On the anniversary of my uncle's passing, I have been asked once again to do a post on St. Lawrence. Luckily, there are several Saints by this name. I will share a link to my post from last year at the end of this post for those who may have missed it.
Our Lawrence for today is Lawrence O'Toole (also known as Lorcán Ua Tuathail) who was born in Ireland about 1125. At the age of, his father delivered him up as a hostage to the King of Leinster, who treated the child with great inhumanity, until his father obliged the tyrant to put him in the hands of the Bishop of Glendalough, in the county of Wicklow. Upon the death of the Bishop, who was also the Abbot of the Monastery, Lawrence was made Abbot - He was 26 at the time. A great famine raged during the first four months of his administration. He was well regarded by both the community in Glendalough and its secular neighbours for sanctity and charity to the poor.
Just a few years later, Lawrence was unanimously elected Archbishop of Dublin. In this capacity he was obliged to travel to England to see King Henry II. While approaching the Altar to say mass at the shrine of St. Thomas Becket at Canterbury, a maniac, who had heard much of his sanctity, and who was led on by the idea of making so holy a man another St. Thomas, struck him a violent blow on the head. Those present thought that Lawrence was mortally wounded, but he soon came to. He asked for some water, blessed it and washed his wound with the Holy Water. The bleeding immediately dried up and he continued with the Mass.
His final journey was to Normandy, again meaning to speak to King Henry. He landed at Le Tréport, Normandy, at a cove named after him, Saint-Laurent. He fell ill and was advised to make his will, to which he replied: "God knows, I have not a penny under the sun to leave anyone." He dies on November 14, 1180 - Nov. 14 is his Feast Day.
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