St Laurence Church
Long Eaton
Our Patron @ St Laurence
Who Was St Laurence?
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St Laurence lived in Rome, in the 3rd century. He served as a deacon (from the greek word Diakonos meaning Servant -a minister entrusted with proclaiming the gospel and with assisting at the altar) and was also the treasurer and archivist. When during the persecution and the execution of Christians in 258ce Pope Sixtus II and his other deacons had been arrested and killed, Laurence himself had been offered a way out - he was given three days to hand over the treasures of the Church.
When three days had passed, Laurence gathered together a group of people who had been helped by the Church - the poor, the sick and the lame. Laurence proclaimed proudly that these were the Church's true treasures. St Laurence was then himself executed, probably by being beheaded, although legend has it that he was roasted alive on a grid iron -the Christian symbol of his martyrdom!
