Árdís - 01.01.1964, Page 35

Ársrit Bandalags lúterskra kvenna
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were the outcasts of society, could find shelter, comfort, under-
standing, and, above all, the hope of a new and better way of
life. Ólafía’s work, or perhaps more correctly, sacrifice, was a
labor of love to the unlovely whom only God and Ólafía loved. No
better description of her work could be given than in the lines
of Longfellow:
Other hope had she none, nor wish in life, but to follow
Meekly, with reverent steps, the sacred feet of her Saviour.
Thus many years she lived as a Sister of Mercy . . .
Ólafía’s work was a work of faith. An interesting episode is
related by Ingibjörg Ólafsson, one of Ólafía’s best friends. Visiting
Ólafía one evening and finding her sitting by a window and happy
as a child, she asked, “What were you thinking about today?”
“I was talking with God,” answered Ólafía.
“What were you talking with Him about?”
“I asked Him to give me some food.”
“Didn’t you have anything to eat?”
“No.”
She went on to relate how Ólafía had gone out early that
morning to meet a girl being released from jail. Two or three
girls already were staying with her. Later that afternoon while
walking downtown without having had anything to eat, Ólafía
met a lady from the country who handed her 10 kronur which a
neighbor had asked her to give Ólafía.
Gradually the'work grew and, along with it, interest and sup-
port. More girls were being helped. The nearly twenty years of
devoted service for her Saviour and the unfortunate girls of Oslo
is well told in Ólafía Jóhannsdóttir’s book, The Most Unforiunate,
first written in Norwegian and later translated into Icelandic. One
of these stories has been translated into English under the title,
“The Waiting Shadow,” by Bishop Charles Venn Pilcher, late of
Sydney.
The work was not easy and Ólafía labored, often with ill
health, until 1920 when she returned to Iceland for a long needed
rest. Although Ólafía had been away from Iceland for many years,
she never ceased to love and pray for her beloved island home far