Festival of St. Olaf, Martyr
Posted on July 29, 2021 by under
Scripture: St. John 12:46-50 (NKJV)
12:46 While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him. 47 Then one said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.”
48 But He answered and said to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” 49 And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”
Devotion
Kinship with the Christ is not a matter of bloodlines and family trees. It is established by the work of the Holy Spirit through the means of grace.
St. Olaf was not the first King Olaf to bring the faith to Norway; Olaf Tryggvason was king from A.D. 995 to 1000, and he helped to establish the faith in Norway and Iceland, but his brief reign was followed by a partial relapse of the nation into paganism. St. Olaf was Olaf Heraldsson, who reigned from A.D. 1015 to 1030. He was recognized as a saint within a year of his death and was soon called “Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae” (“Perpetual King of Norway”).
St. Olaf brought missionary bishops to Norway, and while, prior to his time, the faith had begun to spread in coastal towns in Norway, it was during Olaf’s reign that the Church made inroads in the interior of the country. Early histories also credit Olaf with legal reforms which granted protections to the Church and its authority.
St. Olaf stands as one among a number of converted magistrates whose reign offered protection to the Church and patronage to missionaries operating within their territory. The history of the Church would have been markedly different if such influential converts had not used their authority to protect the proclamation of the Gospel. In so doing, they served Christ, demonstrating in Word and deed their baptism into Christ.
Prayer: O Lord, grant steadfastness in a faithful confession to those among the magistracy whom Thou hast gathered into Thy holy Church, and direct the hearts of the faithful to support them in their vocation; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
