As we celebrate the feast of the Holy Martyr and Archdeacon, St Laurence of Rome, let us pray for the deacons of our diocese.
As a parish we continue to experience the great blessing of having a deacon dedicated to the well-being and life of the faithful of our community, assisting the priest, and aiding all who need help.
Let us read the words of St Ambrose, who wrote of Laurence as an ideal example of the diaconal ministry, and pray the canon to the saint.
Book 1, Chapter 41:
And let us not pass by St. Laurence, who, seeing Sixtus his bishop led to martyrdom, began to weep, not at his sufferings but at the fact that he himself was to remain behind. With these words he began to address him: “Where, father, are you going without your son? Where, holy priest, are you hastening without your deacon? Never were you wont to offer sacrifice without an attendant. What are you displeased at in me, my father? Have you found me unworthy? Prove, then, whether you have chosen a fitting servant. To him to whom you have entrusted the consecration of the Saviour’s blood, to whom you have granted fellowship in partaking of the Sacraments, to him do you refuse a part in your death? Beware lest your good judgment be endangered, while your fortitude receives its praise. The rejection of a pupil is the loss of the teacher; or how is it that noble and illustrious men gain the victory in the contests of their scholars rather than in their own? Abraham offered his son, Peter sent Stephen on before him! Father, show forth your courage in your son. Offer me whom you have trained, that you, confident in your choice of me, may reach the crown in worthy company.”
Then Sixtus said: “I leave you not nor forsake you. Greater struggles yet await you. We as old men have to undergo an easier fight; a more glorious triumph over the tyrant awaits you, a young man. Soon shall you come. Cease weeping; after three days you shall follow me. This interval must come between the priest and his levite. It was not for you to conquer under the eye of your master, as though you needed a helper. Why do you seek to share in my death? I leave to you its full inheritance. Why do you need my presence? Let the weak disciples go before their master, let the brave follow him, that they may conquer without him. For they no longer need his guidance. So Elijah left Elisha. To you I entrust the full succession to my own courage.”
Such was their contention, and surely a worthy one, wherein priest and attendant strove as to who should be the first to suffer for the name of Christ. When that tragic piece is played, it is said there is great applause in the theatre as Pylades says he is Orestes, while Orestes declares that he is really himself. The former acted as he did, that he might die for Orestes, and Orestes, that he might not allow Pylades to be slain instead of himself. But it was not right that they should live, for each of them was guilty of parricide, the one because he had committed the crime, the other because he had helped in its commission. But here there was nothing to call holy Laurence to act thus but his love and devotion. However, after three days he was placed upon the gridiron by the tyrant whom he mocked, and was burnt. He said: “The flesh is roasted, turn it and eat.” So by the courage of his mind he overcame the power of fire.
Book 2, Chapter 28:
Such gold the holy martyr Laurence preserved for the Lord. For when the treasures of the Church were demanded from him, he promised that he would show them. On the following day he brought the poor together. When asked where the treasures were which he had promised, he pointed to the poor, saying: “These are the treasures of the Church.” And truly they were treasures, in whom Christ lives, in whom there is faith in Him. So, too, the Apostle says: “We have this treasure in earthen vessels” (2 Cor. 4:7). What greater treasures has Christ than those in whom He says He Himself lives? For thus it is written: “I was hungry and you gave Me to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me to drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in” (Matt. 25:35). And again: “What you did to one of these, you did it unto Me” (Matt. 25:40). What better treasures has Jesus than those in which He loves to be seen?
These treasures Laurence pointed out, and prevailed, for the persecutors could not take them away. Jehoiachim, who preserved his gold during the siege and spent it not in providing food, saw his gold carried off, and himself led into captivity. Laurence, who preferred to spend the gold of the Church on the poor, rather than to keep it in hand for the persecutor, received the sacred crown of martyrdom for the unique and deep-sighted vigor of his meaning. Or was it perhaps said to holy Laurence: “Thou should not spend the treasures of the Church, or sell the sacred vessels”?
The canon of the saint, with 4 Troparia, the acrostic whereof is: “Most wisely do I hymn the mighty Laurence”, in Tone IV:
Ode 1, Irmos: O Thou who wast born of the Virgin, * drown I implore Thee, in the depth of dispassion * the triune nature of my soul, * as Thou didst the mighty strongholds of the warriors, * that in the mortality of my flesh * as on a timbrel * I may chant a hymn of victory.
Holy Martyr and Archdeacon Laurence, pray to God for us.
Taking delight in the garden of sweetness and joining chorus with the angelic hosts as is meet, as a warrior of Christ, pray thou that He grant effulgent radiance unto me who hymn thee, O blessed Laurence.
Holy Martyr and Archdeacon Laurence, pray to God for us.
Entering upon the feats of honoured torment, O Laurence, in steadfastness of soul thou didst show thyself to be a victorious spiritual athlete, magnificently arrayed in the crown of righteousness and a diadem of victory.
Glory be to Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
As thou wast a child of the light and of the day, thou hast shone forth upon us sensibly like the sun from the west, illumining the ends of the earth with a most splendid radiance, O all-glorious martyr Laurence.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Delivered from the bonds of Hades and corruption, and from the condemnation of the law, by thine honoured birth giving, O most holy Virgin, we cry to thee in thanksgiving: Rejoice, O thou who art full of joy, thou saving portal of grace!
Ode 3, Irmos: The bow of the mighty hath waxed feeble * and the weak have girded themselves with strength: * therefore is my heart established * in the Lord.
Holy Martyr and Archdeacon Laurence, pray to God for us.
With the Cross as thy standard, thou didst valiantly array thyself against the enemy, and wast shown to be crowned with victory, O right-wondrous one.
Holy Martyr and Archdeacon Laurence, pray to God for us.
Protected by the law of Christ, as one invincible thou didst oppose the laws of the impious with courageous endurance, O all-blessed one.
Glory be to Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Strengthened by the power of God, thou didst destroy the feebleness of polytheism and didst elucidate the pre-eternal divinity of Christ.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Equal to the Father and the Spirit in nature, essence and divinity, and to men also, was the Word Who didst become incarnate of thee, O all-immaculate one.
Sessional Hymn, in Tone 8, Spec. Mel – “Of the Wisdom …”: Having amassed heavenly riches and brought them to the poor, thou didst distribute them, and gave thy bread also to the hungry, and thereby having acquired life incorruptible, thou didst shine forth in thy confession of Christ, O glorious one. Wherefore, having courageously suffered under the law, thou didst receive from God a crown for thy labours, O spiritual athlete Laurence. Entreat Christ God, that He grant forgiveness of sins unto those who with love honour thy holy memory.
diadem of victory.
Glory be to Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Repeat sessional hymn.
Ode 4, Irmos: He who sitteth in glory upon the throne of the Godhead, * Jesus the true God, * is come in a swift cloud * and with His sinless hands he hath saved those who cry: * Glory to Thy power, O Christ.
Holy Martyr and Archdeacon Laurence, pray to God for us.
For love of the Word, the servant of the Word, adorned with eloquence and spirituality, hath been slaughtered, and now reigneth in righteousness with the Word, enjoying gladness and His glory.
Holy Martyr and Archdeacon Laurence, pray to God for us.
Piously fighting off the slumber of impiety with divine vigilance, O sacred martyr of Christ, by thy martyr’s stand thou didst cut off from thine eyes the sleep which is unto death.
Glory be to Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Protected by the true armour of piety against the proponents of the impious opposition, for the sake of the Faith thou didst utterly cast down the memory of them by thy love of morality.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Having put aside all the defilement of the primeval food, we are nurtured with the Grain of Life from heaven, Which arose from the earth from the Virgin. Let us hymn her as the mediatress of good things.
Ode 5, Irmos: The wicked will not behold Thy glory, O Christ, * but we who rise early to hymn Thee shall behold Thee, * the Only-Begotten effulgence of Thy Father’s divinity, * O Lover of mankind.
Holy Martyr and Archdeacon Laurence, pray to God for us.
Thine eyes fixed with unwavering vision upon divine beauties, O right wondrous Laurence, Thou didst spurn all the beautiful things on earth and the cruel pangs of thy body.
Holy Martyr and Archdeacon Laurence, pray to God for us.
Having recognized Christ, Who became a servant for us, through gifts received from the Father, and having become His servant, thou didst depart unto Him through the shedding of thy blood, O most blessed one.
Glory be to Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
O blessed one, thou didst offer thyself unto Christ as a sacred oblation and a magnificent adornment; and having adorned the tabernacle of heaven, thou dost now abide there delighting in radiance.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
The only-begotten Son, of the same essence and like unto the Father, of His own will becameth akin to mankind, the Most High being incarnate from thy womb, O Virgin Mother.
Ode 6, Irmos: I have reached the depths of the sea * and the tempest of my many sins hath engulfed me; * but do Thou raise up my life from the abyss * O Greatlymerciful One.
Holy Martyr and Archdeacon Laurence, pray to God for us.
Kindling a material fire, thou didst prepare thyself as sweet food for the King of all, Who loveth and craveth our salvation, O all-glorious one.
Holy Martyr and Archdeacon Laurence, pray to God for us.
Thou didst draw nigh wholly to the light of the ruling Trinity, and being radiant, as God’s servant, thou dost illumine those who hymn thee, O spiritual athlete.
Glory be to Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Strengthened with divine power, lying on the heated grill thou didst endure torment for the love of Christ, enkindling thy soul with fire and spiritual dew.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
O Virgin Mother, thou wast the place of God’s lodging, an animate throne, the holy mountain, the ark, the divinely wrought tabernacle, and the golden candle-stand.
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Glory be to Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Kontakion of the saint, in Tone 2, Spec. Mel – “Seeking the highest …”: Kindling thy heart with divine fire, * thou didst utterly reduce the fire of the passions to ashes, * O God-bearing martyr Laurence, * thou confirmation of spiritual athletes; * and in the midst of thy sufferings * thou didst cry aloud with faith: ** Nothing can separate me from the love of Christ!
Ikos: Assembling, O ye faithful, with hymns let us all honour the spiritual athlete Laurence, who shone forth in the world like a steady beacon, as an initiate of ineffable mysteries; for by his supplications we are delivered from grievous transgressions. And having cleansed our hearts, let us glorify Christ Who glorifieth him who is mighty amid sufferings and who saith: Nothing can separate me from the love of Christ!
Ode 7, Irmos: Thou didst save the children of Abraham in the fire * and slay the Chaldeans, * who unjustly entrapped the righteous ones. * O supremely hymned Lord, God of our fathers, * blessed art Thou.
Holy Martyr and Archdeacon Laurence, pray to God for us.
Forechosen to celebrate the Mysteries and serve the Word, thou wast shown to be a sacred vessel and oblation of the temple of heaven, chanting unto the Creator: O supremely hymned Lord God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!
Holy Martyr and Archdeacon Laurence, pray to God for us.
Covered by the law of the life which is in Christ, O most blessed Laurence, thou didst not bow thy mind to those who imposed laws of death and corruption, but chanted: O supremely hymned Lord God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!
Glory be to Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Clad in a body as one who manifestly felt no pain, O most blessed one, with valorous mind, and as one most noetically rich, thou didst dare the all-devouring fire, crying aloud: O supremely hymned Lord God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Thou wast shown to be the noetic eastward portal of the Most High Who, in a manner beyond speech and understanding, appeared to mankind on earth through thee, O Bride of God: the blessed God of our fathers.
Ode 8, Irmos: O almighty Redeemer of all, * having descended and bedewed the children * in the midst of the flame, * Thou didst teach them to sing: * All ye works bless and hymn the Lord.
Holy Martyr and Archdeacon Laurence, pray to God for us.
In thy steadfastness of mind thou wast mightier than the unbearable flame, burning as if in another’s body, O blessed one, yet chanting with faith: All ye works bless and hymn the Lord!
Holy Martyr and Archdeacon Laurence, pray to God for us.
Like unto the three children, thou didst quench the burning embers of the fire with the dew of divine grace, crying aloud and chanting: All ye works bless and hymn the Lord!
Glory be to Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
As Christ was thine enlightenment, He girded thee about with His own might, and led thee up to Himself as thou didst piously chant: All ye works bless and hymn the Lord!
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
A rod sprung forth from the root of Jesse wast thou, and in a manner past nature thou gavest rise to Christ my God and Lord, the Flower of the Godhead. Let all works bless thy birthgiving, O Virgin!
Ode 9, Irmos: Eve dwelt under the curse of sin * because of the infirmity of disobedience; * but thou, O Virgin Theotokos, * hast through the Offspring of thy pregnancy * blossomed forth blessing upon the world. * Wherefore, we all magnify thee.
Holy Martyr and Archdeacon Laurence, pray to God for us.
Thou didst offer thyself as a perfect sacrifice and incense pleasing unto the Master, being tried by the fire of suffering like gold in a crucible; whereby thou didst become a foremost adornment of the Church, O right wondrous one.
Holy Martyr and Archdeacon Laurence, pray to God for us.
Deified by the direct sight of God and by a higher union, O Laurence, in word and by divine vision thou wast radiantly illumined by the uttermost Light. Wherefore, we all call thee blessed.
Glory be to Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Thou didst shine forth from the West like the sun, O blessed one, O great and most glorious wonder; illumining all the Church with thy beams, O right wondrous one; and warming all with the fervor of faith. Wherefore, we all call thee blessed.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
The prophets, beholding images of thy birthgiving, O all-immaculate one, were instructed thereby from afar by divine inspiration, loudly proclaiming it to the world, and we now marvel at their fulfilment.
Troparion, tone 4: In his sufferings, Thy martyr Laurence O Lord, * received an imperishable crown from Thee, our God; * for, possessed of Thy might, * he set at naught the tyrants and crushed the feeble audacity of the demons. ** By his supplications save Thou our souls.