ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN NOVEMBER
Saints celebrated on the 30th of November
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| A postcard featuring the Basilika St. Bonifaz, Munich |
According to Bucelin*, the memory of his ordination is celebrated on November 30.
Scenes from the life of Saint Boniface are masterfully depicted in 12 main and 10 intermediate images in the magnificent basilica that King Ludwig I of Bavaria built in Munich in 1835 in honour of the great apostle of the Germans. The Basilika St. Bonifaz was consecrated on November 24, 1850 and handed over to the Benedictines along with the monastery. [The current abbot of this Bavarian Benedictine monastery is Johannes Eckert.]
Details of Saint Boniface's Martyrdom
No bishop before or after Boniface ever undertook and accomplished anything greater for the spread of the name of Jesus in Germany than Boniface. He restored church discipline everywhere and brought thousands of idolaters, heathens and semi-heathens, who followed a mixture of Christianity and paganism, to the true teachings of Jesus. After a life of much effort and work, one would have expected him to allow himself some rest in his old age.
But his love for the salvation of souls prevented Boniface from enjoying a well deserved retirement: After he had appointed Lullus as his successor in Mainz in 754 and obtaining confirmation for this nomination from Pope Stephen II, he went to Friesland once more with a number of apostolic workers in tow and there continued to labour with youthful enthusiasm for the salvation of souls. He travelled to the most remote coasts of Friesland, converted a large number of men, women and children there, and appointed his assistant Eoban as Bishop of Utrecht.
After penetrating into the vicinity of the North Sea and baptising many there, he sent those catechumens home to prepare for the holy Sacrament of Confirmation . This he wanted to solemnly administer to them a few days after Pentecost, which (according to Seiters, p. 542) was celebrated that year on May 25th.
On the site of modern day Dockum (a mile from the North Sea), there was at that time an inconspicuous farmstead called Dockinga or Dockinchirica, on the small river Bordne (now Bordau), which separated the two districts of Ostar and Westher, six hours from Leeuwarden (Frisian: Liewerden).
Here he had pitched tents, and Boniface awaited the arrival of the newly baptized on the appointed day (5 June), spending the days of anticipation in prayer with his brethren and students.
But instead of the jubilant and solemn hymns and songs of praise (with which the hordes of confirmands had come to meet him on German soil many years before), suddenly the air was rent with wild, barbaric shouting and roaring; instead of the neophytes he was expecting, he caught sight of a disorganised band of bloodthirsty enemies approaching, who belonged to the Frisian lands but came from still pagan regions. They stormed towards the holy men with the intention of invading their camp partly out of hatred for Christianity, partly in the hope of rich booty.
In true Christian spirit, Boniface asked his companions not to retaliate. The bloodthirsty enemies murdered him and 52 other Christians in cold blood on June 5, 755, when Boniface was 74 years old. The most distinguished companions were: Eoban, fellow bishop; the three priests Wintrun, Walther and Adalarius (Adalherus, Ethelher); the three deacons Hamund (Hamundus), Scirbald (Scirbaldus) and Bosa; the four monks Waccarus, Gundecarus (Gundwaccar), Elleherus (Illeshere) and Hathevulfus (Bathowulf); finally the servant Hiltebrandus (Hilsibrant, a brother of the deacon Hamund) and 40 other laymen.
The massacre completed, the bloodthirsty enemies broke into the martyrs' tents and seized what clothes, books, relics and other items they could find. Afterwards they swarmed onto the holy men's supply ships (where wine and food were stored), plundered them as well and set about getting drunk on the wine they had found.
How tremendous was their disappointment when, on opening the martyrs' heavy chests, they found not the treasure they had expected but only books upon books and other holy texts. This resulted an exchange of heated words at first. Then a fight broke out, which soon became so violent among those who were inflamed by murder and wine that they turned their weapons, still smoking with the blood of the peacemakers, against each other. In this way, a large number of the malefactors were killed.
Subsequently, some of the holy texts were rediscovered, including three volumes of books that are still kept in Fulda (in 1775, they were brought from the sacristy of the cathedral to the newly built public library). The first of these volumes is a copy of the Gospels, written by Boniface himself; the second codex is a harmony of the Gospels, the oldest of the manuscripts and bound in a very small folio; the third codex, sprinkled with the blood of the saint, contains short treatises by various holy fathers and may well have served the Apostle of the Germans as a catechism.
(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 1, Augsburg, 1858, pp. 501-05)
*A hagiography source used by the authors
Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations
PRAYER:
May the intercession of Saint Boniface commend us to you, O God, so that through his merits we may obtain that which we cannot accomplish by our own. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Sources of these articles (in the original German): books.google.co.uk, de-academic.com, zeno.org, openlibrary.org
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