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Also known as
Winfrid; Wynfrith; Apostle of Germany
Memorial: 5 June
Profile
Educated at the Benedictine monastery at Exeter, England. Benedictine monk
at Exeter. Missionary to Germany from 719, assisted by Saint Albinus.
Destroyed idols and pagan temples, and built churches on the sites.
Bishop. Archbishop of Mainz. Reformed churches in his see, and built
religious houses in Germany. Ordained Saint Sola. Founded or restored the
dioceses of Bavaria, Thuringgia, and Franconia. Evangelized in Holland,
but was set upon by a troop of pagans, and he and 52 of his new flock were
martyred.
In Saxony, Boniface encountered a tribe worshipping a Norse deity in the
form of a huge oak tree. Boniface walked up to the tree, removed his
shirt, took up an axe, and without a word he hacked down the six foot wide
wooden god. Boniface stood on the trunk, and asked, "How stands your
mighty god? My God is stronger than he." The crowd's reaction was mixed,
but some conversions were begun.
One tradition about Saint Boniface says that he used the customs of the
locals to help convert them. There was a game in which they threw sticks
called kegels at smaller sticks called heides. Boniface bought religion to
the game, having the heides represent demons, and knocking them down
showing purity of spirit.
Born
c.673-680 at Crediton, Devonshire, England
Died
martyred 5 June 754 at Freisland, Holland; body at monastery at Fulda
Patronage
brewers, Germany, tailors
Representation
ax, book, fountain, fox, oak, raven, scourge, sword
Reading
In her voyage across the ocean of this world, the Church is like a great
ship being pounded by the waves of life's different stresses. Our duty is
not to abandons ship but to keep her on her course.
Let us stand fast in what is right, and prepare our souls for trial. Let
us wait upon God's strengthening aid and say to him: "O Lord, you have
been our refuge in all generations."
Let us trust in him who has placed this burden upon us. What we ourselves
cannot bear let us bear with the help of Christ. For he is all-powerful,
and he tells us: "My yoke is easy, and my burden light."
Let us continue the fight on the day of the Lord. The days of anguish and
of tribulation have overtaken us; if God so wills, "let us die for the
holy laws of our fathers," so that we may deserve to obtain an eternal
inheritance with them.
from a letter by Saint Boniface
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