Laurence agreed, but said that it would take him three days to gather it. The accounts recorded about a century later by Ambrose and the poet Prudentius report that the Roman prefect, knowing that Laurence was the principal financial officer, promised to set him free if he would surrender the wealth of the Church. The bishop of Rome, Sixtus II, and most of his clergy were executed on 7 August 258, and Laurence on the 10th. All Church property was confiscated and meetings of Christians were forbidden. In 257, the emperor Valerian began a persecution aimed chiefly at the clergy and the laity of the upper classes. + According to near contemporary documentation, Laurence (or Lawrence) was chief of the seven deacons of the congregation at Rome, the seven men who, like Stephen and his companions (Acts 6:1-6), were in charge of administering the church budget, particularly with regard to the care of the poor. + All Saints Men’s Group will meets on Tuesday, August 9 at 7:00 a.m. The Martyrdom of Laurence, Deacon Mass Schedule – Trinity XI (August 7, 2016)
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