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St. Ann
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| Posted: July 23 2012 at 5:46am | IP Logged
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We are spending our vacation in Sweden right now and I wanted to share some observations and thoughts that are maybe interesting to others... I don't know if there are any swedish descendants on this board? any Minnesotians? any Garrison Kiellor(sp) fans? 
Have any of you read The Emigrants or seen the movie with Liv Ulman and Max von Sydow? Somehow tragic if I remember the film correctly. My dh is reading the 4 bands (on the 3rd right now) and is snickering every now and then between sighs. The emigrants are actually from the same area where we are spending our holidays, Smaland.
The countryside and architecture is very similar to that of what I have seen in the rural midwest. I recognize more of the Swedish influence in the wooden homes and farms of those areas.
For Sunday Mass we had to drive 40 minutes to the next Catholic Church. It is very small and only 25 others attending Mass. The Priests are from Poland and the Parishioners are from foreign countries or converts. I spoke to an older swedish woman (in English) during coffee after Mass who converted at age 16. She told me she learned about Martin Luther in school and "hated" him. She just felt at home in the RC church. Her twin sister joined her. Almost everyone went to the parish home to break the fast with bread, cheese, fruit and pastries. There are so few of them they know each other.
This same woman told me her impression of the Swedish National Church- Lutheran. "You can believe or not believe anything you want to be Lutheran, even to deny the divinity of Jesus, BUT if you do not accept women priests you are out, expelled from the church!!!" The more orthodox, theologically sound men in the Lutheran church are not following their call to priesthood because of this. I asked if they were looking towards the Catholic church instead like the Anglicans. She denied this. "The culture is totally secular" I asked her more about the Lutheran churches, because of the statues of Mary, the votive candles and other very "Catholic" attributes, which surprised me (in Germany it is different). "Yes, they like these Catholic things and have acquired them in the last years to attract more people and get them at an emotional level..."
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Stephanie
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guitarnan
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| Posted: July 23 2012 at 7:04am | IP Logged
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How interesting! Our Swedish friends just visited us and we had many conversations about the differences between our cultures - but religion didn't come up in any great detail, even though they are Lutheran.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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St. Ann
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| Posted: July 23 2012 at 8:20am | IP Logged
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Sorry to break off so abruptly. Our internet connection is very poor ...
Nancy, I am learning so much I don't know where to begin... The Lutheran experience in Sweden is totally different than the German or the English reformation. The Reformation interests me very much, especially the german experience. I learned that the Reformation in Sweden was only a political move. There was no destruction of Churches and statues... simply put, the king told the people that he was the head of the swedish church...there were no great theological discussions. The connection to Rome was simply broken. Now, this is all very simply put, but I have never heard of any great swedish martyrs of the Reformation???? This maybe unfair of me, because I have not read up on the history myself, my information comes from my contacts here. Today is the Feast day of St. Brigitta of Sweden. It is not even recognized nationally in any way???
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Stephanie
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guitarnan
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| Posted: July 23 2012 at 9:10am | IP Logged
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My friends told me that Swedes don't even do much celebration on their national holiday...they found American and Canadian patriotism very refreshing.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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Marcia
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| Posted: July 24 2012 at 4:04am | IP Logged
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Oh it sounds lovely to be there. I have family in Sweden. Cousins. My extended family from MN are now in Sweden visiting!
I too just picked up the book The Emigrants when we were in MN about 3 months ago for my 13 year old to read for school this fall. :)
Those of my family who came to the US were Lutheran, but switched to Protestantism when they got a few generations in....
Enjoy your time. Will you get to the sea? That's what I dream of. Sailing on the sea.
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Marcia
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stellamaris
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My grandfather came with his cousin as a young man from a northern town named Ornskoldsvik. He settled first in Wisconsin, and then moved to the Seattle area. He worked in the lumber business his entire life, managing the Dickman Lumber Mill in Tacoma, Washington. He never returned to Sweden. He had the bluest eyes--a Viking blue.
We have kept contact with our Swedish cousins, visiting back and forth over the years. I remember that our experience with Sunday Mass in Stockholm was a lot like yours, Stephanie. We took a cab, and the cab driver had no idea where the Church was. I thought there would have been some kind of cathedral in Stockholm, but it was just a rented space on the first floor of an office building. I also couldn't help but think of St. Brigitta! How sad she would have been to see the almost complete loss of the Catholic faith in Sweden. Plus, there is really not any other faith there, either. But I do think people there are searching.
Great books to enjoy:-
For moms: Kristin Lavransdatter
A poignant story of the life of a young Norwegian girl in the 1300's by Catholic author and Nobel prize winner Sigrid Undset.
For upper elementary/middle school or older: Song of the Pines: A Story of Norwegian Lumbering in Wisconsin This book is a
Newberry honor from 1950 that tells the story of a Norwegian boy who came to Wisconsin in the early 1800's. Great story, and a typical experience for many Scandinavian immigrants.
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In Christ,
Caroline
Wife to  dh 30+ yrs,ds's 83,85,89,dd's 91,95,ds's 01,01,02,grammy to 4
Flowing Streams
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St. Ann
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| Posted: July 24 2012 at 3:06pm | IP Logged
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We just spent the morning in an Emigrants Museum in Växjö. The Museum is not large, but very informative about the wave of swedish immigrants beginning the middle of the 19th century all to North America. Vilhelm Moberg worked with this Museum obtaining original documents and personal interviews and donating them.
Marcia, I think you better read the books before you let your 13yr old read them. A lot of ..."realistic fallen nature" is clearly stated in the stories of the different characters of the book. My dh said, that it isn't vulgar, but still very adult. In fact, a Swede accused Moberg of pornography and eroticism and had him charged here in Sweden. I don't think anything ever came of it. That was in the 50's or 60's.
Did you know that the Bishop of Sweden (yes, the whole country is 1 diocese) is the first Swede since the Reformation!?!?! In the past many Germans have filled this position.
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Stephanie
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Marcia
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| Posted: July 25 2012 at 7:31am | IP Logged
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Thanks stephanie for the heads up about the Emigrants book. I will pre-read it this month before I put it in her "free reading" pile. :)
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Marcia
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JennGM
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I'm finding this so interesting, Stephanie!
Did you watch the documentary called The Nun? So beautiful, and it did mirror some of the things you mention.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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St. Ann
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Yes, Jenn, I did see that documentary in 2009 on EWTN. I was just looking up that Convent and it is further south on the west coast near Helsingborg, where we came ashore from the ferry. I was really tempted to make a little pilgrimage there... The nuns are in "Clausur", so there could be no contact. My dd2 celebrated her Name Day on Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and that inspired me to reread the little book about a Carmelite Nun's letters to her parents...the title has slipped my mind...
Marcia, my dh suggested just copying excerpts of the book for your 13yr old to read, there is so much great information and experience that it could be given out in little doses according to maturity , etc... over the years. It must be fascinating to still know family in Sweden and have this connection. I am sure that you will be deeply moved by these books, knowing that your own family may have had similar experiences.
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Stephanie
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St. Ann
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Marcia I forgot to mention that we were at the beach of the North Sea! We didn't sail, but we are reading "Swallows and Amazons" as a read a loud right now, just to get in the mood  As in Minnesota there are hundreds of small and large lakes here. We have a canoe to use, but no sail boat. (We will pretend!)
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Stephanie
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St. Ann
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stellamaris wrote:
experience with Sunday Mass in Stockholm was a lot like yours, Stephanie. We took a cab, and the cab driver had no idea where the Church was. I thought there would have been some kind of cathedral in Stockholm, but it was just a rented space on the first floor of an office building. I also couldn't help but think of St. Brigitta! How sad she would have been to see the almost complete loss of the Catholic faith in Sweden. Plus, there is really not any other faith there, either. But I do think people there are searching.
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Caroline, I think you are right about the people searching. It is also saddening that the Catholic churches here are not so beautiful. I have never really experienced true diaspora before now. In the area of Germany where I live I can walk to Holy Mass every single day and I have a choice. Do I walk to Heilig Geist or St. Marien or St. Pankratius??? Mind you I know this will not continue forever, alas.
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Stephanie
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4Real Forums : Across Time and Place
Topic: Sweden
