St. Lawrence of Brindisi

Today is the feast day of St. Lawrence Brindisi, a Capuchin Franciscan priest. He was beatified in 1783 by Pope Pius VI, canonized in 1881 by Pope Leo XII, and declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope John XXII in 1959(Both he and Pope John XXIII came from the same hometown, Brindisi, Italy) An excellent biography can be found here at catholicculture.com

He was born with the interesting name of Julius Caesar, when he was just 16 he entered the Capuchin Franciscan Order in Venice and received the name of Lawrence. He completed his studies of philosophy and theology at the University of Padua and was ordained a priest at 23.

He traveled throughout Europe wrote a commentary on the Book of Genesis, and argued against Martin Luther in the several treatises he wrote. St. Lawrence also wrote some eight hundred sermons in Latin, which fill eleven of his fifteen huge Opera Omnia volumes, published in a critical edition from 1928 to 1956. He died on the same day of his birth, July 22 at the age of 60 years old in Lisbon, Portugal.