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==Martyrdom and the Jewels of St. Lawrence==
In early August of 258, the Emperor Valerian issued an edict commanding that all bishops, priests, and deacons should be put to death immediately without trial ("''episcope et presbyteriet diacones incontinenti animadvertantur''"{{ref|1}}). This command was immediately carried out throughout the city of Rome. On [[August 6]], Pope Sixtus was arrested in the [[catacombs ]] and executed with his two other deacons, Felicissimus and Agapitus. Lawrence is purported to have said as they were being led to torture, "Where are you going, Holy Father, without your son? Where, O Bishop, without your archdeacon? Before you never approached the altar of sacrifice without your servant, and now you are going without me?" St. Sixtus was said to have prophesied that he would follow them soon after.
The imperial authorities soon came to St. Lawrence to demand access to the church treasury. In the course of three days after the death of the Pope and his fellow archdeacons, St. Lawrence worked quickly to distribute as much of the ecclesiastical monies to the poor as possible. On the third day, at the head of a small tribunal, he presented himself to the prefect, and when ordered to give up the treasures of the Church, he led them to a room. There he presented the poor, crippled, and maimed, proclaiming, "Behold the jewels of the Church! The Church is truly rich, far richer, than your emperor."
