St. Lawrence of Brindisi

St. Lawrence of Brindisi was born Giulio Cesare Russo in 1559 in the port city of Brindisi, on the Adriatic coast of southern Italy. Orphaned young, he was educated in Venice and at sixteen entered the Capuchin Franciscans, taking the name Lorenzo. At the University of Padua he showed an astonishing gift for languages, mastering Hebrew, Greek, Syriac, and several modern tongues, along with a command of Scripture so thorough that he was said to know much of the Bible by heart. His learning was placed entirely at the service of preaching. At the request of Pope Clement VIII he preached to the Jewish community of Rome, drawing on his fluency in Hebrew, and he spent years preaching across Italy, Germany, and Austria during the Counter-Reformation, founding Capuchin houses and patiently defending Catholic teaching. In 1601 he served as chaplain to the imperial army in Hungary during the campaign against the Ottoman Turks; accounts relate that he rode before the troops at Szekesfehervar armed only with a crucifix. Elected minister general of the Capuchins in 1602, Lawrence governed the order with energy and gentleness, and popes and princes repeatedly called on him as a diplomat and peacemaker. He died in Lisbon on July 22, 1619, while on a final diplomatic mission on behalf of the oppressed people of Naples. His writings fill many volumes, including sermons, biblical commentaries, and the Mariale, a celebrated collection of sermons on the Blessed Virgin. Lawrence was canonized in 1881 by Pope Leo XIII, and in 1959 Pope St. John XXIII declared him a Doctor of the Church with the title "Apostolic Doctor" — the only Capuchin so honored. His feast is celebrated on July 21, and his tomb is venerated at the convent of the Poor Clares in Villafranca del Bierzo, Spain.