Several of Francisco de Quevedo’s hagiographic poems are puzzling because of their irreverent tone. Edward M. Wilson and Jose Manuel Blecua both noted that “la relacion entre las dos caras de un Quevedo es cuestión difícil y delicada para los modernos;” indeed, the writer’s particular blend of “las burlas con las veras” has attracted attention since the eighteenth century. One cannot say why Quevedo chose to allow the contradictory impulses of mirth and awe to cohabit in these hagiographic poems. What can be shown, however, is that Quevedo’s poem to Saint Lawrence (San Lorenzo) follows rather closely the tradition of Roman martyrological legend, while the poems to Mary Magdalene and Saint Peter echo the conventions of the “literature of tears” tradition.