. 4:14). We all thirst for what will give peace to our restless hearts, and Jesus wishes to freely give that peace to us through the gift of Himself.

In this weekend’s letter, as we journey through the Station Churches of Rome, we travel to the outskirts of Rome to the Basilica of St. Lawrence Outside the Walls. Unfortunately, this is one basilica in Rome that I have not had the opportunity to visit, so what I will share with you comes from the words and experiences of others. As you may already know, there are four Major Basilicas in Rome, namely St. Peter’s, St. John Lateran, St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, and St. Mary Major. In addition, there are three other basilicas that are traditional sites of pilgrimage because of their significance to the Roman people. The Basilica of St. Lawrence is one of these.

As we may already know, St. Lawrence was a Roman deacon who lived from the year 225 to 258. He served as a deacon under Pope Sixtus II, who made him the archdeacon of Rome, a position in which Lawrence held the responsibility of distributing the goods of the Church to the poor throughout Rome. At this time, the Church was experiencing a dreadful persecution under Emperor Valerian, who systematically put many bishops, priests, and deacons to death.

After murdering Pope Sixtus, Valerian tried to persuade Lawrence to surrender the treasures of the Church, thinking that the Church’s wealth was in her gold and silver. When Lawrence presented the poor and the sick to Valerian as the true treasures of the Church, Valerian ordered Lawrence to be put to death by being roasted over a fire. Because of his great courage in being martyred in this way, St. Lawrence is the patron of all cooks, firefighters, and comedians.

The Basilica of St. Lawrence not only houses the remains of St. Lawrence, but also the remains of another popular deacon from Scripture, St. Stephen. The façade of the Basili-ca is simply decorated with six Ionic columns that support the porch roof. Inside the Basilica, light filters through sim-ple lattice-work windows. The current Basilica dates back to the year 1220, but the earliest portions of this structure date back to the reign of Constantine in the early 300s.

May Christ’s Peace be with you, Fr. Briggs