St Boniface Church example essay topic

St. Boniface St. Boniface, originally named Winfrith, was an extremely studious man, a converted monk, priest, missionary and finally martyr. Born in 672, near Exeter, England, St. Boniface at an early age developed a desire to follow the path of God and live a monastic life. Through non-stop prayer and religious practices, he tuned his mind and body to reach beyond the obstacles and enticements of everyday life at his young adult age. He was a major influence on society during his life and affected the lives and history of Germany permanently.

Often called the "Apostle of Germany", St. Boniface was a strong believer in the principles of the Church and truly wanted to open any pagan believers minds to the knowledgeable and rewarding path of the Christian life. In his youth, St. Boniface encountered many priests or clerics who traveled from town to town. Through these spiritual conversations, it became evident to St. Boniface that he wanted to pursue a life with God. Eventually, after continues begging and his fathers fatal sickness, he was sent to the care of the Monastery of Exam chester. (Appleton) It is here, that St. Boniface expressed to the Abbot at the time, that he wanted to live a monastic life. The father of the monastery, after council, granted him his wish.

Here is where the saint began to prove his love for God, and could begin his journey of the Christian life. After exceeding all expectations and surpassing the knowledge of his teachers, he moved to a neighboring monastery, called Nursling, whereby he studied under the influence of Abbot Winbert. (St. Boniface Church) Here he gained vast knowledge of scriptures and the spiritual exposition of the Bible. Here, he gained such a reputation that men and women from far and wide traveled to study scriptures under his guidance. At the age of 30 he was humbly ordained a priest and yet another branch of his life was fulfilled.

St. Boniface once again yearned to explore and travel. Through such ventures he could express the meaning of God to non believers and convert as many as possible. After continues begging, Abbot Winbert gave in and Boniface's petition was granted. During this journey, Boniface's first obstacle appeared.

"King Radbod, the King of the Frisians, and Prince Charles, the noble Duke of the Franks broke out in battle". (Appleton) Through disturbances from both sides and hostile incursion by pagans, many churches were destroyed and replaced with pagan shrines. This was his first setback. He was not able to dull the battles nor convert the pagans.

He viewed the land and the people and knew what he needed to accomplish within himself. Furthermore he was aware of what new goals he needed to reach for himself. He returned back home to England, but was welcomed by his master, Abbot Winbert's last days. After a few years, St. Boniface left England for the last time, and centered his trip to Rome, to see the pope himself, Gregory the second. Once again, he begged the pope to travel to savage lands to report upon the Germanic people.

Once in Thuringia, he began to speak to the elders of the church, the princes and the people of the true way of knowledge and understanding that they have lost through years of perverse teachings (Talbot). He removed evil from minds and directed it towards a life of virtue. Afterwards, he traveled into France and heard news that King Radbod died. St. Boniface was now able to sail up river to Frisia and speak the word of God. He joyfully reached areas that were previously untouched by the Gospel, and spread the word of Christianity to pagans. (Dunney) Thus ending the pagan superstition in the area.

He converted many more pagans in Germany until returning back to Rome to visit the Pope. After a few day visit, the Pope consecrated to Winfrith St. Boniface. St. Boniface once again traveled back to Germany and heard that there were "sacrifices to trees and springs, to inspect the entrails of victims; some practiced divination, legerdemain and incantations" (Talbot). Boniface, in the face of the pagans, attempted to cut down a giant oak tree in Gaesmere. Supposedly it took a few swings, then the giant tree collapsed, leaving all viewers in awe. The viewers then switched their opinions and began to believe in the Lord.

St. Boniface continued his path of righteousness until his last journey in Frisia. On a set day to confirm all recently baptized, enemies came instead and brought death to St. Boniface and his attendants. Boniface talked his attendants to put down their weapons and go in peace, preaching", Sons, cease fighting. Lay down your arms, for we are told in Scripture not to render evil for good but to over some evil by good. The hour to which we have long looked forward is near and the day of our release is at hand... put your trust in him and he will grant deliverance to your souls". (Talbot).

With those last words St. Boniface was slain and died a martyr June 5th 754. The purpose of Boniface life was essentially to convert all pagans to Christianity and the reformation of corrupt Churches as he saw fit. He dedicated his life towards the study and worship of God, and sacrificed family and material possessions on his path. He continuously worked, progressing his own intelligence of Christianity, but progressed the religion as a whole. During his first visit to Germany, he returned to England unsuccessful due to the quarrels of King Radbod, but I feel it was not a complete failure. I believe that what he ended up with was motivation instead of rejection.

As I stated earlier, he was able to survey the land and speak to the people, only preparing himself for his next visit he was eager to make. St. Boniface accomplished many things in the religious world, but one may ask themselves, what mark did Boniface leave on the political world of the 8th century. Being the intelligent man that he was, Boniface knew from past experiences, that to ensure the fate of his beloved religion, he must embed ed the seed of Christianity far within the political worlds fertile soil. Boniface crowned Pepin the Short, mayor of the Palace of the whole, King of the Franks. (St. Boniface Church). Pepin's son would become Charlemagne, the first "Holy Roman Emperor".

This title continued for the next 1,000 years. Boniface was constantly traveling, encouraging churches to improve in their teachings, appointing good leaders and dealing with many politicians. Overall, St. Boniface is almost single handed ly credited for the conversion of Germany. After Pope Gregory the seconds death, Gregory the third spoke with St. Boniface. After congratulating him, he awarded Boniface with a pallium, thus making him archbishop.

Boniface was now able to assign bishops to areas he saw fit. Boniface came up with an idea where he appointed a successor to his see, in case he died, his people would not be left without a pastor, or their ministration. He divided the churches and land among two of his trusted colleagues making sure he encompassed the church borders around the Franks, Saxons and Slavs. Boniface made sure he continued to instruct his people to his dying die however, showing his love for the religion.

In conclusion, St. Boniface was a saint among saints. While learning about him, I wondered to myself how I never heard of him before. The accomplishments he overcame are mind boggling. He dedicating every waking moment since he became apart of the monastic life to praying, studying scriptures, the bible, and overall spreading the word of Christianity to the best of his ability. This brought me to a realization that all saints had a life such as this. They all strive d to spread their religion and did not stop until their death.

It is interesting to find out that there were people like that, that dedicated so much of their lives for a cause. I am sure other saints accomplished as much as St. Boniface, but to my knowledge, he seemed like the most active and aggressive. He not only prayed for change, he went out and made it happen. He took journey's that lasted years, traveled aimlessly at times, from one ship to another converting pagans and spreading the word as he went along. He even went on these missions in his elder years, though dangerous for his age, he continued until his death. Work Cited Page Appleton, Robert.

"New Advent". St. Boniface. 3 November 2004. Dunney, Joseph. "Church History, St. Boniface" Catholic Information Network. 20 March 2004.

Garnett, Ken. "Medieval Church. org. uk" St. Boniface. St. Boniface Church. "So-Who was St. Boniface?" St. Boniface Church. 2002-2003. Talbot, C.H. The Anglo-Saxon Missionaries in Germany.

New York: Speed and Ward, 1954.