Lillemor Hallin 1934- 2025

Lillemor Hallin fell asleep peacefully on the night of July 31 at the Birgittine monastry in Djursholm. Her life has been characterized by tirelessly encouraging people to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit and make the church a more vibrant and healing community, something she took over from her mother who was a convert with roots in the Mission Covenant Church in Sweden.

At the age of 17, she suffered from a fatal blood disease, but after her mother's intercession, she was miraculously healed. In a near-death experience, she sensed a voice that said: "You will return to life and seek the love that breaks down all walls". This experience came to characterize her entire adult life and spiritual orientation. She describes her childhood and youth in the autobiographical book When the Walls Fell - My Catholic Childhood.

She studied at a Scool of Art (Konstfack) in Stockholm with a focus on textiles and worked as an art teacher, but over time she let the church and spiritual commitment take an increasingly larger place. She and her friend Kerstin Jonsson understood that they had a calling to "live and pray together" and lived in a community in Täby where people were received for ministry and prayer, something that developed in the ecumenical organization "Helhet genom Kristus". They served in the parish, built up a prayer group, and with the active support of the parish's priests, a flourishing ecumenical cooperation developed in Täby and Danderyd from the 1970s that included evangelism, social work, regular meetings for priests and much more. She describes this work in her most recently published book God calls ordinary people to build up his kingdom – On the spiritual renewal in Danderyd and Täby 1970s - 1990s.

Lillemor had no idea about charismatic renewal, but after meeting with the Catholic Charismatic Renewal and its spiritual advisor Cardinal Suenens in Belgium, she understood that what they were doing belonged to this current of grace within Christianity. She tells about this in the anthology About Catholic Charismatic Renewal in Sweden 1972–2007:

THEY CALL US "CHARISMATICS." WHAT IS THAT?

We seemed to have a calling. People flocked from all directions, and the prayergroup just grew. One day an elderly couple arrived. They said happily: "How nice to meet charismatic Catholics." – "Oh, how?" we said in surprise. – "Yes, you believe in the Holy Spirit." – "Of course," we said. – "Yes, but then you are charismatic." – "No. We have never heard of anything like that." – "But then you must come with us and meet your leader, Cardinal Suenens." – "What! "No, it's not necessary."

In 1975 in the summer, Kerstin Jonsson and I went to our first charismatic conference – in London, arranged by the Fountain Trust. It was amazing, the presence of God, the cheering... The conference was Anglican and was led by the famous priest Michael Harper, but one of the speakers was Catholic – Francis MacNutt. He led a four-five-day seminar on prayer for healing, in which we participated.

Once back home we started, with P Clyde and two other people, a similar course in the parish. We then continued with ten St Bridget sisters. Then P Clyde handed over to the two of us to start a school. For several years, we trained people to pray for the sick – over 100 people – priests, pastors, nuns, deacons and laity from all churches in Danderyd and Täby and the surrounding area. Our priests were always there to support us…

But the old couple who wanted us to go to Cardinal Suenens, did not give up. Their names were Siv and Robert Pellén and they were determined Pentecostals. In 1976, Jim, Kerstin and I went to the seminary in Malines, Brussels, where the cardinal conducted his annual week-long seminar on the Charismatic Renewal with 35 Protestants from all denominations and 35 Catholics. The professor at the German Catholic seminary in Paderborn, Heribert Mühlen, and Rev. Arnold Bittlinger, leader of the Protestant renewal in Germany, taught together about life in the Spirit. The cardinal and other specialists dealt with various subjects, such as the gifts and fruits of the Spirit and Mary. It was an experience to spend a whole week with a man of the Church who so naturally spoke about and exercised the gifts of the Spirit himself. In 1977, we conducted the first Life in the Spirit seminar in our own church based on Mühlen's book A Charismatic Theology... (About Catholic Charismatic Renewal in Sweden 1972–2007 p8-9)

 Lillemor came to be a driving force in Catholic charismatic renewal in Sweden for many years, a commitment that was completely ecumenical and she realized the potential of the spiritual gifts for the healing of Christianity. She encouraged all Christians to grow in faith in the Lord and work together. Her mission was for all Christians to find and affirm their own vocation in this process. In 1997 she wrote the book Strömmar av liv – Om den helige Andens verk i vår tid (Rivers of Life – On the Work of the Holy Spirit in Our Time), which can be regarded as an ecumenical standard work in Swedish for those who are looking for an introduction to the life of the Holy Spirit in the church based on the Pentecostal charismatic stream of grace that has affected the whole of Christianity since the beginning of the 20th century. It describes how it is connected to history and the sources of the Christian life, and at the same time how it represents a hope for the future. The story is accompanied by rich source references.

In the book Se Herrens härlighet (See the Glory of the Lord, 1991), she describes her miraculous healing as a 17-year-old girl and how God spoke to her, and how prayer for healing then became a life's mission for her. It was not just about individual healing, but about how the Christian community needs to be healed and the kingdom of God to grow in our divided world. The final words of the book read:

"Learn to trust the Lord more and more in a child's natural way. This does not mean that we should be childish, the opposite. As we grow in our trust in the Lord, we also grow as humans. We are becoming bolder. We have the strength to bear more of the suffering of the damaged creation. We understand more of other people's pain. We grow in compassion, and we grow in love. God is love. The centre and essence of Christianity is love (1 John 4:8). The way of healing is the way of love. May the Lord guide you and bless you in the way He has prepared for you! Blessed be Jesus Christ forever! Amen!"

In the book Läkedom i Kristus – Den helande församlingen (Healing in Christ, 2003) she further deepens the theme.

Lillemor Hallin has often been met with greater appreciation in denominations other than the Catholic Church and is widely known for her work with practical ecumenism, pastoral intercessory prayer and charismatic renewal [Read article in Dagen].

In her old age, she and Kerstin lived at the Birgittine Sisters' retirement home in Djursholm. The last years were characterized by an increasingly failing health. Despite this, she managed to complete the republication of her books, which are part of the spiritual legacy she leaves behind. [All books can be ordered via this link, also an e-edition is offered] or at a special price via [CHARIS Nodic´s bookshop].