At Capranica in the territory of Viterbo near Rome, Blessed Lawrence Mary of Saint Francis Xavier Salvi, priest of the Congregation of the Passion, who spread devotion to the Infant Jesus.
Lifespan: 1782–1856
Beatified: 1 October 1989 by Pope John Paul II
Memoria liturgica: 12 June
But you, man of God . . . pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith.
1 Tim 6:11–12
Lawrence Cajetan Mary Salvi was born in Rome on 30 October 1782; in 1801, overcoming the difficulties posed by the anti-religious climate of the post-revolutionary period, he entered the Passionists.
A man of God not only in intense prayer but also in tireless dedication to the priestly ministry, he was fully conscious of the mission entrusted by Christ to every apostle, and throughout his life he strove to follow the example of the Son of God, who willed to save the world through the humiliation of the Cross.
Lawrence fought “the good fight of faith” in the spirit of his religious congregation, labouring intensely in preaching missions to the people, in courses of spiritual exercises, and in the ministry of confession. In all those he drew near to, he sought to instil love for the poor and humble Christ, through devotion to the childhood of Jesus and to his Passion — the moments in which the humility and gentleness of the Saviour are most fully revealed. Convinced of the infinite mercy of the Heart of Christ, he never tired of urging souls to confidence, after the example of a child who entrusts himself entirely to the loving and strong arms of his father.
Lawrence knew Blessed Dominic Barberi and his project for dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Church: he had wished to follow his friend to England, but obedience kept him in his homeland. In this instance, as in so many others, he knew how to find in the crucified Christ — the ideal of his religious family — the strength to renounce his own apostolic design and to let himself be guided solely by the concern to “keep the commandment unstained and irreproachable” (1 Tim 6:14), that is, the commitment to unreserved adherence to the will of God.