Feast day: July 21

St. Lawrence of Brindisi

Priest, Doctor of the Church · 1559–1619

Patron of —

A Capuchin friar of dazzling gifts who spoke many languages, preached across Europe, served as a diplomat among kings, and once led an imperial army into battle armed only with a crucifix.

Lawrence was born in 1559 at Brindisi in southern Italy and entered the Capuchin Franciscans as a young man, where his extraordinary gifts soon became apparent. He had a prodigious memory and a genius for languages, mastering not only the tongues of Europe but Hebrew, Greek, and Syriac, so that he could read and debate the Scriptures in their original words and astonish even learned rabbis with his knowledge.

He became one of the most sought-after preachers of his age, traveling across Europe to proclaim the faith and to win back those who had left the Church, founding Capuchin houses in Vienna, Prague, and Graz amid great difficulty. His learning and eloquence were placed entirely at the service of souls.

His life was extraordinarily varied. He served as a diplomat and peacemaker among the princes of Europe, and most remarkably, as chaplain to the imperial army facing an Ottoman invasion in Hungary, he rode at the very head of the Christian troops into battle armed with nothing but a crucifix, rallying them to a victory they credited to him.

Worn out by his endless travels and labors, he died in 1619 while on yet another peace mission to the king of Spain. His voluminous sermons and writings, especially in defense of the faith and in honor of the Virgin Mary, led the Church to canonize him in 1881 and to declare him a Doctor of the Church, with the title 'the Apostolic Doctor.'

He could read the Scriptures in their original Hebrew and Greek, debated the learned of every faith, and rode at the head of an army holding only a cross.

Source: newadvent.org/cathen/09359a.htm