June 5, 2008
Thursday
vol 19, no. 157

    Saint Boniface was born in Crediton in Devonshire on the English Isle in 680. He was baptized as Wilfrid and, at the usually early age of five, he knew he wanted to be a monk after listening to visitors from the monastery. He began his education when he was seven at the monastery school near Exeter and, at 14, graduated to the abbey at Benedictine Nursling in Winchester. There he studied under Winbert, became a monk, and eventually became director of and popular teacher at the school. He wrote the first Latin grammar produced in England.

    Wilfrid was ordained at age 30 and successfully taught and preached, but he wished to join St. Willibrord as a missionary in Friesland. Having wrung a reluctant consent from Abbot Winbert, he set out with two companions. His first missionary trip in the spring of 716 failed due to the ascendancy of the pagans and political conditions, so he returned to England that autumn. The monks at Nursling tried to make him stay by electing him abbot on the death of Winbert, but he refused because he knew that God was calling him to the mission field.

    In 718, he went to Pope Saint Gregory II in Rome, who commissioned Wilfrid to preach to the pagans in Germany and changed Wilfrid's name to Boniface. Full of hope Boniface set out from Rome, crossed the lower Alps, and travelled through Bavaria to Hesse. He preached successfully in Hesse. Shortly after his arrival he was informed of the death of the pagan ruler Radbod. Hoping that he would have greater success if their leader were converted, Boniface returned to Friesland and worked with Willibrord. The ancient evangelist wanted to name Boniface his coadjutor and successor, but Boniface declined because his commission from the Vatican had been a general one, not confined to a particular diocese. Fearing that he might be persuaded to consent, Boniface returned to Hesse.

    In 722, he was recalled to Rome and consecrated regionary bishop for Germany. Gregory gave him a special letter to deliver to the powerful Charles Martel. The delivery of this letter en route back to Germany won for him the valuable concession of a sealed pledge of protection from Martel. Upon his arrival again in Hesse, Boniface decided to strike at the root of pagan superstition. He publicly announced in advance that at a particular time he would destroy their gods. The awestruck crowd at Geismar watched as he successfully cut down the sacred Oak of Thor, an object of pagan worship that stood on the summit of Mount Gudenberg near Fritzlar, without being struck down by their angry gods. The pagans, who had expected immediate judgment against such sacrilege, acknowledged that their gods were powerless to protect their own sanctuaries. Word spread far and wide.

    Having succeeded in Hesse, Boniface moved on to Thuringia, where he found a few Christians, including a few Celtic and Frankish priests, but they tended to be more of a hindrance than a help. Boniface established a monastery at Ohrdruf (near Gotha) to serve as a missionary center for Thuringia, and asked English monks and nuns to join him as missionaries to Germany. He found the people ready to listen, but they needed teachers to speak. For several years in succession, parties of monks and nuns crossed the sea to place themselves at the disposal of Boniface. The two existing monasteries were enlarged and new ones founded to accommodate all the missionaries. Among their numbers were Saint Lull, who succeeded Boniface in the see of Mainz; St. Eoban, who shared Boniface's martyrdom; St. Burchard, the first bishop of Würzburg; St. Wigbert, abbot of Fritzlar; St. Thecla, first abbess of Ochsenfürt Abbey; St. Walburga, sister of Sts. Willibald and Winebald; and Boniface's beautiful and erudite young cousin, St. Lioba, who supervised all the convents founded from the monastery of Bischoffsheim.

    In 731, having established several monasteries and dioceses, Boniface was sent the pallium by Pope Saint Gregory III and constituted metropolitan of Germany beyond the Rhine. He was authorized to create new sees and went to Bavaria to organize a church hierarchy and establish new sees. He became a mentor and support to the Carolingians, and he reformed the Frankish Church, which Charles Martel had plundered.

    Boniface made a third journey to Rome to report on the progress being made. At that time he was appointed papal legate and recruited Saint Willibald at Monte Cassino. Returning to Bavaria as papal legate, Boniface organized its hierarchy, weeded out unworthy priests, and corrected abuses. Then he continued on with his missionary work, founding other sees at Erfurt for Thuringia, Buraburg for Hesse, and Würzburg for Franconia. Later he established a seat in Nordgau at Eichstätt. Oh, to have a modern day Boniface to weed out the conciliarists! It was Boniface who boldly entreated: "Let us stand fast in what is right and prepare our souls for trial. . . . Let us be neither dogs that do not bark nor silent onlookers nor paid servants who run away before the wolf." Who does that remind you of? The vast, vast majority of "bishops" at every level today.

    For Boniface the year 741 was a fruitful one for he founded the abbey of Fulda with his young disciple, St. Sturmi, and Charles Martel died, leaving the way open for Boniface to reach the ears of Pepin and Carloman, Martel's successors. Carloman was earnestly devout and venerated Boniface, so it was easy to convince him to call a synod to deal with abuses. The first was followed by a second in 743. Pepin summoned a synod for Gaul, which was succeeded in 745 by a general council for the two provinces. Boniface presided over all of them and succeeded in carrying out all the reforms he felt were needed. Fresh vigor was infused into the Church of Gaul. After the fifth Frankish council in 747, Boniface fixed his metropolitan see at Mainz and Pope Saint Zachary created him primate of Germany as well as apostolic legate for Germany and Gaul. Soon after this Carloman retired into a monastery and Pepin united Gaul under one rule; however, he continued to give Boniface the supported he needed. As papal legate Boniface crowned Pepin at Soissons.

    When he was over 70, Boniface resigned his see to Saint Lull in 754, in order to spend his last years reconverting the Frieslanders who had lapsed into paganism after the death of St, Willibrord. With a small company, he successfully converted large numbers in the previously unevangelized area of northeast Friesland.

    On Whitsun Eve Boniface and Eoban were preparing for the confirmation of some of Boniface's converts at Dokkum, in the northern Netherlands. Boniface had been quietly reading in his tent while awaiting the arrival of his new converts, when the hostile band descended on the camp. He would not allow his companions to defend him. As he was exhorting them to trust in God and to welcome the prospect of dying for the faith, they were attacked--Boniface was one of the first to fall. The body of Boniface was taken to Fulda, where it still rests. His bloodstained book was exhibited for centuries as a relic.

    Boniface's impact on English history was enormous, extending beyond the simple conversion of people to Christianity. He helped to arrange alliances between popes and emperors, and the educational and literary influence from his monasteries was significant. For a another perspective on Saint Boniface's importance in Western history, read Pope Pius XII's Ecclesiae Fastos (Encyclical on Saint Boniface promulgated on June 5, 1954.

    Boniface's emblem is a book, pierced with a sword or ax. He may be shown (1) felling an oak tree in the presence of pagan priests; (2) with a miter and staff (White); (3) as an angel brings him a fish, an axe lies behind him in the root of an oak; (4) holding a missioner's cross and a book pierced with a sword; (5) with water springing from the ground where he strikes his cross, sword on a book, and a baptism taking place in the background; (6) in a ship with a book and cross; (7) beaten to death with a club; or (8) with a raven, fox, and arrow (Roeder). Boniface is considered the apostle of Germany (Bavaria, Franconia, Hesse, Thuringia) and the Netherlands (Freisland), Amanburch, Fritzlar, and Fulda. He is venerated at Exeter, Nutshulling (Winchester), and Ventnor. He is the patron of brewers and tailors (Roeder). (Source: Walsh, White)

Resources: We are grateful to Friends of Our Lady of Fatima for providing the Propers for the faithful. Sources: Saint Andrew Daily Missal and the Marian Missal , 1945