The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1929, Page 31

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THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

31

monks advised him against it and pointed out how
comfortable the conditions were in the monastery,
he replied that he was willing to serve God in any-
thing that involved the duty of obedience. He gave
the emperor a clear and happy affirmative to the
query whether he dared, and would, accompany
King Harald. Another Frankish monk, Autbert,
joined him, and in the year 826 these two set foot
upon Danish soil.

' Ansgar was a noble man, not strong physically,
but strong in faith and love, a serious, pious man.

As soon as he and Autbert arrived in Denmark, -

they began their work, partly at the king’s court,
where they found misunderstanding and got very
little encouragement from the king, partly by means
of preaching the Gospel in places about the country
where the people assembled, and partly by educating
children born in bondage, but ransomed by them
from the Danish warriors in a little school, which
they founded in the town of Hedeby, now Slesvig,
one of the most southerly towns in the Denmark
of that time. Autbert soon became ill and was
compelled to return to Germany, but Ansgar faith-
fully continued his work, and by his mild and
lovable nature he little by little succeeded in spread-
ing the Gospel in the hearts of many.

It was a painstaking work which Ansgar carried
on, and great were the obstacles he met. Not only
opposition from the pagan chiefs, warriors, and

‘priests, but also disturbing conditions of war be-
tween the various petty kings caused serious hin-
drances. And when King Harald, who should have
been his greatest support, was obliged to flee from
Denmark, Ansgar sorrowfully had to go with him.

But he did not give up. A messenger from

_Sweden came to the Christian German emperor to
tell him that up there were people who desired to
hear the Gospel, and Ansgar was at once ready
to go there. His mission was so successful that the
Swedish King Bjoern as well as many great Swedish
nobles consented to be baptized.

In order to give the Northern mission a firmer
basis, the emperor founded an archbishopric at
Hamburg, in Northern Germany, near the Danish
frontier, and Ansgar was made the first archbishop
there. With untiring energy he directed the mis-
sion in the North and ransomed prisoners and chil-
dren, whom he caused to be brought up in the ser-
vice of God, and in the ensuing years many were
won for Christ.

But in 845 Danish warriors broke into Ham-
burg, burned the town and its churches, and har-
assed the countryside, and Ansgar had to flee, robbed

of everything. But Ansgar did not lose courage.
“He did not sin with his lips, but repeated Job’s
words: “The Lord gaye, and the Lord hath taken
away. Blessed be the name of the Lord,’ ” his biog-
rapher writes.

Despite tribulations he persevered in faith and
patience and hoped to win the crown of martyrdom,
which God, however, did not grant him.

When the bishopric at Bremen became vacant in
849, Ansgar became archbishop. The bishopric in
the dangerously situated city of Hamburg had been
abandoned. With renewed power he again took up
his work for Denmark. He endeavored to win over
the Danish King Erik by friendliness and gifts, and
he succeeded in obtaining permission to build the
first Danish church, of wood, in Sleswig, the Church
of Our Lady [Mary]. Now Christianity gained a
foothold in Denmark. But no more’than that; for
although somewhat later another church was built
in Ribe (860) and small chapels. were erected here
and there throughout the country, for about two
hundred years the fight between heathendom —
which had its roots fastened everywhere, more espe-
cially in the remote districts — and the Gospel was
waged. It was not until the reign of the Danish
King Knud (Canute) the Great (1014—1035), who
also became the powerful King of England, that
the Christian Church obtained its fixed form and
order and the last vestige of paganism disappeared.

But the honor of having started the missionary
work belongs to Ansgar, who in 865 died quietly
and peacefully in Bremen and was buried in the
cathedral there. He was no saint in the Roman
Catholic sense of the term. On the contrary, he once
said to some one who praised him for his gracious
gifts and work: “If I could prevail upon my God
for one miracle, I would pray Him by His grace to
make a good man of me.” He was an evangelical |
Catholic and therefore a useful servant in God’s
vineyard. F. Franpsen, in NV. L. C. News Bulletin.

Contributions Received by the Treasurer.
December 1—31, 1928.

Received for Colored Missions from the following col-
ored congregations: Alabama Luther College, Selma,
$606.77; Augustana, Alexandria, 20.00; Bethany, Nyland,
5.93; Bethany, Yonkers, 60.00; Bethlehem, Holy Ark, 9.86;
Bethlehem, Monroe, 3.00; Bethlehem, New Orleans, 57.50;
Bethel, Conover, 1.50; Bethel, Rock West, 28.24; Christ,
Rosebud, 15.47; Concordia, Lowerstone, 2.00; Concordia,
New Orleans, 15.00; Holy Cross, Camden, 1.21; Ebenezer,
Atmore, 7.40; Faith, Mobile, 3.75; Gethsemane, Hamburg,
13.17; Grace, Concord, 80.00; Grace, Greensboro, 10.77;
Grace, Ingomar, 28.99; Grace, St. Louis, 25.00; Hope;
Kings Landing, 23.55; Immanuel, Cincinnati, 10.00; Im- ~
manuel, Pensacola, 4.00; Immanuel, Shankletown, 5.00;
Immanuel Lutheran College, Greensboro, 666.40; Luther