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A TRIBUTE TO ST LAWRENCE OF BRINDISI 309 should not speak facing the sun, i.e. against God and the manifest truth ofGod because the sun is the very image ofGod 14 • The same may be said ofLawrence's familiarity with the patristic literature. For example, while justifying the rendering of the Greek checharitomeni as full of grace he observes that it has also been the constant tradition of the Church: Jerome, Ambrose, Augustine, and others all approved this rendition, did not alter it, and constantly maintained it. Jerome writes: "Holy Mary is greeted as full of grace, be– cause she conceived him in whom the fullness ofthe Godhead dwells bodily." Ambrose says: "She is justly called full of grace who alone received a grace no other had ever mer– ited, to be filled with the Author ofgrace." Augustine writes: "Mary is full of grace; she is said to have found favour with God to become the Mother of her Lord and, in fact, the mother ofall men". Again he writes: "When the angel said to her: Hail,full of grace, he meant that she was totally excluded from the curse of the first condemnation and enjoyed thefull of grace ofGod's blessing. The Venerable Bede gives the same interpreta– tion, i.e.full of grace" 15 • His profound knowledge of the biblical languages provided him with insi– ghtful observations on the nuance of the terms while commenting on the texts and explaining them: Accordingly, this statement: You shall hateyour enemy, deuterosis in Greek, was a tradi– tion and a teaching of the Pharisees but a teaching commonly accepted by the people, since hatred of enemies did not seem to be expressly forbidden by the law, for nowhere in the law was any obligation of love of enemies clearly stated. On the contrary, the intent of the lawwas to look upon all foreign peoples as enemies because of the danger ofbeing infected with their idolatry. Consequently, we have a law that states: Take care, there.fore, not to make a covenant with these inhabitants of the land thatyou are to enter; else they will become a snare amongyou... Do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of that land 16 • Lawrence's fluency in Italian, German, French and Spanish enabled him to move easily from place to place in Europe and sow the Word of God wherever he found himself In 1606 Paul V, through a personal bull, formally empowered him with ample faculties for preaching in every part without seeking the autho– risation from the bishop of the local diocese. The reason for granting him this privilege was "his apostolic zeal, his proven virtue and the depth ofhis knowledge 14 Lawrence ofBrindisi, Opera omnia, Bk II, 147. 15 Lawrence ofBrindisi, Opera omnia, Bk I, 179. 16 Lawrence ofBrindisi, Opera omnia, Bk III, 170.