Perseids: In August the tears of San Lorenzo fall from the sky

Stargazing might not be the first thing a Catholic thinks of when he hears about St. Lawrence, the deacon who was burned alive on a grill in Rome.

However, in this month of August, Catholics and all people have the opportunity to see a meteor shower named after the martyr Saint Lawrence.

The Perseids, also called thetears of Saint Lawrence”, are a meteor shower associated with the comet Swift-Tuttlewhich sheds dust and debris during its 133-year orbit around the sun.

The comet itself does not pose an immediate threat to Earth, at least it hasn’t for several thousand years.

As the Earth orbits the Sun, it hits pieces of debris left by the comet, causing them to burn up in the planet’s atmosphere.

This causes a prolific meteor shower that can be seen most clearly in the northern hemisphere from late July to mid-August, with a usual peak around August 10, the day on which the Feast of Saint Lawrence is celebrated.

During this peak, the meteor rate reaches 60 or more per hour.

The name Perseids comes from the constellation Perseus, named after a character in Greek mythology, and the luminosity of the meteor shower or the point from which it seems to originate.

The name “tears of San Lorenzo” arose from the association with the festival and the legends that were built after the death of the saint.

Who is Saint Lawrence?

Saint Lawrence is a deacon who was martyred on August 10, 258, in the midst of the persecution of the Roman Emperor Valerian, along with other members of the Catholic clergy of Rome.

The saint was the last of the seven deacons who died on that date.

After Pope Sixtus II was martyred on August 6, Lorenzo became the leading authority in the Church in Rome, having been the treasurer of the Church.

When he was summoned before the executioners, he was ordered to bring all the riches of the Church with him. He showed up with a handful of crippled, poor and sick men, and when he was questioned, he replied: “these are the true wealth of the Church.”

San Lorenzo was immediately sentenced to death, being burned alive on a grill. Legend maintains that some of his last words were a joke about the method of execution, as he commented to his murderers: “Turn me over, I’m ready on this side!”

Catholics began to call the meteor shower “Tears of Saint Lawrence,” even though the celestial phenomenon preceded the life and death of the saint.

Some Italian traditions hold that the burning pieces of debris seen during the meteor shower represent the coals that killed San Lorenzo.

Anyone in the northern hemisphere should be able to see the “tears of St. Lawrence.”

The meteors will fall from different points in the sky and not from a particular direction. For a better view it is recommended to go to a rural area, away from light pollution.

Originally published August 4, 2020. It has been updated for republication.

Translated and adapted by the ACI Prensa team. Originally published in CNA