The Gridiron
The martyrdom of St Lawrence, deacon of Rome, put to death on a gridiron in 258.
St Lawrence. Lawrence was one of the seven deacons of Rome, in charge of the Church’s goods and its care for the poor. When the prefect of the city demanded the Church’s treasures, Lawrence gathered the poor, the sick and the widows and said, “These are the treasures of the Church.”
His martyrdom. He was martyred on 10 August 258, in the persecution of the emperor Valerian. Tradition says he was roasted on a gridiron, and told his executioners, “Turn me over, this side is done.”
How he is shown. In the deacon’s dalmatic, holding the palm of martyrdom and the gridiron, sometimes with a book of the Gospels or a purse for the alms he gave away.
His feast is kept on 10 August. He is a patron of deacons, of the poor, and of cooks.
Where you’ll see it
The Passion and the martyrs
All symbols →
The Crown of Thorns
Christ’s suffering in his Passion, mocked as a king by the soldiers (Matthew 27:29).
Arrows
The martyrdom of St Sebastian, shot with arrows for his faith; long invoked against plague.
The Skull
“Remember that you will die” (memento mori): a call to penance. At the foot of the Cross it is Adam’s skull, on Golgotha, the Place of the Skull.
A statue with the gridiron?
Every statue is made from scratch in our studio in Mangalore.