Towards the close of the fifteenth century, a child born of poor parents in this very town had at an early age displayed great intelligence; and his father had applied his small savings to the cost of having the lad educated by the monks. He frequently embarrassed his masters by the unexpected questions which he put to them. Lawrence Anderson (this was his name) devoted himself to the Church; spent, it seems, some time at Rome in his youth, visited other European countries, and, after his return to his native land, became one of the priests of the cathedral of Strengnaes. Olaf, on his arrival at this town, made the acquaintance of Lawrence, talked with him of the faith which inspired him, and had no difficulty in inducing him to receive the evangelical doctrine. Anderson, who had some time before been appointed archdeacon, felt the inadequacy of the Roman system. To have won him over to the side of the Reformation in Sweden was a fact of great importance, for he was distinguished not only for his intelligence, his attainments, and his eloquence, but his prudence and enterprising spirit.
After the bishop’s death, the administration of the diocese devolved on Lawrence as archdeacon until the election of a new prelate. Under his protection Olaf preached in several churches of the town. He proclaimed energetically that ‘no one ought to trust in mortal beings, such as the Virgin and the saints, but in God alone; that the preaching of God’s Word was of far greater importance than the celebration of mass; that evangelical truth had not been preached in Sweden for centuries; and that confession of our sins ought to be made from the heart to God alone, and not at all to the priest.’ These doctrines, which were joyfully welcomed by many, were by others stoutly rejected. Among those who heard them, no one felt more indignation than Doctor Nils, one of the leading members of the chapter, and an enthusiastic partisan of Rome. He resolutely asserted that Olaf was preaching heresies, and he endeavored to confute the Christian doctrines which the reformer proclaimed, but without success. ‘What,’ said he, ‘reject dogmas and abolish practices which have been for so many ages universally adopted in Christendom!’ But Olaf, under Anderson’s protection, continued to proclaim the truth from the pulpit, and maintained it likewise in disputations which were frequently very stormy.[387]