Ansgar
missionary to Denmark and later Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen
Feast: 3 February (current Roman calendar, optional memorial) · not in the 1962 Missal
Who they were
Ansgar (Oscar) was a scholar, a pupil of the Benedictines of Corbie near Amiens from childhood, later a monk and teacher there and at New Corbey in Saxony. In 826 he went to Denmark with King Harald, newly baptised, who lost his throne a year later; he then went to Sweden, where the king tolerated Christian preaching.
The results were so good that Emperor Louis the Pious encouraged a new church structure for the North, with its see at Hamburg, and Ansgar became its bishop. When the Vikings sacked Hamburg he moved to Bremen, where he spent his last years as bishop, and died in 865 without seeing the North converted, but having sown the first seed.
The miracles
There was never a formal cause: Ansgar has been honoured as a saint since his death. He is called the Apostle of Scandinavia.
Why that counted as sanctity
Ansgar spent his life on a mission that seemed to fail, planting the Gospel in the pagan North with patience and leaving the harvest to God.
- Vatican News - Saint of the day (Italian): Ansgar
- Wikidata Q110299 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Ansgar (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.