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White Semidouble “COME, ALL YE WHO ARE DRAWN by the desire of unchangeable good, and who seek it in vain in this passing world; I will tell you what heaven has done for me. Like you, I once sought with feverish eagerness; and this exterior world could not satisfy my burning desire. But, by the divine grace, which fed my anguish, at length she, whose name I then knew not, appeared to me, more beautiful than the sun, sweeter than balm. As she approached, how gentle was her countenance, how peace-inspiring her voice, saying to me: O thou, whose...

Red   AT CHRISTMAS Stephen watched beside the crib, where the Infant God attracted our hearts; Laurence today escorts the Queen whose beauty outshines the heavens. It was fitting that a deacon should be present at both triumphs of love, shown at Bethlehem in the weakness of the Babe, and in heaven in the glory wherewith the Son delights to honor his Mother. During her pilgrimage through the desert of this world, the deacons are the guardians of the Bride, the Church, signified by the ancient tabernacle, wherein was the Ark of the Covenant, a figure of Mary. “Beloved...

Red Simple LAURENCE IS FOLLOWED TODAY by the son of Chromatius, prefect of Rome, Tiburtius, who also suffered upon burning coals for the confession of his faith. Though forty years intervened between the two martyrdoms, it was the same Holy Spirit that animated these witnesses of Christ and suggested to them the same answer to their executioners. Tiburtius, walking upon the fire, cried out: “Learn that the God of the Christians is the only God, for these hot coals seem flowers to me.” Equally near to the great Archdeacon stands an illustrious virgin, so bright herself as not to...

Red Double of the Second Class (with a Simple Octave) “ONCE THE MOTHER OF FALSE GODS, but now the bride of Christ, O Rome, it is through Laurence thou art victorious! Thou hadst conquered haughty monarchs and subjected nations to thine empire; but though thou hadst overcome barbarism, thy glory was incomplete till thou hadst vanquished the unclean idols. This was Laurence’s victory, a combat bloody yet not tumultuous like those of Camillus or of Cæsar; it was the contest of faith, wherein self is immolated, and death is overcome by death. What words, what praises suffice to celebrate...

Violet   “Fear not, my servant, for I am with thee, saith the Lord. If thou pass through fire, the flame shall not hurt thee, and the odor of fire shall not be in thee. I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the mighty.” It was the hour of combat; and Wisdom, more powerful than flame, was calling upon Laurence to win the laurels of victory presaged by his very name. The three days since the death of Sixtus had passed at length, and the...

White Semidouble “COME, all ye who are drawn by the desire of unchangeable good, and who seek it in vain in this passing world; I will tell you what heaven has done for me. Like you, I once sought with feverish eagerness; and this exterior world could not satisfy my burning desire. But, by the divine grace, which fed my anguish, at length she, whose name I then knew not, appeared to me, more beautiful than the sun, sweeter than balm. As she approached, how gentle was her countenance, how peace-inspiring her voice, saying to me: O thou, whose...

WASHINGTON - Harvard Law School professor Laurence Tribe's name was yanked from an amicus curiae brief in a major U.S. Supreme Court climate change case earlier this month after the Justice Department told him his recent service in the department made it improper for him to be on the brief. The department invoked 18 U.S.C. 207(c)(1), prohibiting former senior employees from communicating with their former departments when those communications are "knowingly made with the intent to influence the department in connection with any matter on which such person seeks official action by any officer or employee of such department." Mr....

The Martyrdom of St. Laurence (Lawrence) Basilica di San Lorenzo fuori le Mura (Basilica of St. Lawrence Outside the Walls) (Prior to his final victory, St. Lawrence was brought before Cornelius Secularis, prefect of Rome under the Emperor Valerian, who, according to Dom Prosper Guéranger in his Liturgical Year, "aimed at ruining the Christians by prohibiting their assemblies, putting their chief men to death, and confiscating their property." It was for this reason that St. Lawrence, the archdeacon for Pope St. Sixtus II, was summoned to the tribunal of Cornelius, who sought the riches of the Church of Rome. It...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - As part of a crackdown on undocumented workers employed in sites deemed important to national security, immigration officials arrested six men they said were Mexican nationals working for a company that helps build military housing. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents apprehended the men as they arrived for work Friday at Fort Irwin, east of Barstow. The agency said the men worked for Laurence-Hovenier, Inc., a Corona-based company that does construction framing for housing at the Army base. The company's Fred Hovenier said his business didn't hire anyone without proper documentation. "If they were working for...

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