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!
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Would you, Father, (or anyone else) know of a study of the poetical qualities of the Collects? (Word usages, device usages, quantitative patterns in the syllables, etc.) My quick searches have yielded little in the way of results.
St Lawrence one of my absolute favorites.
He shows us that no matter how bad the suffering, You can have a sense of humor.
Turn me over please, I am done on this side.
In a related note, apparently today is National S’mores Day. Celebrate St. Lawrence by roasting marshmallows over an open fire.
Grant us, we beseech Thee, Almightly God, to extinguish the flames of our vices; as Thou granted to blessed Laurence to overcome the flames of his torments.
I used the online logeion (from U. Of Chicago) to come up with this rough translation.
The ABC-ABC synchesis is syntactical and conceptual.
Speaking of flames –
There is a beautiful old Catholic Church in the middle Lahaina Maui, Maria Lanakila ( Our Lady of Victory ).
Prayers to St Lawrence would help.
Grant to us, we beseech thee Almighty God, to put out the flames of our vices, which you gave to Blessed Lawrence to overcome the fires of their torture.
UPDATE !
Maria Lanakila Catholic Church in the heart of Lahaina Maui, was untouched by the flames.