June 5
St. Boniface
Life (672?-754)
Although Christianity had already reached into Germany before him, St. Boniface deserves to be called its apostle because it was he who organized the German church. “Germany,” in his time, included the domains of the Frankish monarchs, the present Belgium and Holland among them. Boniface himself was an Englishman. He was born in Wessex and baptized Winfrid. Taught by the English Benedictines, he was captivated by their scholarship, devotion to the pope, and missionary spirit. He therefore joined a monastery at Nursling, near Winchester, was ordained a priest, and named director of the monastery school. Brilliant though he was as a teacher, Winfrid yearned for the mission. In 716, he tried his wings as a missionary to Frisia in the present Holland. Since conditions were adverse there, he returned to Nursling and was elected abbot. But his heart was still in the mission field, so he soon resigned his office, and going to Rome in 718-719, he asked Pope St. Gregory II to commission him formally to preach to the German peoples. The pope gladly complied, giving him a new Latin name, Boniface.
Boniface first went to Thuringia, in north central Germany, and sought to persuade the leaders to promote and reform the Church. Then he went back to Frisia for two years to work with St. Willibrord, the English missionary at Utrecht, and to study his methods. In 721, he entered Hesse, a deeply pagan district north of Frankfort. His gentle approach to the Hessians won many converts, and he established a monastery among them as a symbol of Christian presence. Then he returned to Rome to report on the religious situation in Germany. This time, Pope Gregory consecrated Boniface a bishop (722), with authority to organize the German church. Armed also with the all-important safe-conduct of the Frankish ruler, Charles Martel, he returned to Hesse. There on the advice of the Hessian Christians, he personally chopped down the oak of Geismar. This dramatic destruction, with impunity, of their sacred tree, moved many pagans to embrace the Catholic faith. The bishop then went on to Thuringia.
Admiring the zeal and loyalty of Boniface, the Holy See raised his rank to archbishop in 732 and named him papal legate in 738, with the duty of setting up dioceses throughout Germany and convoking councils for the enactment of norms and reforms. In 747, the pope assigned him a see, the diocese of Mainz, and designated him primate of Germany. Boniface had founded a monastery at Fulda in 744. One of the secrets of his success in Germany was the setting up of many abbeys. Not only were they bulwarks of the Faith; they also housed many Englishmen and Englishwomen whom he invited to people them. This English personnel served to further the missionary work. One fact that favored the whole German enterprise was that the Anglo-Saxon language, then spoken by Englishmen, was not all that different from the Germanic tongues spoken in Frisia and in “upper” Germany.
Even after he had been assigned a fixed see and the German primacy, Boniface, though now on in years, was still a missionary at heart. In 752, indeed, he resigned the diocese of Mainz and set out on one last missionary journey to Frisia. At first his efforts met with success, and he scheduled a ceremony of confirmation for new converts at Dokkum in northern Holland. However, while he and his party were there preparing for the rite, they were beset on June 5, 754, by a crowd of pagan Frieslanders. Archbishop Boniface refused to allow his attendants to defend him. He urged them to trust in God and welcome the grace to die for the faith. When the pagans attacked, they massacred him and his 53 companions. The body of this revered leader was brought back in stages to the monastery of Fulda. His tomb there has ever since been regarded as the center and heart of German Catholicism. --Father Robert F. McNamara
Scripture (Acts 26:19-23)
(Year A). To my dear friend and companion, who was drawn to me not by gifts of perishable gold nor by the smooth tongue of flattery but by the similarity of our ideals and the bonds of unfailing love, Wynfrith, a suppliant, sends greetings for eternal welfare in Jesus Christ.
Lowly as I am, noble youth, I beg you not to disregard the words of Solomon the wise: "In all thy works remember thy last end and thou shalt never sin."[Ecclus vii.40] Walk whilst you have the light lest the darkness of death come upon you.[John xii.35] Temporal things pass swiftly away, but the eternal that never fade will soon be upon us. All the treasures of this world, such as gold, silver, precious stones of every hue, succulent and dainty food and costly garments, melt away like shadows, vanish like smoke, dissolve like foam on the sea. The psalmist uttered the truth when he said: "Man's days are like grass: like the flower of the field he flourishes." [Ps cii.15] And again: "My days are like a shadow that declineth and I am withered like grass." [Ps. Ci.12]
Men who wallow in luxury are said in Holy Scripture to pass sleepless nights through anxiety, spinning their fragile webs that catch only dust or a breath of wind, for as the psalmist says: "They gather together treasure and know not for whom they gather it."[Ps xxxviii.7] And at the moment when death, the minion of baneful Pluto, barks at the door, foaming at the mouth and gnashing his teeth, they faint with fear; then, deprived of heavenly consolation, they lose in an instant both their precious souls and the deceitful gains for which they have slaved like misers night and clay. Finally, [66] they are snatched by the claws of fiends and borne off to the gloomy caverns of Erebus, there to suffer everlasting torments.
There is no doubting the truth of this. In all earnestness affection I beg you to consider this matter very carefully. rein to your natural gifts and abilities; do not stifle your literary talents and your keen spiritual understanding with gross pleasures of the flesh. Keep in mind the words of the psalmist: "His delight is in the words of the law of the Lord; in his law he meditates day and night " [Ps. I.2]:I and elsewhere: "O how I love thy law, it is my meditation all the day."[Ps cxviii.97] Call to mind also the words of Moses: "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night."[Josh i.8] Put aside all harmful obstacles; strive with unflagging zest to pursue your study of the scriptures and thereby acquire that nobility of mind which is divine wisdom. It is more precious than gold, more beautiful than silver, more lustrous than onyx, clearer than crystal, more costly than topaz,[Job xxvii.17,19]4 and, according to the opinion of the Preacher, all things that may be desired are not to be compared with it.[Prov viii.11]
Can there be a more fitting pursuit in youth or a more valuable possession in old age than a knowledge of Holy Writ? In the midst of storms it will preserve you from the dangers of shipwreck and guide you to the shore of an enchanting paradise and the ever-lasting bliss of the angels. Of it the same wise man has remarked. "Wisdom overcometh evil: it stretches from end to end mightily and disposes all things sweetly. Her have I loved from my youth and have become enamoured of her form."[Wisd. Viii.1]
If God allows me to return home, for such is my intention, I promise to remain steadfast at your side, helping you in your study of Sacred Scripture to the best of my ability. (Letter to Nithard)
Musical Selection
How beauteous are their feet,
who stand on Sion's hill,
who bring salvation on their tongues
and words of peace reveal!
How happy are our ears
that hear this happy sound,
which kings and prophets waited for,
and sought, but never found!
How blessèd are our eyes
that see this heavenly light,
prophets and kings desired it long,
but died without the sight!
The Lord makes bare his arm
through all the earth abroad:
Let every nation now behold
their Saviour and their God.
Collect
God our redeemer,
who called your servant Boniface
to preach the gospel among the German people
and to build up your Church in holiness;
grant that we may preserve in our hearts
that faith which he taught with his words
and sealed with his blood,
and profess it in lives dedicated to your Son
Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, now and for ever. Amen. (English Missal)