St Lawrence O'Toole

Lawrence's father was a Chief (ruler) in Ireland and his mother was a Princess. When Lawrence was only 10 years old, he was kidnapped by the King of Leinster, another area in Ireland, who kept him for 2 years and treated him very meanly. Lawrence’s father finally convinced the cruel King to give his son to a Bishop and, under the Bishop’s care, Lawrence grew up to be a great man of faith and decided to become a priest. The Bishop was the Abbot (the person in charge) of the Monastery and, when the good Bishop died, Lawrence was picked to be the new Abbot, even though he was only 25 years old. He later became the Archbishop of Dublin. Once, he went on a trip to England to meet with King Henry II. The day after he arrived, he was about to celebrate Mass when a sick man came up to him and hit him on the head. He was hit very hard and fell to the floor and everyone thought he was going to die. But then Archbishop Lawrence asked for some water, blessed it, and poured it on his head where he was hurt. He was completely healed and he celebrated Mass. Archbishop Lawrence also helped the King of Ireland make peace with King Henry II by going to speak with him. King Henry was amazed by how holy, kind, and wise the Archbishop was that he agreed to follow whatever the Archbishop thought was right. Archbishop Lawrence worked hard to bring the Catholic Church closer with the Pope and Church in Rome. He rebuilt the Cathedral in Dublin and built many local churches so that people could worship and get closer to God. He took care of the poor in Dublin, giving them meals in his own home and also making sure that the orphaned children were well taken care of. When he died he had nothing left to give anybody because he had given everything he had to the people he served and he had given his whole life to God.