St. Thorlak

Thorlak Thorhallsson was born into a farming family in Iceland in 1133. He was known for his intelligence as a child and taught himself to read. His parents, though poor farmers, encouraged his intellect and ensured that he received an education. He was ordained a deacon at the age of 15 and a priest around the age of 18 then travelled to Paris to study the Rule of St. Augustine. He then studied canon law the Augustinian Priory in Lincoln, England. In 1165, he returned to Iceland and founded a monastery.

He became a bishop and worked to promote morality as well as eradiate clerical abuses such as simony.

He died Dec. 23, 1193. During the Reformation, Thorlak’s relics were scattered. The only known remaining relic of his is in the Faroe Islands.

It has been suggested that Thorlak might today be labeled on the autistic spectrum, citing his focused interests, his failure to initiate social interactions or conversations, and his strict adherence to routines, even beyond the prescribed rules of the Augustinian Rule. The community noted that as a child Thorlak was “wise beyond his years” and would rather engage in reading and theology than play. Throughout his life he was known to be reserved and desired to return to monastic life while serving as a bishop. Whether he was autistic or just an introvert better suited for a monastic life, he has started to gain devotion as a patron for those with autism, as he can serve as an example of how all types of people can serve in the Church, even in positions of leadership and reform.

While local tradition venerated him, Thorlak was not declared a saint until 1984. He is the patron saint of Iceland, fishermen, and recently, people with autism. His feast day is December 23.

Who the heck is Melchizedek?

Abel, Melchizedek, and Abraham making their sacrifices to God.

Before joining the Catholic Church, I had never heard of Melchizedek. If asked, I probably would have confused him with Methuselah and said he was some Old Testament guy that lived a long time.

It turns out he is an Old Testament guy, though I don't know how long he lived. Rather, he is remembered as the model of priesthood. But weren’t there lots of priests in the Old Testament? Why him?

In Genesis 14:18, he is introduced as “king of Salem…and he was priest of God the Most High.” Abram has just returned from recuing his nephew Lot. Melchizedek takes bread and wine and blesses Abram. It is the first instance of priesthood in the Bible, and it includes use of bread and wine, blessings, and tithe.

Melchizedek comes to represent a prefiguration of a king of peace (salem) who brings justice, a priest who honors God, and the offering of the Eucharist. There is some speculation that Melchizedek is the title (“king of righteousness”) for Shem, first-born son of Noah.

However, unlike Levitical priesthood, the priesthood of Melchizedek is not based on heredity. It is a priesthood of diving appointment, a calling to service.

St. Cyprian of Carthage wrote, “The order certainly is that which comes from his sacrifice and which comes down from it: because Melchizedek was a priest of the Most High God; because he offered bread; and because he blessed Abraham.  And who is more a priest of the Most High God than our Lord Jesus Christ, who, when He offered sacrifice to God the Father, offered the very same which Melchizedek had offered, namely bread and wine, which is in fact His Body and Blood.”

In Hebrews (referring to Psalm 110), Jesus is called “a high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.” He is both king and priest. Similarly, when a Christian priest is ordained, he serves in persona Christi and also joins the “order of Melchizedek.”

By virtue of baptism, all Christians shares in Christ’s priesthood and are called to offer sacrifices of ourselves. Some receive a special calling to the vocation of priesthood, a diving appointment not based on heredity.

The Catechism says, “The Christian tradition considers Melchizedek, ‘priest of God Most High,’ as a prefiguration of the priesthood of Christ, the unique ‘high priest after the order of Melchizedek’; ‘holy, blameless, unstained,’ ‘by a single offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified,’ that is, by the unique sacrifice of the cross (1544).”

Two Frenchwomen and the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

Venerable Anne Madeleine Remuzat was born in France in 1696.  Around the age of nine, she begged her parents to let her join the cloistered Visitation order. (The Visitation order was founded by St. Frances Jane Chantal and St. Francis de Sales in 1610.)

Around 1713, Sister Anne Madeleine was inspired to continue to the work of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, also a Visitation sister, whose visions of Christ had developed the devotion of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The devotion to the Sacred Heart focuses on Christ’s boundless love for mankind and seeks reparation for sins and the indifference and abuse committed against the Blessed Sacrament. The Sacred Heart is usually depicted as Christ’s heart with a bleeding wound, wrapped in the crown of thrones, and with a flame rising above it.

Margaret Mary Alacoque had died in 1690, so it was a new devotion and mostly just recognized among the Visitation sisters and Jesuits. Sister Anne Madeleine established an association that included lay people dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Members would spend time in adoration in front of the tabernacle. This followed Sister Margaret Mary’s example of a holy hour every Thursday night. The association received Vatican approval in 1717. During adoration that same year, Sister Anne Madeleine felt God telling her that Marseille must repent from its immorality.

Three years later the plague arrived, one of the last major outbreaks of bubonic plague in France. In Marseille, it killed 100,000 people in under three years. Churches were closed. Open-air services were held. Priests, including the bishop, would walk the streets, administering last rites and alms.

Sister Anne Madeleine approached the bishop about a feast honoring the Sacred Heart of Jesus in order for the city to repent of its sin and beg for an end to the plague. On Nov. 1, 1720, the bishop consecrated the diocese to the Sacred Heart. It was most likely the first public consecration of the Sacred Heart.

In 1722, when the plague reemerged after a short decline, the bishop ordered Corpus Christi processions and a new feast of the Sacred Heart, following the instruction of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, who had said that Christ requested that a Solemnity of the Sacred Heart be established on the Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi. The plague in Marseille ended that fall.

Devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, along with practices of Eucharistic adoration and holy hours, has become widespread among Catholics. The Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus is celebrated world-wide on the Friday following Corpus Christi, like today.

Venerable Anne-Madeleine Remuzat died in 1730, and she is on the path to canonization.