Well, today's matchup is an odd pairing. You might even say that Felix of Burgundy and Oscar are an...Odd Couple. Anyway, we're confident you'll choose the right criteria for your vote and ignore the fact that one of these two may be a neat freak and the other a slob. Frankly, we have no idea.
Yesterday, Origen defeated Hilda of Whitby 55% to 45% to advance to the Saintly Sixteen. Go vote!
Felix of Burgundy
Felix of Burgundy is known as the Enlightener of East Anglia and credited with bringing Christianity to the east of England, founding the University of Cambridge, and consecrating a small, furry animal as bishop—but we’ll save the legends for a later round of Lent Madness.
Felix was born and ordained in Burgundy, the French region perhaps better known for its wines, but not much was written about him until his arrival in East Anglia, which today includes the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. Some sources claim he previously had met Sigebert, who would become king of East Anglia, when the latter was in exile. Through their friendship, Sigebert became a Christian, and when he returned to East Anglia in 630 CE to take the throne, he invited his “spiritual father” Felix to join him as its first bishop.
Together, Felix and Sigebert founded a school “wherein boys should be taught letters,” according to The Ecclesiastical History of the English People by the Venerable Bede. Felix supplied the teachers for the school, which later became the University of Cambridge. Not long afterward, Sigebert abdicated the throne to enter a monastery and eventually became a saint himself.
Felix remained bishop of East Anglia for 17 years. In that time, he founded churches, monasteries, and schools throughout the area and brought not only Christianity but also happiness to its people. “He delivered all the province of East Anglia from long-standing unrighteousness and unhappiness,” Bede writes in a play on the saint’s name, which means “happy.”
Felix died in 647 or 648 and was buried at Dommoc, his episcopal see, which has since been swallowed by the sea. His body was moved to Soham and then, after a Viking attack destroyed the monastery, rescued dramatically under the cover of a miraculous—or, perhaps, typically English—fog.
While those places may no longer remain, the impact Felix made while there certainly does. He is buried at a Benedictine abbey in Ramsey and remembered by the Church of England on March 8.
Collect for Felix of Burgundy
O God, our heavenly Father, who raised up your faithful servant Felix, to be a bishop and pastor in your Church and to feed your flock: Give abundantly to all pastors the gifts of your Holy Spirit, that they may minister in your household as true servants of Christ and stewards of your divine mysteries; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Oscar
Contrary to the similar sounding names, Oscar (commonly known as Ansgar) is not related to either Loki or Thor of Asgard. Rather, Ansgar is a derivation of the Germanic Oscar. Ansgar translates roughly to mean the “spear of God”—a most appropriate name for a man who was called to teach the word of God to Vikings. And, like Loki and Thor, Ansgar/Oscar has a cinematic claim to fame in the modern TV show “Vikings.”
Born in 801 in Amiens, in present-day France, to a noble family, Oscar entered a Benedictine monastery following the death of his mother. It is said that Oscar had a vision of his mother at the side of Mary, the mother of God, and his cavalier attitude to the church was transformed into a more serious appreciation.
Because of his noble background, Oscar was sent to Jutland (around modern-day Denmark) to serve as a missionary to the baptized King Harald Klak. Under Harald, Oscar built a school for Christian teaching for the children of Jutland. When Harald died, the new Viking king was not a Christian, so Oscar moved back to Germany.
However, the north was not done with Oscar. The new king of Sweden, Bjorn at Hauge, wanted a missionary to build a school. Oscar returned to Scandinavia and built a congregation of northerners, living out his call to bring Christianity to the Vikings and earning the moniker Apostle to the North. In 831, Oscar returned to Worms to receive his next call from the pope: Archbishopric of Hamburg-Bremen. His charge included a mission to evangelize the people of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway.
Considered the founder of the Denmark and Swedish arm of the church, Oscar provides a witness to us on how we can bring to Christ others who are different from us and come from varying traditions and cultures. Oscar was known for making relationships across cultures and cultivating understanding rather than discord during these turbulent times. His feast day is February 3, which is the date of his passing in 865.
Collect for Oscar
Almighty and everlasting God, we thank you for your servant Oscar, whom you called to preach the Gospel to the people of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. Raise up in this and every land evangelists and heralds of your kingdom, that your Church may proclaim the unsearchable riches of our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
114 comments on “Felix vs. Oscar”
Felix educated boys. Oscar educated children, including girls
Right on!
Never heard of either, but enjoyed knowing both history. My husband's family is very proud of a Danish ancestor (no comment here). so I will go with Oscar. I think his reach was larger.
Oscar, not the Grouch gets the vote today for the Vikings, my HS mascots & I can just picture a bishop’s mitre with horns !! The Scandinavian Saint.
My Lent bracket is so busted it’s like I’m picking losers. Hope the goes better.
Felix - because I had a small furry animal named Felix, and miraculous fog.
Seems like an "Odd Couple" of Saints. Had to gvote for my favorite - Oscar.
Was going to vote for Felix as that is my fathers middle but had to go for Oscar.
Had to go with Oscar -- in honor of my Swedish grandmother. Although it was tempting to vote for Felix, the educator.
Must be a lot of Lutherans voting today. This Anglophile has to vote for Felix. Come on all you Anglicans out there! Go Felix (Side note: My English heritage won over my Scandinavian roots. Hard choice!)
My husband grew up in Amiens, so Ansgar it is for me!
As one with a Norwegian great-grandmother, I had to go with Oscar.
Definitely have to vote for Ansgar, whom I have never heard called Oscar before in all the 50 years I have lived just a few miles from the site of the first church in Schleswig-Haithabu, which Ansgar built in 849. He was the missionary to the Vikings hereabouts, and he is the patron saint of travelers.
(1) I don't know what you rascals did to arrange the "Felix versus Oscar" round but I KNOW the fix was in.
(2) Thus far, as in ages past, it appears that you all could save a great deal of fuss by simply asking me to vote on all of the match-ups and then awarded the victory to the person for whom I did not vote.
(3) Lenten blessings!
Have to go with Oscar, he's my father's baptismal saint. His ability to talk and work with all sorts of people is much needed in our times.
Go Felix, I can’t wait to hear about the furry animal bishop, also used to live in Cambridge.
Felix as an advocate for climate change solutions and education. I wonder how much of East Anglia has been lost to the sea since Felix's reinterment?
Oscar is the name of my father.
St. Tweedledum or St. Tweedledee. I flipped a coin.
Davis, it was St. Tweedle Dam versus St. Tweedle See.
Wow, two more saints I have to admit knowing nothing about. And they pit my Scandinavian heritage against my English. But seeing that my g grandfather was a Cambridge grad and vicar in the COE I cast my vote for Felix!
I fear I will never know about Felix and the small fury animal.
Its fury resides primarily in its flat tail, with which it smacks the water to warn of danger.
As a retired teacher, I have to go with Felix.
Oscar. Vikings!
My husband comes from Norfolk so Felix is going to be my vote today.
Another hard one, both dedicated and determined saints. I voted for Oscar. Bringing Christianity to the Vikings was surely a challenging feat.
I want to thank everybody who voted for Felix solely to hear the story of the small, furry animal he consecrated as bishop, according to legend. He may not have carried the day, but I couldn't leave you in suspense.
It was a beaver who saved him from shipwreck. Read on here: https://norfolktalesmyths.com/tag/st-felix/