St. Boniface I October 25

 St. Boniface I

† இன்றைய புனிதர் †

(அக்டோபர் 25)

✠ புனிதர் முதலாம் போனிஃபேஸ் ✠

(St. Boniface I)

42ம் திருத்தந்தை:

(42nd Pope)

பிறப்பு: ----

ரோம் (Rome)

இறப்பு: செப்டம்பர் 4, 422

ரோம் (Rome)

நினைவுத் திருநாள்: அக்டோபர் 25

திருத்தந்தை புனிதர் முதலாம் போனிஃபாஸ், கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபையின் 42ம் திருத்தந்தையாக கி.பி. 418ம் ஆண்டு, டிசம்பர் மாதம், 28ம் தேதி முதல், கி.பி. 422ம் ஆண்டு, செப்டம்பர் மாதம், 4ம் தேதி வரை பணியாற்றினார். இவர் புனித அகஸ்தீனுடைய சமகாலத்தவர். “புனிதர் அகுஸ்தீன்” (Saint Augustine of Hippo), இவருக்கு தன் படைப்புகளுள் பலவற்றை அர்ப்பணித்துள்ளார்.

(Liber Pontificalis) எனும் மேற்கத்திய திருச்சபையின் திருத்தந்தையர் அல்லது ஆயர்களின் நடப்புகள் மற்றும் சடங்குகள் பற்றின விபரங்கள் எழுதப்பட்டிருக்கும் புத்தகத்தில், திருத்தந்தை போனிஃபாஸ் பற்றின விபரங்கள் சிறிதளவே காணப்படுகின்றன. இவர் ஒரு ரோமன் என்றும், கிறிஸ்தவ தேவாலயத்தின் மூப்பரான (Presbyter) “ஜோகண்ட்டஸ்” (Jocundus) என்பவருடைய மகன் என்றும் அறியப்படுகிறது. இவர், திருத்தந்தை “முதலாம் டமாஸ்கஸ்” (Pope Damasus I) அவர்களால் குருத்துவம் பெற்றவர் என்றும், “கான்ஸ்டண்டினோபிலில்” (Constantinople) திருத்தந்தை “முதலாம் இன்னொசென்ட்டின்” (Innocent I) பிரதிநிதியாக செயல்பட்டவர் என்றும் அறியப்படுகிறது.

திருத்தந்தைத் தேர்தலில் குழப்பம்:

திருத்தந்தை “சோசிமஸின்” (Pope Zosimus) இறப்புக்குப் பின், இருவர் திருத்தந்தை பதவிக்கு முன்மொழியப்பட்டனர். ஒருவர் போனிஃபாஸ், மற்றவர் “யூலாலியஸ்” (Eulalius). இதனால் ஏற்பட்ட குழப்பத்தை தவிர்க்கக் கோரி ரோம ஆட்சியாளர் “சிம்மாக்குஸ்” (Aurelius Anicius Symmachus) என்பவர் இரவேன்னா நகரில் தங்கியிருந்த ரோமப்பேரரசர் “ஹொனோரியசை” (Emperor Honorius) வேண்டி கடிதம் எழுதினார். அவர், முதலில் தேர்ந்தெடுக்கப்பட்டவர் யூலாலியஸ் ஆதலால், அவருக்கே ஆதரவளித்தார்.

ரோமப் பேரரசின் பேரரசி “கல்லா பிலசிடியா” (Empress Galla Placidia) மற்றும் அவருடைய கணவர் “மூன்றாம் கான்ஸ்டன்ஷியஸ்” (Constantius III) கூட யூலாலியுசுக்கு ஆதரவு தெரிவித்தனர். இருந்தாலும், யார் திருத்தந்தை என்னும் குழப்பத்தைத் தீர்ப்பதற்கு வசதியாக போனிஃபாசும், யூலாலியுசும் ரோமுக்கு வெளியே அனுப்பப்பட்டனர். அச்சமயம் இயேசுவின் உயிர்த்தெழுதல் விழா அண்மையில் நிகழவிருந்ததைப் பயன்படுத்திக்கொண்ட யூலாலியுசு, பேரரசின் உத்தரவுகளையும், சட்டத்தையும் மீறி ரோமுக்குத் திரும்பினார். இது ரோம ஆட்சியாளர்களுக்குப் பிடிக்கவில்லை. இதைத் தொடர்ந்து பேரரசர் “ஹொனோரியஸ்” (Emperor Honorius) போனிஃபாஸ்’தான் முறைப்படி திருத்தந்தை ஆவார் என்று அறிவித்தார்.

போனிஃபாஸ் ஆட்சி:

திருத்தந்தை போனிஃபாஸ், தமக்கு முந்தைய சில திருத்தந்தையரின் திருச்சபையின் நிர்வாகம் சம்பந்தமான கொள்கைகள் சிலவற்றை மாற்றியமைத்தார். “பெலாஜியஸ்” (Pelagius) எனும் பிரிட்டிஷ் துறவி போதித்த “பெலாஜியனிசம்” (Pelagianism) எனும் இறையியல் கோட்பாடுகளைக் கண்டித்தார். இதனை எதிர்த்து போராடுவதற்காக, இவர் “புனிதர் அகுஸ்தினாருக்கு” (St. Augustine) ஆதரவளித்தார்.

பேரரசர் “இரண்டாம் தியோடோசியசை”, (Emperor Theodosius II) அவரது மேற்கத்திய அதிகார வரம்பான “இலரிக்கம்” (Illyricum) திரும்ப வற்புறுத்தினார். மேலும், திருப்பீடத்துக்கு உள்ள உரிமைகளை இவர் நிலைநாட்டினார்.

Feastday: October 25

Patron: of brewers; Fulda; Germany; World Youth Day

Death: 422

Boniface I Ordained by Pope Damasus I, St. Boniface was a priest at Rome and served as papal legate to Constantinople under Innocent I. When Pope Zosimus died in December, 418, a majority elected Boniface pope, and a minority elected Eulalius pope. Pope and antipope were consecrated on the same day. The Council of Spoleto was convoked in 419 to settle the dispute. Symmachus the Prefect supported Eulalius, and the Emperor Honorius supported Boniface, who was enthroned after the council. Boniface condemned Pelagianism and encouraged St. Augustine to write against it. When Boniface died in 422, he was buried in a chapel which he had built in the cemetary of St. Felicity.

"Boniface" redirects here. For others with the given name or surname, see Boniface (name).

For other uses, see Saint Boniface (disambiguation).

Boniface (Latin: Bonifatius; c. 675[2] – 5 June 754 AD), born Winfrid (also spelled Winifred, Wynfrith, Winfrith or Wynfryth) in the Devon town of Crediton in Anglo-Saxon England, was a leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of the Frankish Empire during the 8th century. He organised significant foundations of the church in Germany and was made archbishop of Mainz by Pope Gregory III. He was martyred in Frisia in 754, along with 52 others, and his remains were returned to Fulda, where they rest in a sarcophagus which became a site of pilgrimage. Boniface's life and death as well as his work became widely known, there being a wealth of material available—a number of vitae, especially the near-contemporary Vita Bonifatii auctore Willibaldi, legal documents, possibly some sermons, and above all his correspondence. He is venerated as a saint in the Christian church and became the patron saint of Germania, known as the "Apostle of the Germans".

Norman F. Cantor notes the three roles Boniface played that made him "one of the truly outstanding creators of the first Europe, as the apostle of Germania, the reformer of the Frankish church, and the chief fomentor of the alliance between the papacy and the Carolingian family."[3] Through his efforts to reorganize and regulate the church of the Franks, he helped shape the Latin Church in Europe, and many of the dioceses he proposed remain today. After his martyrdom, he was quickly hailed as a saint in Fulda and other areas in Germania and in England. He is still venerated strongly today by German Catholics. Boniface is celebrated as a missionary; he is regarded as a unifier of Europe, and he is regarded by German Catholics as a national figure. In 2019 Devon County Council with the support of the Anglican and Catholic churches in Exeter and Plymouth, officially recognised St Boniface as the Patron Saint of Devon.

Prayer card, early 20th century, depicting Boniface leaving England

The earliest Bonifacian vita, Willibald's, does not mention his place of birth but says that at an early age he attended a monastery ruled by Abbot Wulfhard in escancastre,[4] or Examchester,[5] which seems to denote Exeter, and may have been one of many monasteriola built by local landowners and churchmen; nothing else is known of it outside the Bonifacian vitae.[6] This monastery is believed to have occupied the site of the Church of St Mary Major in the City of Exeter, demolished in 1971, next to which was later built Exeter Cathedral.[7] Later tradition places his birth at Crediton, but the earliest mention of Crediton in connection to Boniface is from the early fourteenth century,[8] in John Grandisson's Legenda Sanctorum: The Proper Lessons for Saints' Days according to the use of Exeter.[9] In one of his letters Boniface mentions he was "born and reared...[in] the synod of London",[10] but he may have been speaking metaphorically.[11]

According to the vitae, Winfrid was of a respected and prosperous family. Against his father's wishes he devoted himself at an early age to the monastic life. He received further theological training in the Benedictine monastery and minster of Nhutscelle (Nursling),[12] not far from Winchester, which under the direction of abbot Winbert had grown into an industrious centre of learning in the tradition of Aldhelm.[13] Winfrid taught in the abbey school and at the age of 30 became a priest; in this time, he wrote a Latin grammar, the Ars Grammatica, besides a treatise on verse and some Aldhelm-inspired riddles.[14] While little is known about Nursling outside of Boniface's vitae, it seems clear that the library there was significant. In order to supply Boniface with the materials he needed, it would have contained works by Donatus, Priscian, Isidore, and many others.[15] Around 716, when his abbot Wynberth of Nursling died, he was invited (or expected) to assume his position—it is possible that they were related, and the practice of hereditary right among the early Anglo-Saxons would affirm this.[16] Winfrid, however, declined the position and in 716 set out on a missionary expedition to Frisia.

Early missionary work in Frisia and Germania

Saint Boniface felling Donar's Oak

Boniface first left for the continent in 716. He traveled to Utrecht, where Willibrord, the "Apostle of the Frisians," had been working since the 690s. He spent a year with Willibrord, preaching in the countryside, but their efforts were frustrated by the war then being carried on between Charles Martel and Radbod, King of the Frisians. Willibrord fled to the abbey he had founded in Echternach (in modern-day Luxembourg) while Boniface returned to Nursling.

Boniface returned to the continent the next year and went straight to Rome, where Pope Gregory II renamed him "Boniface", after the (legendary) fourth-century martyr Boniface of Tarsus, and appointed him missionary bishop for Germania—he became a bishop without a diocese for an area that lacked any church organization. He would never return to England, though he remained in correspondence with his countrymen and kinfolk throughout his life.

According to the vitae Boniface felled the Donar Oak, Latinized by Willibald as "Jupiter's oak," near the present-day town of Fritzlar in northern Hesse. According to his early biographer Willibald, Boniface started to chop the oak down, when suddenly a great wind, as if by miracle, blew the ancient oak over. When the god did not strike him down, the people were amazed and converted to Christianity. He built a chapel dedicated to Saint Peter from its wood at the site[17]—the chapel was the beginning of the monastery in Fritzlar. This account from the vita is stylized to portray Boniface as a singular character who alone acts to root out paganism. Lutz von Padberg and others point out that what the vitae leave out is that the action was most likely well-prepared and widely publicized in advance for maximum effect, and that Boniface had little reason to fear for his personal safety since the Frankish fortified settlement of Büraburg was nearby.[18] According to Willibald, Boniface later had a church with an attached monastery built in Fritzlar,[19] on the site of the previously built chapel, according to tradition.[20]

Boniface and the Carolingians

Fulda Sacramentary, Saint Boniface baptizing (top) and being martyred (bottom)

The support of the Frankish mayors of the palace (maior domos), and later the early Pippinid and Carolingian rulers, was essential for Boniface's work. Boniface had been under the protection of Charles Martel from 723 on.[21] The Christian Frankish leaders desired to defeat their rival power, the pagan Saxons, and to incorporate the Saxon lands into their own growing empire. Boniface's campaign of destruction of indigenous Germanic pagan sites may have benefited the Franks in their campaign against the Saxons.

In 732, Boniface traveled again to Rome to report, and Pope Gregory III conferred upon him the pallium as archbishop with jurisdiction over what is now Germany. Boniface again set out for the German lands and continued his mission, but also used his authority to work on the relations between the papacy and the Frankish church. Rome wanted more control over that church, which it felt was much too independent and which, in the eyes of Boniface, was subject to worldly corruption. Charles Martel, after having defeated the forces of the Umayyad Caliphate during the Battle of Tours (732), had rewarded many churches and monasteries with lands, but typically his supporters who held church offices were allowed to benefit from those possessions. Boniface would have to wait until the 740s before he could try to address this situation, in which Frankish church officials were essentially sinecures, and the church itself paid little heed to Rome. During his third visit to Rome in 737–38, he was made papal legate for Germany.[22]

After Boniface's third trip to Rome, Charles Martel established four dioceses in Bavaria (Salzburg, Regensburg, Freising, and Passau) and gave them to Boniface as archbishop and metropolitan over all Germany east of the Rhine. In 745, he was granted Mainz as metropolitan see.[23] In 742, one of his disciples, Sturm (also known as Sturmi, or Sturmius), founded the abbey of Fulda not far from Boniface's earlier missionary outpost at Fritzlar. Although Sturm was the founding abbot of Fulda, Boniface was very involved in the foundation. The initial grant for the abbey was signed by Carloman, the son of Charles Martel, and a supporter of Boniface's reform efforts in the Frankish church. Boniface himself explained to his old friend, Daniel of Winchester, that without the protection of Charles Martel he could "neither administer his church, defend his clergy, nor prevent idolatry".

According to German historian Gunther Wolf, the high point of Boniface's career was the Concilium Germanicum, organized by Carloman in an unknown location in April 743. Although Boniface was not able to safeguard the church from property seizures by the local nobility, he did achieve one goal, the adoption of stricter guidelines for the Frankish clergy,[24] who often hailed directly from the nobility. After Carloman's resignation in 747 he maintained a sometimes turbulent relationship with the king of the Franks, Pepin; the claim that he would have crowned Pepin at Soissons in 751 is now generally discredited.[25]

Boniface balanced this support and attempted to maintain some independence, however, by attaining the support of the papacy and of the Agilolfing rulers of Bavaria. In Frankish, Hessian, and Thuringian territory, he established the dioceses of Würzburg and Erfurt. By appointing his own followers as bishops, he was able to retain some independence from the Carolingians, who most likely were content to give him leeway as long as Christianity was imposed on the Saxons and other Germanic tribes.

Last mission to Frisia

Saint Boniface crypt, Fulda

Nailhole in the Ragyndrudis Codex

According to the vitae, Boniface had never relinquished his hope of converting the Frisians, and in 754 he set out with a retinue for Frisia. He baptized a great number and summoned a general meeting for confirmation at a place not far from Dokkum, between Franeker and Groningen. Instead of his converts, however, a group of armed robbers appeared who slew the aged archbishop. The vitae mention that Boniface persuaded his (armed) comrades to lay down their arms: "Cease fighting. Lay down your arms, for we are told in Scripture not to render evil for good but to overcome evil by good."[26]

Having killed Boniface and his company, the Frisian bandits ransacked their possessions but found that the company's luggage did not contain the riches they had hoped for: "they broke open the chests containing the books and found, to their dismay, that they held manuscripts instead of gold vessels, pages of sacred texts instead of silver plates."[27] They attempted to destroy these books, the earliest vita already says, and this account underlies the status of the Ragyndrudis Codex, now held as a Bonifacian relic in Fulda, and supposedly one of three books found on the field by the Christians who inspected it afterward. Of those three books, the Ragyndrudis Codex shows incisions that could have been made by sword or axe; its story appears confirmed in the Utrecht hagiography, the Vita altera, which reports that an eye-witness saw that the saint at the moment of death held up a gospel as spiritual protection.[28] The story was later repeated by Otloh's vita; at that time, the Ragyndrudis Codex seems to have been firmly connected to the martyrdom.

Boniface's remains were moved from the Frisian countryside to Utrecht, and then to Mainz, where sources contradict each other regarding the behavior of Lullus, Boniface's successor as archbishop of Mainz. According to Willibald's vita Lullus allowed the body to be moved to Fulda, while the (later) Vita Sturmi, a hagiography of Sturm by Eigil of Fulda, Lullus attempted to block the move and keep the body in Mainz.[29]

His remains were eventually buried in the abbey church of Fulda after resting for some time in Utrecht, and they are entombed within a shrine beneath the high altar of Fulda Cathedral, previously the abbey church. There is good reason to believe that the Gospel he held up was the Codex Sangallensis 56, which shows damage to the upper margin, which has been cut back as a form or repair.