Saints celebrated on the 14th of July
Prayer to the Angels and the Saints
Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.
In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.
Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.
Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.
ST BONIFACE OF CANTERBURY, BISHOP
[St Boniface of Savoy] Saint Boniface of Canterbury was the forty-sixth Archbishop of Canterbury and son of Thomas, Count of Savoy. His date of birth is uncertain; he died in Savoy, July 14, 1270.
A CARTHUSIAN
While yet a child he became a Carthusian. In 1234, as sub-deacon, he was elected Bishop of Belley in Burgundy: and, in 1241, administered the Diocese of Valence.
HIS CONNECTION WITH THE ROYAL HOUSE OF ENGLAND
His connection with the royal house of England secured his promotion to the primacy. The Queen of Henry III was Eleanor, daughter of Berengar, Count of Provence, and Beatrice of Savoy. This Beatrice was the sister of the future archbishop. When St Edmund died, in 1241, the Queen’s uncle was elected. But Gregory IX and Celestine IV dying unexpectedly, it was not until the end of 1243 that the new Pope, Innocent IV, was able to confirm his election.
HE WENT TO ENGLAND
In the following year Boniface went to England for the first time. He found his see in debt. The heavy taxation during the sequestration in St Edmund’s primacy had severely burdened its already slender resources. Therefore his first act was to make every economy, abolishing all sinecures and unnecessary offices connected with the archbishopric. He ordered the tenants and clergy to contribute towards the liquidation of the debt.
THE COUNCIL OF LYONS
In 1244 he set out for the Council of Lyons, where he was consecrated (January 15, 1245) by the pope. His brother Philip, afterwards Count of Savoy, although not consecrated, held the archbishopric of Lyons and was in command of the papal troops.
During the sitting of the council Boniface held a commission under him. He obtained from the pope the grant of the first-fruits of all vacant benefices in the Province of Canterbury during seven years, and his claim to levy a contribution from the whole province to meet the debt of the metropolitan see was allowed.
HE WAS ENTHRONED WITH GREAT POMP
In 1249 he returned to England and was enthroned with great pomp at Canterbury on All Saints’ Day. The archbishop then began a personal visitation of his diocese, correcting abuses and levying fines.
But, on extending his visitation to the dioceses of his suffragans, resistance was offered to him. In London the Dean and Canons of St Paul’s protested that the Bishop of London was their visitor and appealed. They were promptly excommunicated.
HE WAS INCENSED
On the following day the archbishop visited the Priory of Saint Bartholomew. He was met by the sub-prior and brethren, who welcomed him as a prelate but not as a visitor. Like the clergy of St Paul’s they represented that they had their own bishop and would not submit to other jurisdiction without permission from him. The archbishop was so incensed that he felled the venerable sub-prior to the earth.
THIS WAS MORE THAN THE LONDONERS COULD STAND FROM A FOREIGNER
This was more than the Londoners could stand from a foreigner, even were he their archbishop. They fell upon him, his vestments were torn in the struggle, and the coat of mail worn beneath them disclosed. He was rescued by his bodyguard and escaped by barge to Lambeth, where he proceeded to excommunicate the clergy of St Bartholomew’s and the Bishop of London.
HE SET OUT FOR THE ROMAN COURT
He then announced his intention of holding a visitation at St Albans. The suffragans met and resolved to resist him. The clergy of the province levied a tax upon themselves in order to proceed against him at Rome. Learning of these things he promptly set out for the Roman court.
THE RESULT WAS A COMPROMISE
The result was a compromise, the pope confirming the right of visitation, but restricting its use. Godwin says of him that Boniface did three worthy things: he paid off a debt of 22,000 marks; he built and endowed the hospital at Maidstone; and he finished the great hall of the archbishop’s palace [Lambeth, London].
Pope Gregory XVI, at the suit of Charles Albert of Savoy, King of Sardinia (1831-1949), approved the cult of Boniface, Archbishop of Canterbury.
(From "Catholic Encyclopedia", 1913 - 📷: Lambeth Road, London)
Comments
Post a Comment