St. Lawrence the deacon and martyr is beloved of the Romans. He has many churches in the City, which is a sign of how deeply he was venerated in centuries past.
Today in the traditional form of the Roman Rite we have a wonderful Collect:
Da nobis, quaesumus, omnipotens Deus:
vitiorum nostrorum flammas extinguere;
qui beato Laurentio tribuisti
tormentorum suorum incendia superare.
I’ll let you all have at and comment!
I limit myself to these observations.
This prayer is in a vast array of the more ancient manuscripts we possess.
Its style has the elements of Roman prayers. It is terse. It is not reticent. It has an elegant verbal and conceptual parallels (the genitive – accusative – infinitive in synchesis).
Enjoy!
