Do not be anxious about
anything.

In the early 1900's the people of Fairhope and Daphne and other surrounding areas attended Mass in the Anchorage House on Fels Avenue in Fairhope, with the Jesuit Fathers serving the community. Later, Mass was celebrated in the Colonial Inn.

 
Subsequently, a parcel of land was donated to the diocese for the first church, which was built on the corner of Bayview Avenue and DeFerriet Court. The church at that time was a mission of the Daphne Parish, with priests from the Cathedral in Mobile traveling by ferry to celebrate Mass.

Father Dennis Gray, Pastor of Christ the King Church during the 1950's organized the purchase of the current St. Lawrence Church property and supervised construction of our previous Church building, now our Family Center. This Church was dedicated by Archbishop T. J. Toolen in 1959.

 
In September 1961, Saint Lawrence Parish ceased being a mission of Christ the King Church in Daphne, and received its own pastor, Father Patrick F. Foy. In 1962, under his leadership, the rectory with a classroom hall was built. Increased growth necessitated that soon another facility be added; thus, in 1969 a hall with three classrooms was completed. Under the pastoral guidance of Father Foy, much was accomplished to mold Saint Lawrence Parish into a truly fine community.

Monsignor J. Edwin Stuardi began twelve years of service as Pastor of St. Lawrence Parish in 1973. Monsignor Stuardi presided over a period of tremendous growth as the parish family grew to include over 450 families. During this period the parish continued to expand Church facilities, adding the Parish Hall and Family Activity Center.

Father Brendan Keller was appointed Pastor of St. Lawrence Parish from January 1985 until June 1995. The parish continued to grow to well over 750 families. Father Keller supervised construction of our beautiful current Church building. This Church was dedicated by Archbishop Oscar H. Lipscomb on April 21, 1992.

Father Gordon Milsted, came to St. Lawrence Parish in August of 1995 and during his 11 years of service the parish has grown to well over 1,000 families. Under his direction, the parish purchased surrounding properties for future expansion. Father Milsted supervised the construction of the new Family Center. On December 1, 2002, the Center was dedicated by Archbishop Oscar H. Lipscomb. The two-story building is connected to the old church and houses the parish administrative offices, a formal reception hall, library, nursery, music rooms, classrooms for both adult and youth religion education, two kitchens and full gymnasium.

 

Saint Lawrence, Our Patron Saint

Profiles in Holiness
The Martyrdom of St. Lawrence, August 10, 258 A.D.

Saint Lawrence was born in Spain and was called to serve as one of the seven Deacons of the Church in Rome. Knowing how God loves the poor and the needy, Saint Lawrence led the Romans to them as the "Treasures of the Church" that they were seeking. Enraged, the Romans put him to death. They laid him on a gridiron over a fire.

Even suffering great pain, God gave Saint Lawrence great happiness as he cried out "Turn me over, for I think I am done on this side!" (New Picture Book of Saints, Saint Joseph Edition, By Reverend Lawrence G. Lovasik, S.V.D., Divine Word Ministry).

The following excerpt was taken from the August 7, 2005 St. Lawrence Church Sunday Bulletin.

"Every year a little biography of St. Lawrence is presented, and, as such we have all become relatively familiar with the life and death of our Patron Saint. We tend to hurriedly use the descriptor, "Martyr," and quickly pass on to more pleasant reveries.

In the early 90's, well-known hagiographers, Bob and Penny Lord, were asked, "How were the martyrs of the early Church able to withstand the cruel torments they had to endure?" It is known that many of the early Roman Emperors were particularly creative in presenting horrific torments to Christians. Certainly, the red hot grill to which St. Lawrence was subjected was no exception. How did St. Isaac Jogues endure the incomprehensible pain of having his fingers chopped off? How did St. Joan of Arc, withstand the fire of her execution and still be able to pray? Before I answer that, I often pondered -while watching Wild Kingdom -how did the Zebra withstand the terrible pain of being gnawed to death by a lioness? Later I learned that, in His infinite compassion, God allowed endorphins to flood the blood stream of the prey— essentially anesthetizing the hapless victim. Bob and Penny Lord reported that martyrs were given "Signal Grace”, a special grace given to those who perform special tasks for God, or undergo severe anguish. This Grace allows them to heroically endure the pain of torment by flooding their minds and spirits with an awareness of the presence of God. Pain becomes secondary and bearable when the great love" of God makes all things possible.

Reflection: The next time we kneel before the image and relic of St. Lawrence, whisper a short prayer of thanksgiving that God allowed him to endure his torments because he was flooded with a sense of the presence of God, which even allowed him to quip a humorous remark while being roasted alive. St. Lawrence, patron of our Church, pray for us!