Another blog post about a Relic and a Saint.

As soon as I read an article in today’s paper I could feel another blog post coming over me, not just about a relic but about a heart relic none the less.

                        The article in question writes about the theft of the heart of St Laurence.

He doesn't look too happy here, but then neither would you if your heart had been encased inside this metal cage for the remains of known time..

 ...and then stolen by relic collectors.

My first thought about who St Laurence might be, led my mind wandering to the excellent  movie “Laurence of Arabia” which was a true story. Until I realised the spelling is different. His name is spelled Lawrence.

The weird coincidence here is that St Laurence’s surname was O’Toole.  Anyone in the know will know that Peter O’Toole  a pipe smoking Irishman) played the part of Lawrence. 

 It is actually a coincidence because the film is about a man called T. E Laurence who was, I don’t know, some kind of Colonel in the British army. 

It was very clever of them to find a subject for a movie who looked so much like the actor playing them.

                 Not to be confused with Laurence Olivier who was NOT a pipe-smoking Irishman.

Right, so to get back to the Laurence in question. I discovered he is a 3^rd century Christian martyr who was barbequed on this grill here. This may be mirrored in his grim portrait expression. 

Yes, it's an unpleasant thought. Utterly disagreeable. In fact so horrendous it will be easier for me to write about it than it will be for you to read about it, because at least I am doing something to keep myself busy. If you want to get rid of those shivers I have just sent down your spine, get up and jog around the room a bit, that always works for me.

I also found a picture of him actually being grilled on a barbeque but I didn’t want to share it, because I think you are already going through enough trauma simply imagining it.

Moving on swiftly.

St Laurence was the guy whose job it was to look after the infamous Holy Grail, which may or may not have looked something like this:

Quite an important goblet.

And an important job for any martyr to undertake.

Mind you, what I can't understand is this

Wouldn't his heart have been, well, barbequeued?

Were they the ashes of his heart, or....?

Anyhow Christchurch Cathedral Dublin is now down one heart.

I will see your two of clubs and raise you an ace of diamonds.

Oops that's poker, a different game.

Hope you enjoyed

all the best

Fiocle.