St Lawrence and St Stephen, Pray for Us!

Elizabeth Young rsm, 5 October 2024

Firstly, I woke up very moved and buoyed by the support of people back home who have carried me by prayer, encouragement, donations and in so many other ways. You have truly been a blessing that has kept myself, and all of us, walking this pilgrimage in joy and hope. The Holy Spirit is working through each of you!

Today, the day after St Francis’ Feast, we all wore our ‘For every Francis, a Clare’ Discerning Deacons t-shirts. And the exciting news was that yesterday, Cardinal Barreto presented one of these to Pope Francis and he loved it! It was hard to believe, but we saw proof on the Vatican photos website.

The name of our Saturday was ‘Deacon Day’ and this included some very special encounters. Firstly, we took an early bus to a minor Basilica, Santa Maria in Cosmedin, for Mass. There we met with 10 female family members and friends of one of our pilgrims, Jessica Morel, who had come all the way from the US to see her at this point. She is an incredible person, a Catholic, who found the only way to serve as a chaplain in the US army was through an interdenominational pathway, as only ordained men can serve as Catholic chaplains. She introduced an extremely poignant and eloquent reflection with some words from today’s Saint Faustina, “Jesus, I trust in you.” She went on to talk about the generations after generations of the First Reading. Jessica’s mother and daughters were present, and she wore items from her grandmothers. She told us about some cultures’ warnings to think about our actions affecting the 7 generations after us, and invited us to reflect on the women 7 generations before us. She thanked us for being here and working for the generations that are to come, in the name of Jesus, in whom we trust.

At the end of the Mass, the local priest came up to tell us more about the church we were in. It was one of the diaconiae structures of the early church, distinct from parishes, which were centres of distribution of food and necessities, as well as places for prayer and proclamation of the gospel. They were serviced by deacons rather than priests and the three-part structure brought to life the threefold diaconal ministry of the Word (oratory), Sacrament (sanctuary) and Charity (nave). He explained that it was now served by the Melkite Church, and was a place of hospitality.

We then heard a wonderful testimony from our Deacon Memo and his wife Liliana about his call to the diaconate (she had heard the Holy Spirit’s message before him!) and the journey he had been on since then. It was great to hear an on-the-ground narrative, similar to these Liturgy on the Margins blogs.

From there we braved the rain to get to the Basilica of San Lorenzo Outside the Walls. To prepare us, two pilgrims shared the story of the Deacon, Saint Lawrence, and how he had brought the ‘treasures’ of the church to the Roman Emperor. While the emperor expected riches, Saint Lawrence gathered all of the poor and sick instead. So we were invited to think of the ‘treasures’ that we bring with us. What followed was an extraordinary spontaneous sharing of the marginal communities and individuals that are on people’s hearts – the local undocumented migrants they work with, elderly, children, homeless, LGBTIQ, indigenous, ‘lost treasure’ who had left the church, etc. Those are the ones we are doing this for – those are the ones who will be seen and cared for by the church through us.

Then we had a look around the Basilica, which included St Lawrence’s tomb (he was a martyr). I also discovered a statue of that other martyr and presumed deacon, St Stephen. As this blog’s patron and intercessor, I was chuffed to see him present.

After that we left to our own devices for some time. I went back to Vatican City with another pilgrim, and we had some chance encounters and prayer moments with Synod delegates, writers, advisors and communication people from Venezuela, Togo, Canada, Australia, India, the US and South Africa. For each of these, we asked their prayer intentions and some had time for a spontaneous prayer and blessing from us. Some of the intentions were for health, ability to discern and listen to the Spirit, peace and courage to speak at the right time. Please keep them in your prayers as well! It sounds as if there is a positive spirit in the Synod hall and nothing has been completely removed from the table. We all desire to share the Good News of Jesus like St Stephen and serve like St Lawrence. So on this Deacon Day, St Lawrence and St Stephen, pray for us!