St. Henry of Sweden was an English bishop who is traditionally credited with the evangelization of Finland. Henry was the bishop of Uppsala, a city in Eastern Sweden.
According to his vita (the legend of his life), which was written nearly one hundred years after his death, Henry was born in the early twelfth century and reigned in the See of Uppsala as King Eric of Sweden ruled the country. Apparently, the episcopal leader and the monarch got along swimmingly, and Henry’s biographer blissfully describes this period in Sweden as Christendom at its finest. Turning his attention eastward, King Eric, decided to do battle with the pagan Finns, who were separated from Uppsala by the Gulf of Bothnia, but apparently too close for comfort for Eric. Some legends attribute Eric’s campaign against the Finns as retaliatory measures for their plundering activities in Sweden. Other sources say that Eric and Henry worked in tandem, and their motivations were largely evangelical. By conquering the Finns, the bishop and the king hoped to win them over to Christianity.

Whatever their true motivations, King Eric and Bishop Henry conquered Finland, and subsequently baptized the locals and built churches. The Catholic Cathedral in Helsinki, Finland’s capital city, is named in Henry’s honor, to recognize the credit that Finnish Christians give to this bishop for giving them their faith.

King Eric returned to his home in Sweden, but Henry stayed in Finland, as he loved serving as a missionary in Finland rather than ruling Uppsala like royalty. Henry was murdered by a soldier named Lalli. Lalli was a baptized Christian who had murdered another soldier. After examining the case, Henry excommunicated Lalli, who flew into a rage and struck Henry with an ax. The murder of Henry is believed to have occurred in the year 1156. Immediately after Henry’s death, his legend records, many miracles began to occur around his tomb and in the surrounding towns: children were raised from the dead, a blind woman’s eyesight was restored, fishermen survived terrible storms at sea.

St. Henry is an important figure in the medieval history of Finland and there are a plethora of colorful poems and legends written about his life. The following (somewhat vindictive!) verses are from a seventeenth-century ballad about his life:

Now the bishop is in joy,
Lalli in evil torture.
The bishop sings with the angels,
Performs a joyful hymn.
Lalli is skiing down in hell.
His left ski slides along.
Into the thick smoke of torture.
With his staff he strikes about:
Demons beset him cruelly.
In the swelter of hell
They assail his pitiful soul.
The image above reflects the tone of these verses, as it depicts St. Henry trampling on the body of his murderer, Lalli, who holds an ax.

Devotion to St. Henry, which spread throughout Finland over subsequent centuries, is a beautiful testament to the pride that countries throughout the globe have taken in their origin stories of the brave men and women who have brought the Good News of Christ to their homeland.

St. Henry of Sweden, bishop, missionary, and martyr—pray for us!