Saint Thorlak

Saint Thorlak Thorhallsson
Statue of Saint Thorlac at the Catholic Cathedral in Reykjavik, Iceland
Bishop of Skalholt
Born	1133 Fljótshlíð, Icelandic Commonwealth
Died	December 23, 1193 Skálholt, Iceland
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church
Canonized	14 January 1984 by Pope John Paul II
Feast	December 23; July 20 (translation of relics)
Patronage	Iceland, fishermen, Catholics of Scandinavia

Saint Thorlak Thorhallsson (Old Norse: Þorlákr Þórhallsson; Icelandic: Þorlákur Þórhallsson; Latin: Thorlacus; 1133 – December 23, 1193), also spelled Thorlac, is the patron saint of Iceland. He was bishop of Skalholt from 1178 until his death. Thorlac’s relics were translated to the cathedral of Skálholt in 1198, not long after his successor as bishop, Páll Jónsson, announced at the Althing that vows could be made to Thorlac. His status as a saint did not receive official recognition from the Catholic Church until January 14, 1984, when John Paul II canonized him and declared him the patron saint of Iceland. His feast day is December 23.

Born in 1133 at Hlíðarendi in the see of Skálholt in southern Iceland, Thorlac was from an aristocratic family. He was ordained a deacon before he was fifteen and a priest at the age of eighteen. He studied abroad at Paris (c. 1153-59) and possibly Lincoln.

Returning to Iceland in 1161, Thorlac founded a monastery of Canons Regular at Þykkvibær after refusing to marry a rich widow. There he devoted himself to a strictly religious life, refusing to marry (many other Icelandic priests were married) and devoting himself to reciting the Our Father, the Creed, and a hymn, as well as fifty Psalms.