She seeks “reconciliation with everything from which she had come to feel herself cut off” (152). Years later, Kristin goes back to the monk. Kristin works to make this goal a reality. Kristin’s life can become like the beautiful stained-glass windows in the church or the beautiful tabernacles that Brother Edvin carves. In this manner, He showed us the way and allowed us to see His love” (35).īrother Edvin seems to promise that redemption through the cross is always possible even for poor, “split” human beings. “It was because of God’s mercy toward us that He saw how our hearts were split, and he came down to live among us, in order to taste in fleshly form, the temptations of the devil when he entices us with power and glory and the menace of the world when it offers us blows and contempt and the wounds of sharp nails in our hands and feet. Prophetically, he speaks about God’s mercy, something that will become key to Kristin’s life. Inside a beautiful church, he engages her in theological discussion.

In this light, one of the most important characters is Brother Edvin. The Mercy of God: Forgiveness a Lifelong GoalĪrguably, the story of Kristin Lavransdatter is actually about the mercy of God and our ability to accept it.

Overall, he leads a life of deep holiness and is Kristin’s model. His family finds objects of corporeal punishment in his possession. At one point, Lavrans tells Kristin he considered becoming a monk before his marriage. Lavrans is perhaps the moral compass of the book. Laura seemed to choose an escape route by saying that Trent was more like Kristin’s father, Lavrans. Trent wanted to know if he was the handsome Erlend or the faithful Simon. I hoped that Laura would have some insight, but the conversation between husband and wife fell into silly banter.

One fan asked Laura to name her favorite book, and my ears perked up when she said Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset. Many of the questions related to Trent, but some of the fans had written more personal questions, unrelated to Trent. In his latest podcast, Trent asked his wife, Laura Horn, to answer questions addressed to her from his fans. He also has his own podcast, The Council of Trent. Trent Horn is a Catholic apologist and author who often appears on Catholic Answers.

Kristin lavransdatter catholic