"Den Evangeliska Mariavägen till enhet" : En studie av Paulina Mariadotters spiritualitet

Sammanfattning: The dissertation deals with the mid-twentieth century development of regulated religious life in the Church of Sweden and how this was expressed in the Congregation of the Daughters of Mary of the Evangelical Way of Mary. It focuses on the foundress’ spirituality and the importance of this for the shaping of monastic life, as well as on the significance of mystic and prophetic experience for that spirituality. The spirituality of the foundress Gunvor Norrman (1903–1985), whose religious name was Paulina Mariadotter, is characterised by a living experience of Jesus and Mary. In the process through which the religious community took shape, a “small tradition” was formed. Unlike the “great tradition” narrated by religious specialists, with a written canon and distinct cult centres, the “small tradition” develops out of the everyday life of people. Women have been excluded from the immediate formation of the “great tradition” but in their life situations, they have shaped their own traditions and moulded expressions of spiritual life.In the development of monasticism in the Church of Sweden, one finds an undercurrent in the Church itself where biblical models and the common medieval tradition flow into practical piety, and where the mystical, personal and affectional aspects of faith are highlighted. This was carried by Pietism and from this new forms of fellowship were formed.The importance of the Oxford Group movement for the development of religious communities in the Lutheran churches is evident in the creation of the Daughters of Mary. The views on Christian unity found in this movement mark the ground for Paulina Mariadotter’s vision of unity, which can be summarised in the term koinonia. Today the Daughters of Mary are found in the Lutheran folk churches in Sweden, Denmark and Finland and in the Roman Catholic Church in Sweden.