3 February
Anskar, Archbishop of Hamburg, Missionary in Denmark and Sweden, 865
Anskar (in Latin, Ansgarius) was a monk of Saxon family, born in
801 (the year after the crowning of Charlemagne). In 1826, when King
Harald of Denmark asked Charlemagne's successors for missionaries,
Anskar led a group to Denmark, and a few years later to Sweden.
Because of unsettled political conditions, his work ran into
difficulties, and Anskar withdrew into Germany, where he served as
first Archbishop of Hamburg. Later, however, he helped to consecrate
Gotbert, the first bishop of Sweden. The Church of Sweden honours him
as its apostle, and he serves as symbol of the historic friendship
and present-day connection between the Anglican Churches and the
Church of Sweden.