The Scandinavian island nation of Iceland will celebrate its national patron, St. Thorlak Thorhallsson, on Dec. 23.
Although Iceland's national assembly declared him a saint in 1198,
only five years after his death, this “unofficial” canonization did not
become an official part of the Church's liturgical calendar until Pope
John Paul II confirmed him as the country's patron in January 1984.
Thorlak was born in 1133, less than two centuries after German and
Norwegian missionaries began the first effective evangelization of
Iceland.
The pagan nation's conversion had involved a dramatic national
struggle, as many Icelanders clung fiercely to their ancestral religion
despite its customs of idol worship and infanticide.
The Catholic Church in Iceland had solidly established its presence
by the time of Thorlak's birth. However, it had fallen into some
disarray, particularly due to local clergy disregarding the rule of
clerical celibacy, selling church positions for personal gain, and
engaging in other breaches of discipline.
Thorlak's parents, barely able to earn a living as farmers, took note
of their son's talents and made sure he received extensive religious
instruction from a local priest. His gifts must have attracted wider
notice, since Thorlak received ordination as a deacon before the age of
15 and became a priest at age 18.
Afterward, he left Iceland for a period of time to study theology in
France and England. During this time he committed himself to living by
the monastic rule of St. Augustine, an important part of the Western
Church's tradition.
This rule committed a priest not only to celibacy,
but also to a life in community without personal possessions, after the
manner of the apostles in the Church's earliest days.
Inspired by this vision of radical discipleship, he held fast to the
discipline of clerical celibacy, even after returning to Iceland and
being pressured to marry a wealthy widow.
Instead, he ended up founding a
monastery according to the Augustinian rule, which became renowned as a
place of prayer and study.
Ten years after the founding of the monastery, the Norwegian
Archbishop Augustine Erlendsson, another follower of the ancient
Augustinian rule of life, called on Thorlak to become bishop of the
Icelandic diocese of Skalholt.
Although he was deeply attached to his
monastic way of life, Thorlak recognized the pressing need for reform
and guidance among the clergy.
As a bishop, he was deeply dedicated to implementing the reforms of
the Western Church that Pope Gregory VII had begun during the past
century, which envisioned not only a strict discipline of clerical
celibacy, but also the independence of the Church against intrusion by
secular authorities.
Thorlak also sought to improve public morality, and dared to confront
even the most popular and powerful chieftain in Iceland, who was said
to have had an extramarital affair with the bishop's own sister.
Understandably, he often longed to put aside these kinds of burdens and
return to the monastic life.
Before he could do so, he died on December 23, 1193.
St. Thorlak was undoubtedly Iceland's most popular native saint
during the country's Catholic period.
Over 50 churches were dedicated to
his memory before Iceland became officially Lutheran during the 16th
century.
Today, St. Thorlak's former diocese of Skalholt is a part of the
Diocese of Reykjavik, which was only established in its present form in
1968.
Although the Catholic Church no longer has a large presence in
Iceland, celebration of St. Thorlak's feast has persisted as a
widespread national custom.
Icelanders celebrate on Dec. 23 as the final
day of preparation before Christmas, and have maintained the custom of
gathering to eat cured fish.
SIC: CNA/INT'L