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LIFE BY THE RIVER:
Housing
The Lapps
Observations on nature
Agriculture
Food
 Religious
life
Read more:
Ecclesiastical year
The hidden knowledge of Käymäjärvi
Lake
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Religious life
Abbé Outhier describes in detail the religious customs
and the events of the Lutheran church. He attended several local
services. The Frenchmen refrained, however, from holding their
Catholic services in public as it was forbidden by the law.
There were two churches in Tornio. On the Pirkkiö island
there was the stone church used by the Finnish speaking population.
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The wooden town church where the services were held in Swedish lay
on the island Suensaari. The vicar had three curates or assistant vicars.
The vicars of Tornio and Ylitornio helped the Frenchmen in many ways.
Erik Brunnius, vicar of Ylitornio parish, regularly accommodated the
expedition members in his vicarage. The Ylitornio parish was very wide.
The vicar lived by the main church in Särkilahti. There was another
church in Hietaniemi. On the premises of the ironworks in Köngäs
there was a chapel with its own chaplain. Sermon services were also
arranged in many houses along the river in places from where it was
very long to the nearest church. The Frenchmen were struck by the tears
welling up in the congregation's eyes during the service in Ylitornio.
In Tornio the Frenchmen attended several funerals. The body was kept
at home for farewells. Funerals gathered a lot of guests from all around
the area. The coffin of a young girl was carried by ten men and several
priests walked by. Only men took part in the processions. The women
used to wait in the church. The funeral procession advanced in a dignified
way and at good pace.
Réginald Outhier, Journal of a Voyage to the North in the
Years 1736 - 1737:
Tornio church (p. 303)
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