St. Lawrence of Brindisi

St. Lawrence of Brindisi (born July 22, 1559, Brindisi, Kingdom of Naples [Italy]—died July 22, 1619, Belem, Portugal; canonized 1881; feast day July 21) was a doctor of the church and one of the leading polemicists of the Counter-Reformation in Germany.

He joined the Capuchin Friars Minor, a strict offshoot of the Franciscans, at Verona, Italy, in 1575, taking the name Lorenzo (Lawrence). A gifted linguist, he mastered several languages, including Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Syriac. Under Popes Gregory XIII and Clement VIII he was appointed apostolic preacher to the Roman Jews. During the Battle of Stuhlweissenburg, Hungary (October 9–14, 1601), Lawrence accompanied Emperor Rudolf II’s forces to victory against the Turkish army of Sultan Mehmed III; this victory was attributed in great part to the indomitable spirit of the saint, who had communicated his ardour and confidence to the Christian troops. He fought against the rise of German Protestantism and founded Capuchin houses at Madrid and at Munich, where he took part in the political discussions preceding the Thirty Years’ War.

Lawrence died near Lisbon while on a mission to King Philip III of Spain for the Neapolitans, who were being oppressed by the Duke of Osuna, Italy. He was beatified by Pope Pius VI in 1783 and declared a doctor of the church by Pope John XXIII in 1959. Lawrence’s works were published in nine volumes (1928–45).