Hello and welcome to St. Stories for Kids, a weekly podcast full of fun stories and

facts about the holy men and women that have come before us. I'm your host

Chantalvaros. St. Stories for Kids is brought to you by Shining Light dolls.

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Today we'll be telling the story of St. Lawrence of Brindisi, whose feast is celebrated on July 21st.

St. Lawrence, whose birth name was Julio Cesar Russo, was born on July 22nd, 1559 in Brindisi, Italy.

Lawrence was raised by his uncle and attended St. Mark's College in Venice.

When he joined the capuchin order, he changed his name to Brother Lawrence and was ordained

a priest at age 23.

When he was 31, he was elected to be the superior of the caputions in Tuscany.

He became well known as a preacher, especially to non-Christians and Protestants,

because he was fluent in seven languages

Latin, Hebrew, Greek, German, Bohemian, French, and Spanish. He founded monasteries

in what is now Germany and Austria, helping to re-establish

Catholicism in those areas.

In 1601, he was asked to serve as the Army chaplain for the Holy Roman Emperor as he led his troops against the Ottoman

empire to free part of Hungary. A year later he was elected Vicker General, the highest position in the

capuchin order during that time.

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