Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-04-29
noRwAY's pATRok SAINT.

/
Hing Olaf and His Shrine In the Fsmous
Trondhjem Cathedral.
From Norway comes word that ap.
plications are to be made to the Stor-
thing to double the yearly appropria-
ton of forty thousand crowns for the
restoration of the famous Trondhjem
cathedral, as it is feared the present
generation will scarcely see the build
ing completed unless means can be OBJ
tanned to increase the working forces.
The enterprise of rebuilding the noble
pile being one of national interest, of
equal concern to both political parties.
it is thought more suitable to seek it
from the public funds than to demand
from the local authorities larger sum
than the twenty thousand crowns an
nually added to the Government
award. The cathedral is, in a certain
way, monument to that bold warrior
in the cause of Christianity, King Olaf,
the saint whose death at Sticklestadt
in 1880 elevated him to the dignity of
a martyr. He became the patron saint
of Norway, and was adored in foreign
countries, whittier his name had wan
dered, as well as in the land of his ma
tivity. Numerous are the incidents
cited in proof of his sanctity and of the
peculiar virtue possessed by his dead
body, and the vast structure,
which is the glory of the land,
is chiefly the result OF gifts
placed by pilgrims from all quarters of
Europe on the shrine of the Blessed
Saint. The cathedral was consecrated
in 1898. Frequent extensions and en-
bellishments were made to it until in
the year 1900 it had reached its highest
stage of development and had become
what, despite the ravages Of time, it
still is-the most magnificent ecclesi-
astical edifice in the three Scandinavian
Kingdoms. The length of the build
ing from east to west is 1926 feet. Its
western facade, made rich with the
carved figures of saints, is 1874 feet
wide. 1t had originally twenty-four
affairs of precious metals, studded with
jewels, and beneath the altar that
stood on the precise spot where the
body of Olaf had first been buried were
deposited the Saints remains in a sill
yer shrine weighing $500 Norwegian
ounces, outside of which were three
wooden chests, mounted in gold and
silver and adorned with jewels. Very
early the cathedral showed signs of de-
cay, the confiagrations of 1928, 1882
and 1881 swept over it with devouring
flames, and the entire western wing
became heap of ruins. The affairs,
with their splendid decorations, were
removed, and St. Olaf's shrine. after
sundry adventures, among them a trip
to Copenhagen and a triumphal return |
to Trondhjem, was finally deposited in
place to this day unknown. The
fate of this cathedral is believed to be
peculiarly interlinked with the desti-
MES of Norway. When Norsemen held
sway it flourished. During the four
hundred years of subsection to Den
mark it lay in ruins. With the dawn
of independence awoke the desire to
do honor to the grand old monument
of the past, and with the growth of ma
tional vigior grows the determination
to see it speedily restored to its former
splendor. According to the constitu-
ton of 1914 the coronation of the sover-
eign must take place in the cathedral |
at Trondhjem, and there his Majesty
were crowned in 1873. 1t is said that |
the visitors to the land of the midnight |
sun who make pilgrimages to the
Trondhjem Cathedral to-day far ex-
coed in numbers the pilgrims to the
shrine of st. Olaf in the days of yore.-
Chicago Tribune.