Lögberg-Heimskringla - 25.04.1963, Blaðsíða 6

6
LÖGBERG-HEIMSKRINGLA, FIMMTUDAGINN 25. APRÍL 1963
Churches I Visited In lceland
By Mrs. Lalah Johannson
The first church service we
attended was at Akranes.
Here I made the discovery
that the choir and organ are
in a loft at the back of the
church. The service is con-
ducted differently than ours,
and very noticeable are the
robes or vestments worn by
the ministers. These beautiful
elaborate robes are similar to
the robes worn by Catholic
priests when saying Mass.
The altar cloth in this
church defies true description.
Several clever needlewomen,
working eight hours a day,
required a year to complete
it. It shows Christ and the two
thieves upon the crosses, and
on first seeing it, one gasps in
amazement. The bodies are
made from pigskin, so skill-
fully touched with color that
it is difficult to believe it is
not human flesh, it looks so
life-like. The muscles of these
figures are padded in such
clever fashion that they show
the agony of strain and suf-
fering: never have I seen the
crucifixion scene so agoniz-
ingly real before. As one
studies this scene in the
quietness of the church one’s
own muscles seem to ache and
one’s heart almost bursts
with true pity for our dear
Lord’s suffering. It is one of
those rare pictures that
stamps itself indelibly upon
one’s mind. This crucifixion
scene is done on a background
of soft grey, bordered by black
and red satin, upon which has
been embroidered in gold
thread the church symbols.
Hólakirkja
Our next Sunday service
was at Holar in Hjaltadal. We
were fortunate in being at
Holar on a festive day known
as “Holar day”. This church
celebration takes place once a
,year I was told, and is looked
forward to and attended by
people from miles around. We
journeyed from Akureyri to
Holar and were accompanied
by many friends, among them
Bishop Fridrik Rafnar, who
took part in the services, and
his charming dainty wife.
There have been Christian
services of some kind at Holar
for nine hundred years, and
the present church is one
hundred and eighty-six years
old. One would indeed have
to be void of all feeling not
to sense the spiritual vibra-
tions emanating from this
sacred place. I’m sure the
treasures we saw in Holar
church are priceless, especial-
ly the wooden box affairs
above the altar (they look
much like our modern box
frames for petitpoint pictures)
showing the principal figures
of Christianity during Christ’s
life on earth. There is Jesus;
Mary, mother of Jesus; the
disciples; and old biblical
prophets. These doll-like
figures are carved from wood
and stand in these open box
frames. The carving is rather
crude as we know carving to-
day, the paint is dull and
chipped, but, their well-pre-
served condition, as a whole,
is remarkable, when one
realizes the fact that they
were carved in or about 1520,
which makes them 427 years
old, and all these years they
have been exposed without
benefit of glass protection.
I was told that the only other
known work of this kind is
somewhere in the Tyrol. In
Holar church, also, is a Bible
which was translated into
Icelandic in the year 1584 by a
Bishop Gudbrandur Thorlaks-
son; also, on the wall, above
the pews, hangs a huge wood-
en cross bearing the crucified
Christ; this was carved some
time between thirteen and
fourteen hundred A.D. I think
these are unique possessions
for any church.
At the school at Holar
which is a distance of two
short city blocks from the
church, we formed into a pro-
cession, led by Bishop Rafnar
and four ministers, all looking
very impressive in their black
gowns and snowy white ruffed
collars, and marched slowly
to the church. We entered the
church through a side door
known as the “Ladies’ Door”,
for in the early days the
Bishop’s wife and her attend-
ing ladies used this door,
hence the name “Ladies’
Door”. Once inside the church
we were ushered to a stalllike
pew. The entrance and exit
to this pew is through a gate
that is locked or latched once
the people are in. We were
certainly enclosed now, for in
front of us, half way up, was
a wooden wall, above this, a
grill or lattic work affair.
While sitting down we could
see nothing of what was tak-
ing place at the altar, but on
rising to sing the hymn we
could peek through the grill
and see the ministers and
choir. Not being able to see
what was taking place or und-
erstand the language spoken,
I was left very much to my
own thoughts, and strange
though it may seem, I derived
a great deal of spiritual solace
from the service. Here in the
church of Holar we of the
West were signally honored
by being presented with gold
and blue enameled pins. This
pin is being sold in Iceland
to raise funds for the building
of a bell-tower for the Holar
church. This tower commem-
orated the four hundredth
anniversary of the death of
the famous Bishop Jon Arason
in 1950.
V íðimýr akirk j a
Next, we visited the pet of
old churches on the island, at
least I shall always think of it
as my pet of churches. It is
not as old in years as some,
but it stands today exactly as
it was built 130 years ago, a
small turf church almost
minature-like in appearance,
both inside and out. The in-
terior is of very rough lumber
and the pulpit is crudely
painted in garish colors—I
could have wept for the little
gaily painted angels whose
features were so sorely out of
proportion, but I’m sure they
served the noble task of in-
spiring early worshippers. The
tiny organ still gives out
tuneful melody. On the after-
noon of our visit to this dear
delightful little church, Petur
Sigurgeirsson, our travelling
guide and constant compan-
ion, gave a private service for
us, and Einar Páll Jónsson
played the hymns on the tiny
sweet-sounding organ. When
you go to Iceland do visit this
little turf church at Vidimyri
(Wide Meadows). I’m sure you
wil be thrilled and impressed
with it as much if not more
than I was.
Some Recolleclion
Framhald frá bls. 5.
vided us with a fresh store-
house of happy memories.
The traveller leaves Iceland
with a feeling of admiration
and of wonder that the few
people of this island situated
hundreds of miles to the north
west of Europe could preserve
their ancient culture and con-
tinue to develop their own
traditions and trade. Surely
this small country has, over
the last thousand years, made
an enduring contribution to
the world out of all proportion
to its size and population. It
was in the year 874, A.D. that
Ingólfur Arnarson from Nor-
way, began the permanent
settlement of Iceland. For 75
years prior to this date many
thousands of Norsemen had
sailed westward to settle in
the north of Ireland, in Scot-
land and the Hebrides. They
left Norway to escape the op-
pression of King Harold, the
fairhaired, who had subdued
all the smalier principalities
and brought them under his
rule. Many of their descend-
ants togéther with their kins-
men from Norway migrated
again further west and north
to Iceland, and later to Green-
land and in the year 1000
A.D. to North America. These
facts of history explains the
present kinship between the
people of Iceland and of Nor-
way, Scotland and Ireland.
The descendants of these
Vikings who settled in Iceland
,and established the first re-
presentative Parliament in the
world in the year 930 A.D.
have continued to bequeath
through successive gener-
ations a rich and colorful
heritage.
TRAVEL TIPS
PASSPORT
Every Canadian citizen
needs a Canadian passport to
travel in Europe. It costs $5
and is valid for five years. It
pan be renewed for another
five years for $2. Ask your
travel agent for the passport
form and send it, with two
photos and $5 to the Passport
Office, Department of Ex-
fernal Affairs, 40 Bank Street,
Ottawa, Ontario. Visa is not
required for European travel.
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