ST. BLAISE, BISHOP OF SEBASTE AND MARTYR, ST. ANSGAR, BISHOP OF HAMBURG AND BREMEN, APOSTLE OF SCANDINAVIA, Feb. 3

ST. BLAISE, BISHOP OF SEBASTE AND MARTYR

A physician in Armenia who was made a bishop, he is attributed with many miracles. One of these involved the miraculous removal of a fish bone from a young boy’s throat – which is why he is considered protector from throat diseases. After refusing to deny the Faith, he was beheaded in 316.  Feb. 3

ST. ANSGAR, BISHOP OF HAMBURG AND BREMEN, APOSTLE OF SCANDINAVIA

The “apostle of the north” (Scandinavia) had enough frustrations to become a saint—and he did. He became a Benedictine at Corbie, France, where he had been educated. Three years later, when the king of Denmark became a convert, Ansgar went to that country for three years of missionary work, without noticeable success. Feb. 3