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St. Lawrence of Rome

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Religious Figure

The Resume

    (December 26, 225-August 10, 258)
    Born in Valencia, Spain
    Archdeacon of Rome
    According to tradition, was martyred by being roasted on a gridiron
    Feast day is August 10

Why he might be annoying:

    Some religious scholars note that his drawn-out death by BBQ went against Emperor Valerian’s edict ordering the ‘immediate’ death of the Catholic Church’s priests, bishops and deacons.
    It has been suggested that a scribe intending to write the traditional ‘passus est’ (‘he suffered’) in describing Lawrence’s martyrdom instead wrote ‘assus est’ (‘he was roasted’).
    Because of how he allegedly died, he was named patron saint of cooks and chefs.
    A degree in Freemasonry is named after him, despite the Roman Catholic Church’s ban on its members becoming Masons.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was allegedly ordered by the prefect of Rome to hand over the Church’s wealth and asked for three days to gather it up.
    He spent the time distributing as much Church property as he could to the poor.
    On the third day, he arrived at the prefect’s palace at the head of a delegation of the indigent, widows, orphans, lepers, the blind and the lame, and announced, ‘Here are the true treasures of the Church.’
    His alleged last words were to tell his executioners, ‘I’m done on this side. Turn me over.’
    According to tradition, he escorts a soul from Purgatory to Heaven each Friday.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 95 Votes: 47.37% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 37.50% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 6 Votes: 16.67% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 110 Votes: 50.91% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 98 Votes: 46.94% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 14 Votes: 35.71% Annoying