Norway gets New Patron Saint
St. Sunniva was a saint
of Irish descent, the
daughter of an Irish king.
She is a patron saint of
the western part of
Norway. The worshipping
of St. Sunniva started up
in connection with the
monastery of Selje, a
municipality in Sogn og
Fjordane. Sogn og
Fjordane is a county in
the western parts of
Norway.
brother, Albanus, her
friends, and some
servants. She and her
people finally resided on
a small island in Norway
by the name of Selja. Her
faith had made her put a
lot of trust in God on her
long journey across the
North Sea. She did not
have any ideas about a
final destination, nor did
she bring along any
clothes or weapons for
the journey.
Tragedy
Snatched
The new patron saint was
the daughter of an Irish
king who inherited his
kingdom, and became
wealthy as a result of
this. A heathen Viking
invaded her kingdom
causing her a lot of grief,
because he wanted to
marry Sunniva. As
Sunniva did not want to
marry a heathen, she told
her people that she was
forced to flee the realm,
and those who wished to
remain Christians needed
to do the same thing. A
lot of people followed
along, as she ended up
on the outskirts of the
western coast of Norway.
Among which were her
Sunniva and her group
stayed for a long time on
Selja, serving God, and
living off the fish they
caught from the sea.
Nearby Selja, there was
a village. When the
inhabitants of the village
went looking for several
of the cattle they had lost,
they noticed some
strangers on the island of
Selja. The villagers
considered them to be
villains, and told their earl
Haakon about it. A group
of Haakon’s men were
sent to kill the inhabitants
of Selja. When those on
Selja noticed this, they
went hiding in a cave,
and prayed to God that
the armed men could not
get hold of them. The
cave collapsed and killed
the people of Selja, but
they were also made
unreachable for the earl’s
men.
miracle
At a later stage, some
merchants were sailing
on the outside of the
island, as they saw a
column of bright light
from the island that
reached up to the sky. To
satisfy their curiosity,
they approached the
island and noticed an
illuminated human’s head
and a pleasant odour.
The Christian king, Olav
Tryggvason and his men
heard the story, and went
to Selja to see for
themselves. There they
collected the bones to
some of those who had
died. They also found the
remains of Sunniva and
her brother Albanus, and
their bodies were
complete. The bodies
were enshrined, and
Sunniva’s body was sent
to the city of Bjørgvin.
Her brother Albanus’
remains were buried on
Selja, and a church was
raised on the burial site,
in his and her honour.