LAWRENCE OF THE RESURRECTION

(Herman, Nicholas), Discalced Carmelite lay brother and mystic; b. Herimesnil, Lorraine, France, 1611; d. Paris, Feb. 12, 1691. After 18 years in the army and some service as aide to William de Fuibert, treasurer of the king of France, he took the habit of the Discalced Carmelites as a lay brother in Paris. He remained there as a humble cook for 30 years, being relieved of this duty only because of blindness. He died in the French capital with a reputation for holiness.

The few writings that Lawrence left include only simple spiritual notes and a few edifying letters. After Lawrence's death, Joseph de Beaufort, vicar-general of the Diocese of Paris under Cardinal Noailles, gathered these spiritual notes, letters, and many unwritten sayings of the lay brother, publishing them under the title Abrégé de la vie … maximes spirituelles, lettres, etc. (Paris 1691). From this basic collection came: Maximes spirituelles (Paris 1693), and Moeurs et entretiens du Frère Laurent … avec la practique de la présence de Dieu (Chalons 1693). The fame of these writings was considerably diminished among French Catholics because Mme. de guyon attempted to justify her illuministic theories with the writings of Lawrence; however, his prestige increased among Protestants, especially after the pseudomystic Pierre Poiret published the Maximes in Heidelberg in 1710.

Bibliography: n. herman, La Pratique de la présence de Dieu (new ed. Paris 1934); Practice of the Presence of God, tr. d. attwater (Springfield, Ill. 1962); Practice of the Presence of God, tr. m. d. cameron (Westminster, Md. 1945). faustino sgda. familia, "Práctica de la Presencia de Dios por Fr. Lorenzo de la Resurreccion. Un poco de historia," El Monte Carmelo 34 (1930) 408–411.

[o. rodriguez]