St. Thorfinn
In the year 1285, there died in the Cistercian monastery at TerDoest, near Bruges, a Norwegian bishop named Thorfinn. He had never attracted particular attention and was soon forgotten. But over fifty years later, in the course of some building operations, his tomb in the Church was opened and it was reported that the remains gave out a strong and pleasing spell. The Abbot made inquiries and found that one of his monks, and aged man named Walter de Muda, remembered Bishop Thorfinn staying in there monastery and the impression he had made of gentle goodness combined with strength. Father Walter had in fact, written a poem about him after his death and hung it up over his tomb. It was then found that the parchment was still there, none the worse for the passage of time. This was taken as a direction from on high that the Bishop's memory was to be perpetuated, and Father Walter was instructed to write down his recollections of him. For all that, there is little enough known about St. Thorfinn. He was a Trondhjem man and perhaps was a Canon of the Cathedral of Nidaros, since there was such a one named Thorfinn among those who witnessed the agreement of Tonsborg in 1277. This was an agreement between King Magnus VI and the Archbishop of Nidaros confirming certain privileges of the clergy, the freedom of episcopal elections and similar matters. Some years later, King Eric repudiated this agreement, and a fierce dispute between Church and state ensued. Eventually the King outlawed the Archbishop, John, and his two chief supporters, Bishop Andrew of Oslow and Bishop Thorfinn of Hamar. Bishop Thorfinn, after many hardships, including shipwreck, made his way to the Abbey of TerDoest in Flanders, which had a number of contacts with the Norwegian Church. It is possible that he had been there before, and there is some reason to suppose he was himself a Cistercian of the Abbey of Tautra, near Nidaros. After a visit to Rome he went to TerDoest, in bad health. Indeed, though probably still a youngish man, he saw death approaching and so made his will; he had little to leave, but what there was, he divided between his mother, his brothers and sisters, and certain monasteries, churches and charities in his dioceses. He died shortly after on January 8, 1285. After his recall to the memory of man as mentioned in the opening paragraph of this notice, miracles were reported at his tomb and St. Thorfinn was venerated by the Cistercians and around Bruges. In our own day, his memory has been revived among the few Catholics of Norway, and his feast is observed in his episcopal city of Hamar. The tradition of Thorfinn's holiness ultimately rests on the poem of Walter de Muda, where he appeared as a kind, patient, generous man, whose mild exterior covered a firm will against whatever he esteemed to be evil and ungodly. His feast day is January 8th.
Previous Saint
< St. Thorlac Thorhallsson
Next Saint
St. Thordgith >
Rate This Saint
1 - 20 of 21 Comments
Leave a Comment
Previous Saint
< St. Thorlac Thorhallsson
Next Saint
St. Thordgith >
Find Saints
Catholic Online offers the largest searchable database of Catholic Saints on the internet.
| Browse Saints by Alphabet |
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
| Patron Saints by Alphabet |
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
Videos
St. Francis of Assisi 78,993 views View Video
Padre Pio 47,420 views View Video
Black Saints Vol I 30,637 views View Video
Black Saints Vol II 27,167 views View Video
Most Popular
Pope Francis says atheists can do good and go to heaven too! Read More
California teenager invents device that can charge cell phone in 20 seconds - flat Read More
Receiving the Eucharist: I Have Decided to Kneel For Jesus Read More
Culture of Corruption: Why Obama's misuse of Marines is wrong Read More
British soldier hacked to death in brazen attack by Islamic terrorists, stopped by prayerful, courageous women Read More
Daily Readings
Reading 1, Sirach 17:1-15
The Lord fashioned human beings from the earth, to consign them ... Read More
Psalm, Psalms 103:13-14, 15-16, 17-18
As tenderly as a father treats his children, so Yahweh treats ... Read More
Gospel, Mark 10:13-16
People were bringing little children to him, for him to touch ... Read More
Saint of the Day
St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi
May 25: It would be easy to concentrate on the mystical experiences God ... Read More
Latest Videos
Commento al Vangelo del 26 Maggio 2013 a cura di don Domenico Luciani View Video
May 25 - Homily: Ask Mary To Send Her Spouse View Video
May 25 - Homily: Our Lady of Consolation View Video
Reign of Love - 2 Pillars #36 View Video
Rottweiler Puppies in a Easter Basket View Video
Marketplace
The Catholic Bible ; Personal study edition , NAB Read More
Olive Wood Rosary Beads
Wood Cord Large Bead Rosary made with genuine olive wood imported ... Read More
Lydia,
Lighten up! Clearly the editor is human.
Lovely article. Thanks for posting. Gentle reminder to edit out the excess commas and review "there vs their". Also the sentence below the comment box says "Send me important information from Catholic Online and it's partners"---there should not be an apostrophe s used here. When used llike this it means "it is" and I think you meant to use possessive case : ) Blame grammar check
I am needed to make a saint report before i make my confermation. is he a good saint to do my report on. I am intreeged by him, but im not sure if he is a good saint to do the teport on. the critera for the essay is:
Saints Name
Full Name then there nick name.
If they have a feast day
place of birth
birth day
Information on the saints family
What is there Occupation. and info
What they did when they were alive
How they died. must be signifigant
Virtues or good deedes they did
what attracted me to pick this saint
how they are a good role modele
tell me if you think he is a good saint for this essay!
thank you if you respond.
Please pray for Jacob that he finds the right path, for his mother that the doctors can slow the progression of her disease and for all cancer patients, that we deal with our disease with grace and dignity. Thank you.
Dear saint,
Pray for me to be firm in my faith and hate whatever is evil and love everything that is good. Blessed saint help me to be sincere in small things with great devoting and love. Amen.
St. Thorfinn, my favorite intercessor, please continue to pray and intercede for me.
St.Thorfinn please pray for me and my family
god bless
Amen
8th jan 2013:st thorfinn pray for us!
Scandinavia is slipping away from the Catholic Church and needs much prayer. Can I ask readers to pray for those recent immigrant, and now lapsed Catholics, who have gone to live there and have ditched the faith which they once had. And, sadly, they have failed to pass it on to their children.
The Catholic Church in these countries does excellent work and we need to support them with increased prayer for the clergy and men and women religious who continue to keep the faith alive in these secular countries. Who are turning back to their mythological paganism around our great Christian feasts and mixing up the two.
And, yet, Scandinavia has produced a number of fine saints and it is good to pray to these men and women and to ask for their intercessory prayers in helping to provide modern missionaries to take their place. St. Bridget and St. Thorfinn pray for them.
is there a St. Dianne?
I saw my comment written an year back. St. Thorfin is my favorite intercessor. Thank you St. Thorfin for helping me with your prayers.
St. Thorfinn thank you for giving me peace of mind and a joyful Sunday, which is also the Feast of the Epiphany. May the coming of the the Son of God as Infant Jesus, remind of God's love for us. Help us to make changes in our lives that demonstrate our response to God's love and mercy. Amen
Here's someone to pray to for the virtue of humility!
Dear St. Thorfinn pray for all of us today. Help me in finding solutions to immediate problems. I need your prayerful and powerful assistance in answer to my request. Amen
Dear st. Thorfin, Pray for me to be steadfast and firm in loving God and others!
Another example of holiness. Blessed be God in all His angels, saints, blesseds and martyrs.
Anthony UK
When they opened his coffin, they sensed a strong but pleasing smell not 'spell' as the text online reads. This evidence from his remains is called the "odor of sanctity" in the church. This should be corrected for future reference. Thanks
A very informative article; however, there are a couple of very obvious grammatical errors:
"staying in there monastary" should be their
"divided between his mother, his brothers and sisters, and certain monastaries" should be among
To Whom It May Concern:
Thank you for posting this lovely event. What a wonderful man Saint Torfinn was. I pray I could afford to make it to his tomb, among many other very important places that carry our traditions on. In my opinion, that is very important.
Thank You!
Praying for a Miracle!
In The Name Of Christ,
Catherine
Texas
Thank you for your detailed and interesting information about our Saints. It is useful for me personally and for my daily preaching.
Fr Wladyslaw Kloc SDB - Samara (Russia)