St Lawrence was born in Huesca, Spain. Little is known about him, but his martyrdom had a deep and lasting impression in the early Church. He was a Roman deacon under Pope St Sixtus II. He was responsible for giving help to the poor and the needy as well as the material goods of the Church. When Lawrence was arrested he gave out money to the poor, widows and the orphans of Rome. The prefect of Rome heard about this and asked Lawrence to bring him the treasures to maintain his forces. Lawrence did bring the treasures of the Church but he brought the blind, lame, maimed, leprous, orphaned and widowed persons. This made the prefect was so angry that he had Lawrence put to death. He died on the 10 August 258 AD and is the patron saint of Rome.
