Saint Who?
Saints Who Are Patrons of Peoples and Places
Saint Thorlak Thorhallson
Bishop († 1193) Feast: December 23
Thorlak Thorhallson was born in Iceland in 1133. Brilliant, virtuous, with wisdom beyond his years, he received the best education available and was ordained a deacon at fifteen and a priest at eighteen.
His patrons, influential relatives, sent him to France for further study. There he encountered the Gregorian reform, a movement to root out clerical corruption. He also encountered Saint Thomas Becket, who directed him to England to study canon law. Thorlak finally returned to Iceland, eager to heal his country, where the laws of marriage and priestly celibacy were largely ignored. He resisted pressures to marry, and instead founded an Augustinian monastery that became renowned for holiness.
Appointed Bishop of Iceland, Thorlak composed a penitentiary, a list of sins and corresponding penances. He took many of his people’s penances on himself—a custom he had begun as a parish priest. He helped support families who sacrificed in order to uphold marital vows. He also confronted his powerful patrons, insisting that they mend their ways. Thorlak died in 1193. A fellow bishop said of him: “I would choose to have the last day of my life be such as I saw every one of his days to be.” He is the patron of Iceland.
Loving Father, through the prayers of Saint Thorlak, bless all bishops and priests.
