Boniface (c. 675–754), the “Apostle to the Germans,” established Christianity in the Germanic parts of the Frankish Empire.
This year is the 1,300th anniversary of Boniface leaving England in 716 to do missionary work.
He was born Winfrid around 675 in Wessex (now Devon), England. After completing his studies at Exeter and Nursling monasteries, he became head of the school at Nursling. When Nursling’s abbot died, Winfrid declined to be his successor because of Winfrid’s call to missions.
In 716 he and two companions left England for Frisia (now the Netherlands). Working with a local missionary, Willibrord, they preached until a war stopped their work. In the autumn of 716, Winfrid returned to Nursling.
To be an effective missionary Winfrid needed a direct commission from Pope Gregory II. In 718, with recommendations from the bishop of Winchester, he met the Pope, who changed his name from Winfrid to Boniface. Gregory II gave him a commission to preach the Word of God.
Boniface traveled through Bavaria into Hesse (western Germany) and then back to Frisia. He labored three years under Willibrord until his death. He declined to become Willibrord’s successor as bishop of Utrecht. Returning to work in Hesse, he ministered to two local princes who became zealous Christians. They gave him a grant of land on which he founded the monastery of Amoeneburg.
On Nov. 30, 722, Gregory II consecrated Boniface bishop of parts of Germany and gave him a letter to present to Frankish Duke Charles Martel. With that letter, Boniface got Martel’s military protection.
Boniface returned to Hesse to rid the pagans of their superstitions, including the worship of trees. With the people gathered to watch, he and two of his followers attacked Thor’s sacred oak that stood at the top of Mount Gudenberg. After a few blows the huge tree crashed. The tribesmen expected their gods to intervene. When nothing happened, they realized their gods didn’t exist. Most of them converted to Christianity and Boniface built a chapel on the spot.
He established a second monastery at Ohrdruff. Because of a lack of teachers, he appealed to English monasteries and convents. Many monks and nuns answered his call and he built new monasteries.
In 731, Pope Gregory III appointed Boniface archbishop of all Germany beyond the Rhine. A few years later he was named legate, representative of the Pope. He organized four dioceses in Bavaria and four in Germany. He founded the abbey at Fulda in 741 as the center of German monastic culture.
Boniface spent five years in Gaul, Germany, carrying out many reforms and restoring the Church to its former greatness. With the help of Boniface, the Archbishop of Canterbury adopted many of the reforms passed in Gaul.
In 747, Boniface became the archbishop of Mainz, Germany.
Boniface returned to Frisia and he and his 53 companions brought the gospel to tribes people who had never heard it. While awaiting converts for a confirmation service in Dokkum on June 5, 754, a band of armed thieves killed him and his companions. Boniface’s remains are entombed at Fulda Cathedral, previously the abbey church.
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