Somewhere around the mid to late 200's AD, a Deacon named Laurentius was approached by the magistrate for the sake of giving money for the poor. Laurentius responded that the Church had valuable treasures, asking the court to send horses and wagons for them, and give him three days to produce them. They granted his request, and when the day came, he brought loads of widows and the poor, saying; "These are the treasures of the Church." For this act they roasted him alive on a gridiron; but with much backbone he bore his sufferings, and told the executioner; "This side of my body is roasted enough, now turn it and roast the other; and then, if thou wilt, devour it."
