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Post by Tomas on Jul 21, 2020 8:57:01 GMT
Yesterday we had our annual celebration of St. Thorlaukur at evening Mass. The patron saint of Iceland has a most unusual discinction among the community of saints: the only one to be canonised through a parliament decision. He is remember liturgically still in various parts of the Nordic nations, albeit by nature of things not well known among laity anywhere off Iceland (over 50 churches dedicated to him there in medieaval times was no small legacy). Part of his work in the somewhat barren remoter areas of the Lord´s vineyard has been in preaching morals, including priestly celibacy, to people more inclined to their own individual "free choice" or carnal pleasure.
If nothing more perhaps a bit of a challenging lamp for the contemporary Icelandic Catholic community, small by numbers while somewhat growing from what I´ve heard, partly with Philippine and other workers from abroad and partly with native youth and other converts. Hopefully that exception that made him a saint will never be emulated. Imagining a future with political red tainted saints (socialist ideology instead of blood) would be little too much. Tragedy akin to baleful sagas shaking the fears!
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Post by Séamus on Jul 23, 2020 11:39:43 GMT
Yesterday we had our annual celebration of St. Thorlaukur at evening Mass. The patron saint of Iceland has a most unusual discinction among the community of saints: the only one to be canonised through a parliament decision. He is remember liturgically still in various parts of the Nordic nations, albeit by nature of things not well known among laity anywhere off Iceland (over 50 churches dedicated to him there in medieaval times was no small legacy). Part of his work in the somewhat barren remoter areas of the Lord´s vineyard has been in preaching morals, including priestly celibacy, to people more inclined to their own individual "free choice" or carnal pleasure. If nothing more perhaps a bit of a challenging lamp for the contemporary Icelandic Catholic community, small by numbers while somewhat growing from what I´ve heard, partly with Philippine and other workers from abroad and partly with native youth and other converts. Hopefully that exception that made him a saint will never be emulated. Imagining a future with political red tainted saints (socialist ideology instead of blood) would be little too much. Tragedy akin to baleful sagas shaking the fears! I wonder did a political canonization of that era consist in more or less politick than the interior machinations of today's Church or of the Vatican itself? I was struck by two points in the biographical notes in a missal for Tuesday's feast (Lawrence of Brindisi)- "he was instrumental in organising a crusade against the Turks which had a signal victory in Austria"...."he was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by John XXIII in 1959". Cardinal Roncalli had been stationed in Turkey during his time as a papal diplomat,so even this modern pope, who launched the Council,preached peace and spoke of Springtimes wasn't dictated by how offensive a proclamation might be,even to his friends (and it can be presumed he made several wherever he lived). |
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Post by cato on Jul 23, 2020 14:01:16 GMT
I think we discussed the politics of who gets canonised before. There are many factors including the ecclesiastical zeitgeist. Every Vatican II Pope is now a saint despite the huge decline of Western Catholicism in that time! Previous to that we had Pope Pius X and before that Pius V the Tridentine reformer. Were there no holy popes in over 400 years and then 3 saints in a row? Just asking.
It helps your canonisation prospects if you are a female religious statistically speaking or in a congregation with a presence in Rome to lobby and press your cause.
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Post by Tomas on Jul 23, 2020 19:29:35 GMT
I always thought the Congregation for the Causes of Saints would be the one to choose for a study visit, if a benevolent angel one night would turn up to suggest such a prospect. Turning it into miraculous reality for some while, head on the pillow in the most refreshing of dreams, it might no doubt reveal immense matter for bewilderment! Yet possibly in towards brightness, for the most decisive facets.
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Post by Tomas on Jul 23, 2020 19:38:16 GMT
I think we discussed the politics of who gets canonised before. There are many factors including the ecclesiastical zeitgeist. Every Vatican II Pope is now a saint despite the huge decline of Western Catholicism in that time! Previous to that we had Pope Pius X and before that Pius V the Tridentine reformer. Were there no holy popes in over 400 years and then 3 saints in a row? Just asking. It helps your canonisation prospects if you are a female religious statistically speaking or in a congregation with a presence in Rome to lobby and press your cause. Contemporary opinion has a great say it seems. Both highest esteemed personal favourites among the many good Popes from the 20th century are quite far from the limelights at the moment: Leo XIII (-1903) and Pius XII (1939-1958). Still, there are absolutely several strong reasons for these patterns also to be sure. |
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Post by Séamus on Apr 29, 2021 12:11:12 GMT
Yesterday we had our annual celebration of St. Thorlaukur at evening Mass. The patron saint of Iceland has a most unusual discinction among the community of saints: the only one to be canonised through a parliament decision. He is remember liturgically still in various parts of the Nordic nations, albeit by nature of things not well known among laity anywhere off Iceland (over 50 churches dedicated to him there in medieaval times was no small legacy). Part of his work in the somewhat barren remoter areas of the Lord´s vineyard has been in preaching morals, including priestly celibacy, to people more inclined to their own individual "free choice" or carnal pleasure. If nothing more perhaps a bit of a challenging lamp for the contemporary Icelandic Catholic community, small by numbers while somewhat growing from what I´ve heard, partly with Philippine and other workers from abroad and partly with native youth and other converts. Hopefully that exception that made him a saint will never be emulated. Imagining a future with political red tainted saints (socialist ideology instead of blood) would be little too much. Tragedy akin to baleful sagas shaking the fears! A lot of people will remark that Joe Biden's acknowledgement of the Armenian genocide,the millions of victims of which are venerated as martyrs by the Armenian Orthodox church,as the most positive aspect of his tenure so far. But as 'America is on the move' so are Central Americans on the move- to the US and some may already find images of the current events comparable to those of the long trek across Ottoman territories. Doubtlessly the freer immigration laws will be welcomed by many conservatives also,but I'm sure there's a consensus that a step #2 is required if this direction continues- to prevent a genocide-of-compassion occurring? Thorlaukur's memory, Biden's speech and the statement of Trump, which marked Thomas Beckett's anniversary last year, might be obvious examples,not only of canonized saints and politics overlapping but of the various aspects of hagiographical memory people can hold. While nobody would deny the irreproachability of her personal life, Sr Wendy Beckett,though she wrote interesting commentaries on saints as part of her art critique,held opinions contrary to what any official Saint would have agreed with. (I don't know why,but) I was surprised by a photo for a book review a few days ago- two male Church of England ministers who were apparently also civilly married to each other. On top of everything else one was in academic dress,one in a Roman collar (usually,but not necessarily indicative of high- and low-church Anglicanism),but it was the former that had apparently written two dictionaries of saints, covering 400 holy persons in total. Without any real intention of reading either book,I was more than curious about what opinion he would or wouldn't hold on some traditional associations with holiness. The review remarked also that rev.Coles had been instrumentalist in the Communards,an openly gay group briefly chart-toppers when I was about 14. His journey has included conversion to Catholicism, reversion to Anglicanism, marrying a same-sex partner (and,oddly,joining the GAA without any apparent connection) but actually claiming celibacy towards the end, (the new book is actually about the death of rev. David) while still claiming David as civil husband. Even Dante,the most fearlessly poetic hagiographist of all, would have no idea where to place them, although the dog of many faces might have symbolic qualities. |
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