Ekovandringen Birgittavägen till Lunds domkyrka

Skånes FagerhultJust south of the border to Småland I met up with a small group of Pilgrims in order to guide them, safe and well, through Scania. End destination Lunds cathedral some 150 km to the south. They have been walking along “Riksettan” the old highway from Markaryd to Skånes Fagerhult.

Intercession

Kungsvägen, the King’s Road, through Skånes Fagerhult was one of the few roads between Denmark and Sweden during the Middle Ages. This was a troubled region. Danish and Swedish armies joined battle here in the Snapphane area, which brought hardship to the local populace.

The church bell from 1572 took part in the wars. The bell tolled in for worship but also warned in case of danger. As it did when the enemy came to ravage and burn. ”If God is with us, then who can be against us”, the engraving on the bell states.

This is where the Pilgrim Way Skåne Blekinge begins, or, if you have travelled from the south, here is where it ends.Pax et bonum! Peace and all good!

Pilgrims preparing supper before a well deserved rest.

ÖrkelljungaNext stop for the pilgrims is Örkelljunga, at a distance of approximatly 16 km. We follow the old railway track from Skånes Fagerhult through Skånes Värsjö, Åsljunga and then Örkelljunga.

A short breakfast break along the old railway bank, just before Skånes Värsjö.

To build an alter

Abraham and Sarah wandered as nomads in the land of

Canaan. Wherever they settled, whether for a long or

short time, Abraham built an altar, a meeting-place with

God. For building material he used what the place could

offer, like earth and stones.

Abraham knew that God went with him wherever he

wandered, but still he needed a holy place to go to.

Every morning when he stepped out of his tent, the altar

reminded Abraham of God’s existence. He and his

people were not alone, the Eternal One had joined them.

Looking in or looking out?

Be like a child

In the beginning Åsljunga Chapel was a school. Between 1914 and 1959 the youngest of the school children walked here every day. It is important to preserve the memories of all the little feet that walked over these floors. They can remind us of what is most essential of all in life.

In the Bible Jesus says that the children are the model for adults. The children carry a secret that makes them able to live closer to God. Jesus urges every adult to try to be like a child.

Welcome to Örkelljunga

A widened room

Örkelljunga Church was probably built in the 14th century. Remnants of the oldest walls can be found in the chancel in the east. Over time as the population increased in the area the room was enlarged in several stages from the 17th century and onwards.

The church has never been torn down to be rebuilt. Instead room after room has carefully been added and incorporated. This is how the walls of the small, simple original church have been stretched to make room for all the people who came seeking God’s face. The borders of the room have been moved because God is boundless. The church room reminds us of a heart stricken by love. The heart widens overflows, throbs, expands!

Every time we walk into Örkelljunga Church we are reminded of God’s heart that has room for every little person on earth.

S:t Petri church, KlippanThe next stage, some 24 km, led us to into Grytåsa recreation area and from there via Rya church ruin the forests of Bjersgård Manor.Before we reached Klippan we filled our water bottles at the Tea-water spring.

Ready for take off, destination Klippan

It seems we raised some attention among the locals

With the sky as a roof

In the 1870’s the roof and interior of Rya medieval church was auctioned off. A new church was built in Eket and the old church was abandoned. But only for a while.

The church is now a ruin with the sky as a roof and daisies as a floor. The simplicity of the room offers the visitor rest, peace and space. The bare walls make no demands. This is a place for listening to the stillness and the silence.

Many pilgrims have filled their bottles at the tea-water spring

Watering the newly planted oak tree in Klippan

KågerödGoing up and going down. We are leaving Klippan to reach Scanias highest situated church in Stenestad. Then we leave the Söderåsen ridge for Kågeröd. Todays walk is about 19 km.

Whole bricks

St Petri Church is unique. Every little part of the room is carrying a deep sense of symbolism. The story about the sacred is told silently but clearly to anyone who takes her time to see and listen.

The church is built with nothing but whole bricks. Not a single one has been cut to fit into the wall. It is told that the architect Sigurd Lewerentz stubbornly rushed in as soon as he heard anyone cracking a brick.

In he Christian symbolism the Church is a fellowship of living stones, of people. The walls of St Petri remind us that every person is unique, holy and inviolable. And they dare us to stubbornly and carefully rush in as soon as someone’s life is threatening to break down.

Beautiful trail up Söderåsen through the beech forest. A must to see in spring

Before Stenestad church we met up with a new group who joined for the day

The mountain

A man lived at the foot of a very small mountain. As often as he could he went up to the top and dreamt away over the wide open spaces. On the way down from the mountain he always felt a little lighter in his heart. He had found new horizons and peace in his soul. That is why he went here.

A friend asked him if he might not want to climb another mountain some time, a mountain that was higher and more intriguing. A mountain where he could see even further. “It does not matter if a person climbs Mount Everest or my little mountain”, the man smiled. “Once you have reached the top you can not get any higher”.

Stenestad Church is the highest situated church in Skåne, 188 metres above sea level. People have come here since the 12th century – to get a little lighter in their hearts and to find peace in their souls.

Lunchbreak at Stenestad church who received us with open doors

Youth group from the church in Kågeröd, assisting with the watering of the oak

Vadensjö - LandskronaWe are leaving the northern part of Scania and entering the plains of the south. We are leaving Kågeröd and are pointing the compass towards Vadensjö and Landskrona, some 20 km away

A small universeThe great astronomer Tycho Brahe was born in 1546 at Knutstorp’s castle close to the village Kågeröd. Both his parents are buried here in the church crypt. Tycho himself is buried in Prague.Tycho Brahe studied all the stars and other celestial bodies carefully. In 1572 he was known throughout Europe for having discovered a new, brilliant star that turned out to be a supernova. His discoveries concerning the Universe formed the basis of an altered world view.Just like Tycho who ventured among the stars and planets of the heavens, every person can venture into her own inner universe. There is always a lot more to a human being than what is visible on the surface.The church father and mystic Origen who lived in the 200’s describes a person’s inner lifejust like a universe. To his contemporaries and to all of us who sometimes feel emptiness and desolation in our inner selves he writes: ”You must understand that you are another world, a small universe; that there is sun and moon inside you, yes, even stars”.

Resting place, Duveke manor on the road to Halmstad village

Angels

The angels live in Halmstad Church. The original church was built in the 12th century. In the 19th century the entire old church was demolished except for the tower and a new one was built on the same spot.Even if the church has changed radically the angels still remain. You can find some of them on the other side of the altar at the easternmost end of the chancel wall. Here in the chancel the parishioners gather for worship. Those who wish stand or kneel at the altar ring to receive the bread and the wine. The altar ring does not look like a ring, but like a semicircle. From this side, you can only see the half circle that is visible. The rest of the circle is on the other side, invisible to our eyes. In this way the angels of heaven and everyone who passed on before us can celebrate mass together with the living. It is the invisible world that makes the circle complete.There are angels even on the pulpit. The Bible tells us about many meetings between people and angels. They whisper words of comfort into people’s ears: ”Have no fear”. ”Do not be afraid”.

The light

The church in Sireköpinge is consecrated to John the Baptist who according to the Bible was a relative to Jesus. John wandered in the deserts of Judea. He called on his countrymen to repent and be baptized by him in the river Jordan. It is written of him that he lived on grasshoppers and wild honey and that his clothes were made out of camel-hair.

John’s mission was to tell about Jesus, not about himself. When Jesus began his mission John sent his disciples over to Jesus. It is the same way with Sireköpinge Church. During the almost 900 years that she has stood here on the hill next to the river Råå she has told about someone other than herself.

On the way to Vadensjö

On arrival in Vadensjö, coffe, tea and home made cinnemon buns

Healing

One can see a long way from Vadensjö Church. On a clear day one can get a glimpse of Öresund and the bridge over the sound. During the Middle Ages Öresund were Danish waters connecting Skåne with the rest of Denmark. Then came the wars between Denmark and Sweden. When the peace treaty was concluded in Roskilde in 1658 Skåne became a Swedish province. But Denmark did not give up its territory. In the summer of 1676 the Danish army disembarked at Råå south of Helsingborg and on 3 August the Danes captured the city of Landskrona.

People in the area have never given up on their church but have faithfully walked up here to heal what has been wrecked. All the hands that have patched, mended and rebuilt the exposed little church throughout the centuries are a picture of God. The faithful, healing God who never gives up on any single person.

Water ceremony in Sofia Albertina church, Landskrona

The ship

A ship is a vessel that carries a person over troubled waters and brings her to undiscovered shores. Maybe that was why the Christian church at an early stage chose the ship as a symbol.

According to tradition, every church building is therefore a ship, the crew is every person who comes into the boat with her longing for the spiritual. Christ is the one at the helm.Sofia Albertina Church was consecrated in 1788. The old church from the 15th century had been torn down by then as it was considered to be too close to the fortress. The new church was built here, on land reclaimed from the sea. A proper place for a boat, a bark.Those who walk into Sofia Albertina Church enter the nave, the big room where the community gathers to worship. In the light, space and stillness in here, one can let oneself be carried for a while. And brought to shores one has never before seen.

S:t Ibb on the island of VenWhat better place for a rest than the island of Ven. Situated between Sweden and Denmark you can see Helsingör, Helsingborg, Malmoe and Copenhagen.

Looking at the bridge between Malmoe and Copenhagen with Turning torso on the Swedish side

The island

Isola means island. Those who travel to an island isolate themselves. Not everyone feels at home on an island. Some stay for a short while only, because the island limits them. For others, the limitation helps them to stop for a while and calm down.St Ibb’s Church is consecrated to James, or Ibb in Danish, the patron saint of pilgrims. The pilgrim is also constantly in motion, constantly on the move. But the pilgrim realizes the importance of stopping for a while each day, to step aside. To find the strength to go on.In the middle of this stream of life from east to west, from north to south the church on top of the island points in another direction, towards heaven. She reminds us that life also has a vertical dimension, easier to reach if you stop for a while, step out of the middle of the whirlwinds of life and find rest like an island in the sea.

BarsebäckThe trail is going south towards Barsebäck village some 19 km away. We are crossing some busy roads and still we feel the impact of the ancient times and the travellors from those days.

Crooked but still growing straight

James

Just inside the doors of Barsebäck Church James, also known as Jacob, greets the visitor. He is the patron of the pilgrims.James was the son of Zebedee the fisherman, brother of John and one of Jesus’ closest disciples. After Jesus’ death and resurrection Herode had James beheaded. According to the Bible he was the first of the apostles to be killed.However, there is a legend that says that James had travelled to Spain earlier as a missionary. James assembled there seven disciples who followed him back to Judea. When James was killed the seven brought his body with them in a boat that was stranded on the coast in northwestern Spain. There they buried him in Sant (Saint) Iago (James/Jacob) de Compostela.James often carries the attributes of a pilgrim. He wears a hat to protect himself from the sun and a cloak to wrap himself in when the nights are cold. He has shoes on his feet, a knapsack on his back and a staff in his hand. The staff is a reminder to James and all other pilgrims of the Invisible One who constantly walks beside every pilgrim.

BjärredWe can almost feel the presence of Lunds cathedral on the way to Bjärred, it is almost as it is watching to see where we are.

Always with me

The Cholera grave yard in Bjärred

Arrival in Bjärred

Lee

In Skåne there is often a strong wind. It blows hard from the sea in the west and moves in over the open, unprotected land. Throughout the centuries the four-sided farm buildings with interior courtyards have given the people of Skåne a windfree room in the middle. A sheltered place, a breathing-space in the storm.

In this way Bergagården with Berga Church was built in the 1970’s. As a traditional Skåne four-sided farm structure. With leeward sides in the middle.

No one lives on Bergagården. This place is for every person who needs a moment for repose and recuperation, for fellowship and peace. But life is lived out there, in the everyday life. And after a while in the lee you walk out again. A little happier. A little bolder and a little less lonely. Even on those days when the storm is blowing hard in your life.

Cathedral of LundFinal stage, 12 km to home. The water will be brought on all the way to Paris. Our group have done our part. For the climate we still have to continue our work.

Watch the entrance to the Cathedral of Lund

Click here

The heart

This place is the heart of the Pilgrim Way, consecrated to St Laurence and Mary, the Mother of Jesus.During the Middle Ages Lund was an important spiritual centre in northern Europe. From the beginning of the 12th century it was the residence of the archbishop. Today the cathedral is the heart of Lund Diocese and a place many call their own.

This is also the place for a young man’s heart. In the summer of 1387 queen Margaret travelled with her son Olof in Skåne. In Falsterbo the inconceivable happened. Olof died, only 17 years old. Margaret brought his remains to Sorø abbey in Denmark. But his young heart she buried here, in the middle of the cathedral, in the floor beside the picture of Mary called “Mary-in-the-middle-ofthe- floor.”

The cathedral was completed in 1145. Before that there was a smaller church from the11th century, and before that a stave church in wood.

Welcome to this holy place! Maybe you can perceive the footprints of all the people who have walked in here before you during these last 1000 years. You are walking on sacred ground.