A Life of Service
Boniface sat in the evening sunlight reading. He was getting on in years, around seventy years old, and life as the apostle to Germany had not been easy. Attendants and fellow missionaries bustled around him preparing for a confirmation meeting; but Boniface sat, eyes glazing over, as he reflected on what he had accomplished or rather, as he chided himself, what God had accomplished through him.
The Germanic Christians organised into churches and connected to Rome; monasteries founded where future missionaries and teachers were even now receiving instruction; alliances formed with powerful leaders to forge peace; and, of course, the sacred oak of the Germanic god, Thor, at Geismar, chopped down with Boniface’s own two hands when they held more strength than they did now.
His Final Witness
Just then, a band of Frisian warriors, a violent tribe from the coastland of the Netherlands, burst into the camp waving swords and spears. The men around Boniface jumped for their weapons, but the old apostle stood up amid the clamour and yelled out to them. “Sons, cease fighting. Lay down your arms for we are told in Scripture not to render evil for good but to overcome evil by good.” On that day, June 4, 754, Boniface was brutally killed by the Frisians, as were all of those with him.
1 Peter 2:23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him
Date: 15th June 2024
Martyr: Boniface
Location: Not specified
Source: God’s Generals – The martyrs
Author: Richard Liardon
Suffering Saturday 095
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