Saint Lawrence the Illuminator

Also known as

• Laurence of Spoleto
• Laurence the Illuminator
• Lawrence of Spoleto

Memorial

• 3 February

Profile

Fled from Syria with 300 Catholic companions to Italy due to Monophysite persecution of Severus in 514. Ordained in Rome, Italy. Preacher in Umbria, Italy. Founded a monastery at Spoleto, Italy. Bishop of Spoleto for 20 years. When he arrived to assume his see, the people rejected him as a foreigner, but the city gates miraculously opened on their own to let him in, and the people realized that God wanted him there. He later resigned to found the abbey of Farfa in the Sabine hills near Rome. A renowned peacemaker, Lawrence had the gift of healing blindness, both physical and spiritual, which led to the title Illuminator.

Born

• Syrian

Died

• 576 at Farfa, Italy, monastery of natural causes

Patronage

• against blindness
• blind people

Canonized

• Pre-Congregation

Additional Information

• Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate
• Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints

MLA Citation

• “Saint Lawrence the Illuminator”. Saints.SQPN.com. 2 February 2010. Web. 23 May 2013. <http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-lawrence-the-illuminator/>