Saint Ansgar

Also known as

• Amschar
• Anschar
• Anscharius
• Ansgarius
• Anskar
• Apostle of the North
• Apostle of Scandanavia
• Scharies

Memorial

• 3 February

Profile

Born to the French nobility. Benedictine monk at Old Corbie Abbey in Picardy (in modern France) and New Corbie in Westphalia (in modern Germany). Studied under Saint Adelard of Corbie and Saint Paschasius Radbert. Accompanied the converted King Harold to Denmark when the exiled king returned home. Missionary to Denmark and Sweden. Founded first Christian church in Sweden c.832. Abbot of New Corbie c.834. Archbishop of Hamburg, Germany, ordained by Pope Gregory IV. Papal legate to the Scandanavian countries. Established the first Christian school in Denmark, but was run out by pagans, and the school was burned to the ground. Campaigned against slavery. Archbishop of Bremen, Germany. Converted Erik, King of Jutland. Great preacher, a miracle worker, and greatly devoted to the poor and sick. Sadly, after his death most of his gains for the Church in the north were lost to resurgent paganism.

Born

• 801 at Amiens, Picardy, France

Died

• 3 February 865 at Bremen, Germany
• relics at Bremen and Hamburg in Germany, and Copenhagen, Denmark

Canonized

• Pre-Congregation

Patronage

• Bremen, Germany, diocese of
• Denmark
• Hamburg, Germany, archdiocese of
• Scandinavia
• Sweden

Representation

• man holding the catheral of Hamburg, Germany
• man wearing a fur pelise

Additional Information

• Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate
• Catholic Online
• Encyclopedia Britannica
• Kirken i Norge
• Lives of the Saints, by Father Alban Butler
• New Catholic Dictionary
• Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints

Readings

If I were worthy of such a favor from my God, I would ask that he grant me this one miracle: that by His grace He would make of me a good man. - Saint Ansgar to a parishioner who was praising him for being a miracle worker

MLA Citation

• “Saint Ansgar“. Saints.SQPN.com. 2 February 2013. Web. 25 May 2013. <>