A dark and violent place

That is the way the world was and he left it behind to enter a monastery and devote his life to Christ.

He was so devoted that he was sent back into the world to preach the Gospel.

In fact, he was sent to the edge of civilization, to a place that was – in many ways – darker and more violent than any place on earth.

He worked for many years and met with some success, but when he died, darkness and violence nearly wiped the Christian faith off the map.

Yet he was remembered and when the faith took hold again, he was remembered with honor.

St. Ansgar, apostle to the Vikings and the lands of the north, died on this very day in the year 865.