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Saint Thorlac: Fatherly Intercessor
Throughout his years of ministry, St. Thorlac was genuinely attuned to the material, physical and spiritual needs of those around him. Of these, he placed greatest emphasis on needs of the spirit, praying aloud for his petitioners and offering them counsel on how they might grow closer in relationship to God. His words were firm but affectionate, protective of the souls before him. He sought to impart instruction, not condemnation.
St. Thorlac was also a mediator… between disputants in his district, and also between the people and God. In the matter of civil disputes, St. Thorlac was said to have reconciled many feuding parties. He deliberately took the time and made the effort to seek truth and balance until it was found. In matters of personal conduct, St. Thorlac held penitents to rigid moral standards. He did this to show people how to strive for holiness, not to assert control. Knowing that rules alone do not change minds and hearts, he assigned stern penances to those who disregarded moral behavior – and then voluntarily performed these penances for them. By these living acts of mercy, he sought to heal the spiritual wounds of sin. (15)
In his lifetime, many miraculous intercessions were realized by Thorlac’s prayers, including healings, calming harsh weather and extinguishing house fires. On his deathbed, a fellow priest implored him: "We ask you, master, although you are now parting from us visibly in bodily presence, be to us a spiritual father, interceding for mercy with Almighty God, for we firmly believe that in the spiritual life you will have no less power with God than now."
Indeed, after his death, reports of miraculous interventions by St. Thorlac poured in from all over Iceland and Scandinavia. In several cases, St. Thorlac himself appeared in dreams to his supplicants, assuring them and personally advising them just as he had in life. Recipients of his miracles were inspired to offer prayer and material donations to the poor or to the church in Iceland and pledged to order their lives more closely around God, materially and spiritually.
St. Thorlac, Fatherly Intercessor: Pray For Us!