Author Lemmikki Louhimies has self-published a new fact-based novel about Saint Henry’s life and reflections in Finland. Below is a short interview. The book is written in Finnish.
Lemmikki Louhimies, you have written a fact-based novel titled The Heavenly Ears of Saint Henry. It was published in September. What exactly is a fact-based novel? Is it true or fictional? Imagination or fact?
Perhaps it is my educated guess, my hypothesis: what if Saint Henry’s and King Eric’s baptismal journey really happened this way? The truth may shine through the words, as Serafim Seppälä says. It is a literary work in which I have used facts as inspiration. I wanted to tell of Henry’s and King Eric’s growth in order to portray the era behind their journey.
What inspired you to choose this subject?
One source of inspiration was Juha Ruohola’s research on Ravattula Ristimäki, where a burial site and the ruins of a church have been discovered along the Aura River. Archaeological excavations show that faith had reached this region already before the year 1150.
So it was about bringing Christianity to Finland in the 12th century?
According to current knowledge, it had arrived earlier but remained a small minority. Some burial sites around churches have been found, but most people believed in malevolent spirits and sorcery.
Your book also features an invented character, the skiing Finn Oskari. Why?
Oskari was needed in the story to depict the dark world of superstition that existed in the minds of the pagans of that time. People believed in evil spirits and witches.
So Christianity did not come to empty minds?
No, people here believed in Ahti, the Bear, and many malevolent spirits. There were witches, forest spells, and nightmares. There was Ukko, Kade, and Kalma.
Would you say it was a baptismal journey or a crusade? How warlike is your Henry?
The Henry I wrote about wanted to make the journey but strove for nonviolence. He was reluctant about crusades, yet he went. The book asks: is it more important to baptize, or to baptize “correctly” to the last letter? Could one think that those baptisms were emergency baptisms?
There are also other saints in the book, and on the back cover smiles the newly canonized Saint Carlo Acutis. What does he have to do with Saint Henry?
Both are beloved by God. Carlo Acutis was a teenage boy who used the internet to spread God’s message and avoided spending time on anything that God would not have liked.
The story intertwines history and the present day. You must have had a clear reason for that choice?
Yes. The saints have not remained only in history but are still active, and new ones arise. If one doubts the miracles attributed to intercessory prayer in the 12th century—when no written medical attestations exist—there is evidence from our own time. When people have prayed for the intercession of modern saints and healings have occurred, they have been carefully examined and documented. Logically, one can conclude that perhaps prayers worked in the 14th century as well, if they work in the 21st.
Why does the novel contain so many images?
The photographs of contemporary saints make them real. The purpose of the images is to soften the feeling that the story is merely a legend or fairy tale. Perhaps they also help when the narrative shifts between the 12th century and the present day.
What are these “heavenly ears”? Do they hear better?
Yes, they hear God.
What are your hopes for your book?
Since Saint King Eric is part of the story, I hope someone will want to translate and publish it in Swedish.
Your book is self-published. Where can readers find it?
It can be ordered from any bookstore, including katolinenkirjakauppa.fi. You can also ask your library to acquire it.
Eeva-Liisa Hurmerinta
The interviewer is a friend of the author and a Lutheran pastor.