Skip to main content

ST THORLAK THORHALLSON, BISHOP - 23 DECEMBER

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN DECEMBER

Saints celebrated on the 23rd of December

WELCOME!

SAINT THORLAK THORHALLSON, BISHOP

The Church was established in Iceland by the time of Saint Thorlak's birth in 1133. A very pious and bright farmer's son, St Thorlak received extensive religious instruction from a local priest. 

HE STUDIED THEOLOGY IN FRANCE AND ENGLAND

He was sent to study theology in France and England and was himself ordained a priest at a young age. During the time abroad he vowed to live by the monastic rule of St Augustine. 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.

HE FOUNDED A MONASTERY IN ICELAND

Upon his return to Iceland he founded a monastery according to the Augustinian rule, which became renowned as a place of prayer and study.

Several years after the founding of the monastery, the Norwegian Archbishop Augustine Erlendsson ordained St Thorlak bishop of the Icelandic diocese of Skalholt. He was bishop of Skalholt from 1178 until his death in 1193. 

HE WAS ORDAINED BISHOP

As a bishop, St Thorlak was dedicated to implementing Pope Gregory VII's reforms: a strict discipline of clerical celibacy,  and, in particular, the independence of the Church against intrusion by secular authorities. 

St Thorlak died in the Lord on December 23, 1193. His relics were translated to the cathedral of Skalholt in 1198. Today, St Thorlak's former diocese of Skalholt is a part of the Diocese of Reykjavik. 

Pope John Paul II confirmed him as patron of Iceland in January 1984. Efforts and private initiatives are underway to have St Thorlak proclaimed patron saint of people with autism.  

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Saint Thorlak may increase our devotion and promote our salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

WELCOME

  Please pick your saints: January - Saints by date  1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10    11    12    13    14    15    16    17   18    19    20    21    22    23    24    25    26    27    28    29    30    31   February - Saints by date  1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10    11    12    13    14    15    16    17 18    19    20    21    22    23    24    25    26    27    28    29 ...
Post a Comment
Read more

FATIMA APPARITION - 13 AUGUST

  ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST Saints celebrated on the 13th of August Marian Feast Days WELCOME! FATIMA APPARITION - AUGUST 13 The Fatima Children “BUT IN THE END MY IMMACULATE HEART WILL TRIUMPH.” But in the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me; it will be converted, and a certain period of peace will be granted to the world. THE AUGUST 13 EVENTS On August 13, the children were in jail at Ourem. The civil administrator threatened to boil them in oil if they did not tell the Lady’s secret. Though badly frightened, they could not think of disobeying our Lady. In disgust, the administrator finally freed them. A large number of people, not knowing that the children had been kidnapped, went to the Cova for the scheduled appearance of the Lady. At noon, there was a loud clap of thunder. Then, according to an eyewitness: “Right after the thunder came a flash, and immediately we all noticed a little cloud, very white, beautiful and bright,...
Post a Comment
Read more

ST JOHN BERCHMANS, RELIGIOUS - 13 AUGUST

  ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST Saints celebrated on the 13th of August WELCOME! SAINT JOHN BERCHMANS, RELIGIOUS   (Patron Saint of Altar Servers.) The eldest boy of a poor cordwainer, in a small Belgian town, John was ever a dutiful, prayerful, and studious child. Our Lord called him when but young to leave his father and his father’s house, to serve Him in the Society of Jesus.  And because he was so good a son, it cost his father much to give him up to God; but he was too good a Christian to refuse outright.  HE WAS SENT TO ROME John had hardly taken his religious vows when he was sent to the centre of Christendom, the holy city of Rome. His modesty, his purity, shone out as great virtue always does; and the young laymen who attended the lectures would come to gaze upon his beautiful and holy face, and go away the better for the sight. GREAT VIRTUE Three short years, and his last sickness found him sighing for heaven, and three days before the great feast of Mar...
Post a Comment
Read more