Today is the feast day of the patron of this blog, St. Boniface (I actually took my blog alias from Pope Boniface VIII, but since he is not a saint, St. Boniface of Germany will have to do).
St. Boniface was an English Benedictine monk who became the great Apostle of Germany. He was put to death at Dokkum in 755.
O God, Who didst vouchsafe by the zeal of blessed Boniface, Thy Martyr and Bishop, to call a multitude of peoples to the knowledge of Thy name: grant, in Thy mercy, that as we keep his solemn feast so we may also enjoy his protection.
I particularly like St. Boniface because he was willing to cut down the pagan shrine rather than tolerate the worship of false gods in his presence. I've often thought of this story when I hear about the Hindu shrines erected at Fatima and that sort of nonsense...
O God, Who didst vouchsafe by the zeal of blessed Boniface, Thy Martyr and Bishop, to call a multitude of peoples to the knowledge of Thy name: grant, in Thy mercy, that as we keep his solemn feast so we may also enjoy his protection.
I particularly like St. Boniface because he was willing to cut down the pagan shrine rather than tolerate the worship of false gods in his presence. I've often thought of this story when I hear about the Hindu shrines erected at Fatima and that sort of nonsense...
He wasn't into ecumenical dialogue, was he? :-) He cut away paganism at it's root in chopping down their so-called sacred oak.
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