Boniface			 June 5
Bishop of Mainz, Missionary, Martyr
Born about 675 at Crediton in Devon, Boniface as a small child experienced a call to the monastic life. After an uneventful period in a Hampshire monastery, he volunteered to assist Willibrord as a missionary to the Frisians of northern Europe. It was not a successful mission. Following a short break at home in 717, Boniface learned that conditions in Frisia had changed and, going first to Rome to obtain papal authority, he returned to Frisia in 718, never to see Britain again. For over thirty years he laboured as a missionary. Initially he worked alongside Willibrord, but then, at the request of Pope Gregory II, he moved further east to pioneer a gospel ministry among the tribes of northern Germany.
His given name was Winfrith, and it was not until 719 that he took the name Boniface, by which he has become famous. In 722 he was consecrated bishop of Mainz. It was in Hesse in northern Germany that Boniface had the most spectacular success of his career. At Geismar, where he was under the protection of Charles Martel, he began cutting down an ancient oak tree dedicated to the god Thor in the presence of a large number of hostile pagans. His motive was to put an end to idolatry by a definite and dramatic act of defiance. It was a courageous and dangerous act. The fact that Boniface did it unscathed by the wrath of Thor led to many baptisms throughout the region. Out of the timber salvaged from the tree, Boniface built a small chapel.
An interesting feature of Boniface’s ministry was the use he made of women in his missionary work. He was also responsible for forming the monastery at Fulda, which for centuries played a key role in the growth of the church in that part of Europe. In 732 the pope made him archbishop of Mainz. In that capacity he instituted reforms in the church in France, in particular establishing the Rule of St Benedict for monasteries in the Carolingian Empire.
At the age of seventy-five Boniface returned to northern Frisia, destroying pagan temples, building churches, and baptising thousands of converts. He died on 5 June 754 at the hands of a pagan band at Dokkum on the banks of a river. Here he had arranged to hold confirmation and baptism services on the eve of Pentecost Sunday. When some of his supporters made to defend themselves, Boniface ordered that no weapons should be used against their attackers. “Lay down your arms, for we are told in Scripture not to render evil for evil but to overcome evil by good.”
For Liturgical Use
Boniface was a British monk from Hampshire. He was born in 675 and spent over thirty years as a missionary to the pagan tribes of northern Europe. The turning point in his work was when he cut down an ancient oak dedicated to Thor and convinced the people of the emptiness of paganism and idolatry. He was appointed bishop of Mainz in 722 and archbishop ten years later. He was martyred in 754 in northern Frisia as he prepared to baptise and confirm a group of new converts.
Sentence
We are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.	Romans 8:17
Collects
Almighty God,
you sent Boniface to Europe
to proclaim your love,
to confront the forces of paganism,
and to yield his life for the gospel;
give us grace gladly to bear the yoke of Christ
and to find our peace in his service;
through Jesus Christ our Saviour.

God of enterprise,
you called Boniface from his monastery
when he was forty;
you sent him to Germany,
to work with women as well as men,
till at seventy he was attacked and killed;
may we serve you half as well.
Psalms	115	135:13-21
Readings
Isaiah 49:5-10		A light to the nations
Acts 20:22-27		Paul’s premonition of martyrdom
John 4:22-26		True worship
Post Communion Sentence
Keep watch over yourselves and over all the flock, to shepherd the church of God. 	Acts 20:28