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Greek Name Days

3rd century

Saints Lawrence the Archdeacon, Pope Sixtus and Hippolytus

The archdeacon Lawrence, Pope Sixtus and Hippolytus, who were martyred in Rome in the mid-3rd century.

10 August

Biography

The archdeacon Lawrence was entrusted with the property of the Church of Rome. When persecution broke out, Pope Sixtus II was the first to confess Christ and was beheaded; Lawrence was then arrested and ordered to hand over the Church's treasures.

Lawrence returned a little later leading a procession of carts full of poor people, orphans and the disabled, saying that these were exactly where the Church's treasures were stored. The enraged pagans then had him roasted alive on an iron grill.

A pious Christian, Hippolytus, who took charge of Lawrence's body, was, when the ruler learned of it, dragged by wild horses through thorns, and so he too was martyred.

Sources and further reading