About Today for St. Boniface, B & M

June 5

Saint Boniface, Bishop and Martyr

Memorial

St. Boniface lived from 680 – 754 A.D. The son of noble parents, he was educated at a monastery near Exeter in southwest England and entered monastic life at an early age at Nursling near Winchester. There he became a popular teacher and wrote a Latin grammar. When he was about 35, he left his familiar world to become a missionary in Frisia (in the north of modern-day The Netherlands). That mission failed.

Pope Gregory II then sent Boniface to consolidate the missions in Germany. Boniface established a number of monasteries there and recruited helpers and material support from Europe and was very successful in this missionary apostolate. He was made bishop and later papal legate. He was also put in charge of reorganizing the Frankish Church. When he was almost 80, he resigned his positions and returned to Frisia as a missionary. There he was martyred while he was reading a book. His body and the blood-stained book were taken to Fulda, which has been the center of devotion to Boniface ever since. [1][2]

Written by Sarah Ciotti
Reviewed by Fr. Hugh Feiss, OSB, STD
[1] His Holiness Benedict XVI, “General Audience,” March 11, 2009.
[2] Catholicpedia: The Original Catholic Encyclopedia (1917) for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. s.v. “St. Boniface.”