Today (3 Feb) the Church celebrates the ministry and life of Anskar

Today the Church celebrates the ministry and life of Anskar - a native of Picardy, he was a monk of Corbie near Amiens who, after the conversion of the King of Denmark to Christianity, went to Schleswig and attempted to start a Christian school there. He was expelled by the locals but went on to Sweden, where he is reputed to have built the first Christian church. In 832 he was consecrated Archbishop of Hamburg and sixteen years later became Archbishop of Bremen.

He returned to Denmark to convert the King of Jutland. He preached widely throughout Scandinavia and was much-loved for his work with the poor and in mitigating the slave trade.

He is the patron saint of Denmark and was popularly known as ‘The Apostle of the North’. 

He died in the year 865.