St Laurence Giustiniani

Laurence Giustiniani is a man in whom contemplation and government strengthen one another instead of pulling apart. Born into Venetian nobility, he showed from youth an unusual seriousness, and this life preserves the vision in which Eternal Wisdom, figured as a shining maiden, drew him away from worldly ambitions toward the pursuit of God. He entered the canons regular of St George in Alga and quickly became known not only for strictness of life but for a quiet authority over souls. Even the story of the nobleman who came to shake his vocation and went away converted serves Butler's larger point: Laurence's inward conviction had become persuasive power. Ordained priest and later made provost of his house, he grounded everything in humility and prayer, and from those came both his practical wisdom and his power in preaching.

When he was raised first to the see of Castello and then, after the reorganization of the Venetian church, to be the first patriarch of Venice, he tried hard to avoid the dignity but carried it with remarkable peace. This life delights in the simplicity of his episcopal household, his patience under insult, his refusal to let money-business consume him, and the way crowds found at his door counsel, comfort, or relief. He gave freely to the poor, preferred to give help in bread and clothing rather than mere coins, and reformed his diocese not by noise or display but by visible sanctity. Under his hand the city saw what a bishop looked like when rank became service and authority grew out of the inward life.