Doctor Apostolicus

Today is the feast of St. Lawrence of Brindisi, Doctor of the Church. He was born Giulio Cesare Russo on July 22, 1559 in the Kingdom of Naples and became a Capuchin. He had an extraordinary facility for languages, and therefore began life as a missionary through Italy and Germany. He was appointed the military chaplain to the army of Archduke Matthias, and so found himself tending souls on the battlefields of Hungary. On a mission to Phillip III of Spain, he died in Lisbon on July 22, 1619, his birthday.


Sixteenth-century Italian painting of St. Laurence, by an unknown artist.