Mary of Lapland
Lapin Maria
Mary of Lapland
'Mary of Lapland' was the nickname of Milla Clemensdotter, a Saami religious seeker and leader. In the autobiographical account of Lars Levi Laestadius (1800-1861), which contains elements that are to some extent legendary, a certain Mary of Lapland plays a central role in his revivalist conversion in 1844. She was a historical person, whose real name was not Mary but Milla Clemensdotter; Maria is a biblical echo, combining the models of the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdelene and Mary of Bethany. Milla Clemensdotter belonged to the moderate wing of a Swedish non-ecstatic revivalist movement called the Readers (Läsare), which partly had its origins in the Moravian Church. Milla Clemensdotter's own long spiritual search culminated in a powerful revelation of grace that she experienced in Nora in central Sweden at the house of Pastor Brandell, the leader of the moderate Readers .Laestadius met her when he was on a tour of inspection in Åsele in the summer of 1844, and the spiritual discussion he had with her led to his final religious awakening and subsequently to his role as the leader of a revivalist movement.
