Today, January 19, is the memorial of Saint Henry of Uppsala.
Henry was born in 1100 in England.
While Henry was working in Rome, he was asked to do missionary work in Scandinavia and travel with a papal legate who, years later, would become Pope Adrian IV.
In 1148, he was named bishop of Uppsala and focused on evangelizing Norway and Sweden. Henry took the Swedish king St. Eric’s example in connecting with Finland. There, Henry established a church and it served as his headquarters.
Various accounts surround his gruesome death. One account says Henry was killed by a Finnish soldier whom he earlier excommunicated for killing a Swedish soldier. Another recalls Henry being murdered with an axe by a peasant on a frozen lake. After his death and burials, miracles through his intercession were being reported.
A chapel in a Carmelite church in England is dedicated to Saint Henry of Uppsala.