- Dec 15, 2021
- 4 min read

MAPPING THE MICHEAL LINE THROUGH ITALY AND ITS RELEVANCE TO ST LAWRENCE / SAN LORENZO

This is my introductory discovery in just a short time on this. Note that this article may be updated in future. Please contact me if you have information you wish to share on this.

In 2014, (with my children home schooled) we lived in Italy for a year in the remote hamlet of Orbicciano by the pilgrim path of via Francigena, between Pietrasanta and Lucca, and my partner was sculpting and making art in nearby Pietrasanta and Carrara. I have visited Italy many times previous and since, with many a spiritual experience there.

So when I was looking at the ST MICHAEL LINE map, with its 7 Michael sanctuaries, I decided to hone in on ITALY and there was nowhere on-line that had done this. So in a few short minutes, I quickly mapped it out myself and immediately discovered something..

The line extending from Monte Sant Angelo in south going up to Sacra di San Michele SEEMS to flows through the following -

NOTE this is NOT APPROXIMATE. Bear in mind that the line may curve a bit so this is not exact. Please do contact me & correct me if/where necessary

PESCARA

ASSISI

AREZZO

Etruscan site of SAN CASCIANO IN VAL DI PESA?

and/or Just south of FLORENCE

Just north of LUCCA?

ORBICCIANO village (where I lived)

COAST PATH -

PIETRASANTA

PORTOVENERE

CINQUE TERRA

CARRARA

GENOA

ALBA

and many others towns and villages along the way

So it was no surprise that it went through where I lived for a year and because I know the area, I thought instantly of the very sacred church of San Lorenzo in this little hamlet of a few spaced out houses and I know that church is a key.

So that got me thinking about a very sacred hidden church in PORTOVENERE up the steps, just away from St Pietro on the rocks, called San Lorenzo. On a hunch, I then discovered the cathedral in GENOA is called San Lorenzo, as is the church in ALBA. Then found that the main church in AREZZO is called San Lorenzo.

This is not always the case. In Assisi it is of course named after St Francis, and in Lucca it is San Michel in Foro, whilst Luca cathedral St Martin of Tours houses the carved face of Yeshua said to be carved by Nicodemus himself.

Yet of course, in Florence, the largest and oldest church, that houses the most Michelangelos and the Medici tombs is the Basilica of San Lorenzo.

In Rome, there are 6 churches named after him.

WHO IS SAN LORENZO aka ST LAWRENCE?

Looking for clues.

IN LATIN = Laurentius, lit. "laurelled"

31 December AD 225[1] – 10 August 258)

To be laurelled = bestow an award or praise on (someone) in recognition of an achievement.

The laurel will once again turn green.

So then I discover that St Lawrence was laureled because he was a martyr, just like CATHARine, saint of Winchester UK, and in fact they are so connected that in 1490 Domenico Ghirlandaio painted them together (see images).

He was also burnt alive like the CATHAR.

As symbols, St Lawrence carries the PALM, (a key magdalene and templar symbol) and he is also associated with the GRIDIRON and PITCHFORK (from being burnt alive) and the CHALICE (which he repairs, in varied different stories).

He was the 1st of 7 deacons. He gave everything way to the poor which is why he was punished.

In freemasonry there is a whole degree and ritual based on him, but I do not know more about this as yet.

I thought it was interesting all the Medicis chose him to be their place of burial.

In my own family we actually have our very own Lawrence: my dad likes to tell the story of his own uncle, the youngest of 7 brothers, who in 1941 aged 21 went on HMS The Hood battleship, which was hit by a German battleship and exploded and sank within three minutes, with the loss of all but three of her crew. When it sunk, no one knew if Uncle Lawrence, the youngest boy of 7, was on board, because he had been poorly with flu. It turned out he was. It is a family story that my 80 yr old dad repeats often. The story of Uncle Lawrence, the martyr.

There is alot more to come with this discovery of St Lawrence, and his relevance to key sites along the Michael line, to St Catharine and to the Cathar, his palm, and his repair of the chalice in what is called 'the miracle of the bowl and the golden legend'.

His brief story is as follows, and is in better detail here - https://www.christianiconography.info/lawrence.html

Saint Lawrence was one of seven deacons in charge of giving help to the poor and needy under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred during the persecution of Emperor Valerian in 258.

When a persecution broke out, Sixtus was condemned to death. As he was led to execution, Lawrence followed him weeping, "Father, where are you going without your deacon?" he said.

"I am not leaving you, my son," answered the Pope. "In three days you will follow me." Full of joy, Lawrence gave to the poor the rest of the money he had on hand and even sold expensive vessels to have more to give away.

The Prefect of Rome, a greedy man, thought the Church had a great fortune hidden away. So he ordered Lawrence to bring the Church's treasure to him. The Saint said he would, in three days. Then he went through the city and gathered together all the poor and sick people supported by the Church. When he showed them to the Prefect, he said, "This is the Church's treasure!"

In great anger, the Prefect condemned Lawrence to a slow, cruel death. The Saint was tied on top of an iron grill over a slow fire that roasted his flesh little by little. But Lawrence was burning with so much love of God that he almost did not feel the flames.

In fact, God gave him so much strength and joy that he even joked. "Turn me over," he said to the judge. "I'm done on this side!"

Just before he died, Lawrence said, "It's cooked enough now." Then he prayed that the city of Rome might be converted to Jesus and that the Catholic Faith might spread all over the world. After that, he went to receive the martyr's reward.

Saint Lawrence's feast day is August 10.