Everyone has something to give

[Weedy]

Everyone has something to give

"Frankly, even the poor have something they can share with others. Let
one lend feet to the lame, another become the eyes of the blind,
another visit the sick, and another bury the dead. These are the
things that everyone can do. Lastly, bear one another's burdens, and so
you shall fulfill the law of Christ."
--St. Augustine--(excerpt from Sermon 41,9)

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July 29th - St. Olaf of Norway, King, Martyr
(Also known as Olave, Ola, Olao, Tola, Tooley)

Born 995; died at Stiklestad, July 29, 1030; canonized in 1164.

Saint Olaf was the son of a Norwegian jarl, Harald Grenske. At a
precociously early age (about 12), Olaf was allowed to join a band of
Viking pirates. In the course of his rovings he fought for Richard of
Normandy, and for Ethelred II in England against the Danes in 1013. In
1010, Olaf the Fat received baptism in Rouen, France, at the hands of
Archbishop Robert. In 1015, at the age of 20, he returned to Norway
and succeeded his father. He then proceeded to capture most of Norway
back from the Danes and Swedes, defeated Earl Sweyn at the battle of
Nesje in 1016, and became ruler of Norway. After his brilliant
military conquest, the recently baptized Olaf set about subjecting his
realm to Christ. He brought Christian clergy from England and
elsewhere into the country. One of these foreigners, Grimkel, was
chosen bishop of Nidaros (Trondheim), his capital. On Grimkel's
advice, Olaf published many good enactments and abolished ancient laws
and customs contrary to the Gospel.

Unfortunately, like Saint Vladimir of Russia and Olaf Tryggvesson
before him, he used force and bribery to destroy paganism and impose
the new religion on his people. He attempted to unify the country, but
some of his legislation and political objectives were not everywhere
accepted. In fact, his rule caused widespread discontent. He was
merciless to his enemies and so it was not long before the nobles
revolted in 1029 and he was driven out by the Anglo-Danish King Knut
(Canute). Olaf fled to Russia but returned to Norway in 1031 with a
few Swedish troops in an attempt to regain his kingdom, but was killed
in battle at Stiklestad on the Trondheim fjord.

In circumstances somewhat resembling those of Saint Eric of Sweden,
Olaf Haraldsson became the national hero-saint of Norway. He was
unpopular in his lifetime, but miracles were reported at his tomb on a
steep sandbank by the River Nid, where he had fallen. Here a spring
gushed out whose waters became credited with healing power and other
miracles were reported. The following year Bishop Grimkel ordered that
he was to be venerated as a martyr and that a chapel be built over the
place.

He had been zealous for Christianity, albeit crudely, he had died what
was called a martyr's death, and his name was made to stand for
Norwegian independence. In 1075, his incorrupt body was enshrined in
what became the cathedral of Nidaros (Trondheim), which replaced the
chapel, and became a site of pilgrimage. During the Reformation his
body was removed and reburied. His cultus was aided by the unpopular
rule of Swein, Canute's son; Canute's death in 1035 resulted in the
flight of many Danes from Norway and the accession of Olaf's son
Magnus. Thereafter his cultus spread rapidly. Adam of Bremen (c. 1070)
wrote that his feast was celebrated throughout Scandinavia.

In England, more than 40 ancient churches were dedicated in his honor
(Saint Olave's) in London, York, Exeter, Lincoln, and elsewhere,
especially in Viking areas, and his feast can be found on many English
calendars including London, Norwich, Exeter, Winchester, York, and the
monasteries of Ramsey, Sherbourne, Abbotsbury, Launceston, and Syon.

Olaf was a Christian name in England before the Conquest. In Gaelic it
became Amlaibh (Aulag), from which the Hebridean surname 'Macaulay'
derives. In English, the name was corrupted by the addition of a 'T'
(elided from the final sound of 'saint') to become 'Tooley' (Attwater,
Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Walsh).

In art, Saint Olaf is depicted as a king with a lance and covered cup
or ciborium, who tramples on a crowned demon. Sometimes he is shown
(1) enthroned, a man under his feet; (2) standing on an armed man; (3)
with a halberd and dagger; (4) with a halberd and loaf; or (5) with a
halberd and axe (Roeder). In English iconography Olaf is included on
the seals of Grimby Abbey and Herringfleet Priory in Suffolk, on the
15th-century screen at Barton Turf in Norfolk, on an ivory crozier in
the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and in glass at York
Minster. The most complete example is six medallions from Olaf's life
in the Beatus initial of the 13th-century Carrow Psalter, which was
written in East Anglia and can be found in the Walter's Art Gallery in
Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States.

He is venerated in East Anglia (Roeder) and the patron of Norway (Farmer).


Saint Quote:
"If we ask the Lord to forgive us we should also forgive, for we stand
before the eyes of the Lord God, and we must all stand before the
judgment seat of Christ, and each must give account of himself."
--The Epistles of St. Polycarp, Polycarp Bishop of Smyrna

Bible Quote:
In like manner, ye young men, be subject to the ancients. And do you
all insinuate humility one to another, for God resisteth the proud,
but to the humble he giveth grace. [1 Peter 5:5] DRV


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PIOUS INVOCATIONS

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.

My loving Jesus, out of the grateful love I bear Thee and to make
reparation for my unfaithfulness to grace, I give Thee my heart, and I
consecrate myself wholly to Thee, and with Thy help I purpose never to
sin again.

Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that we, who, glorifying in the
most Sacred Heart of Thy Beloved Son, cherish within us the especial
benefits of that love, may be equally gladdened both by their action
and by their fruit. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.