Boniface - The Man

     BONIFACE was born at Crediton in Devon in 675 and baptized with the name Winfrith. The name means, "Friend of Peace", possibly because his father was a Saxon and his mother British, to show that the two peoples had come together. He had convinced his parents to send him to a monastery for schooling because he admired the monks who had visited his home. Through diligent study he rapidly learned all that this local monastery could teach him and was transferred to the monastery at Nursling for further schooling. There he became such a well-known teacher that students circulated notes from his classes. He found in his heart a burning passion for foreign mission. Finally, his abbot let him leave, and in 716 he set out for the land of the Frisians. Another English Missionary, Willibrord from Northumbria, had already preached the Gospel there for several years. But wars and the hatred of the pagans were big obstacles for the young Winfrith. Some months later, having failed, he returned to his monastery in England, to devote two more years to preparation for his apostolic work.

     After failing in his mission to Frisia, and after two years of further preparation, in 718 Winfrith once again left his monastery, this time for good. He would never return to England. He set off for Rome to ask the leader of the worldwide church for his commissioning and blessing. On May 14, 719 he threw himself at the feet of Pope Gregory II, who gave him the new name "Boniface". He then crossed the Alps and embarked on 35 years of missionary work in various parts of Germany, as well as a return visit to Frisia. In 722, he was consecrated by the Pope as Bishop of the whole of Germany to the east of the Rhine.

     On his return to Germany as Bishop, Boniface decided to tackle the heathen superstitions head on. Boniface returned to find that his problems had worsened. People were attracted by Christianity but unable to give up their old religion and superstitions, perhaps out of fear of being different or of how their old "gods" would react. Knowing that the people needed a reason to let go, Boniface called the tribes to a display of power. As the people watched, Boniface approached the giant oak of Geismar, a sacred tree dedicated to Thor, the god of thunder, with an axe. Finally with a crack, the tree split in four parts that we are told fell to the ground in the shape of a cross. There stood Boniface, axe in hand, unharmed by their old gods, strong in the power of the one God. After six years, the Pope made him Archbishop of all Germany, based at Mainz.

     After his success in Hesse, he returned to Thuringia to confront the old problem of the decadent remnants of the Church there. Unable to get help from the suspect clergy in Thuringia, he called to England for help. Nuns and monks responded to his call enthusiastically for many years. We still have many of Boniface's letters, including correspondence with his helpers in England. Reforming the Church was the biggest challenge in Thuringia and he had many thorny questions to answer. When a rite of baptism had been defective was it valid? What should he do about immoral clergy? Still remembering his first lesson, he appealed to Rome for answers from the pope. All his appeals to Rome helped him -- but it also helped forge a much stronger bond between Rome and Europe.

     Boniface was called upon to lend his own support to Frankish Church which was also sadly in need of reform. He set up councils and syonds and instituted reforms which revitalized the Church there.

     As well as expanding and growing the churches in Germany, Boniface was equally concerned to ensure that the political authorities and rulers become firmly committed to Christianity. He crowned Pepin as King of all the "Franks" (the people of France and Germany), whose son Charlemagne was to become the first "Holy Roman Emperor", a title which continued for the following 1,000 years. Boniface was constantly traveling around, encouraging churches, appointing good leaders, and negotiating with politicians. His journeys and letters show his energy and spirituality. Many of his fellow-workers came from his native England. Whenever tired, he withdrew to the new abbey he had founded at Fulda in central Germany for rest and refreshment.

     At the age of 73 Boniface took the gospel to Frisia, where his efforts had failed nearly 40 years earlier. He set off with 52 companions on an evangelistic mission. At Pentecost, on June 5, 755 near the modern town of Dokkum in the Netherlands, they were all massacred by heathen brigands. Although his companions wanted to fight, Boniface told them to trust in God and to welcome death for the faith. All of them were martyred. Boniface was himself struck down by a sword that pierced the bible he had raised to shield his head. As requested in his will, his body was taken back to the monastery he had founded at Fulda, in central Germany, where a magnificent Cathedral now encloses his tomb, and where all the Roman Catholic Bishops of Germany hold their meetings every year.