Saint Boniface (or Winfrid/Wynfrith), Apostle of Germany, was a native of England, though some authorities have claimed him for Ireland or Scotland. The place of his birth is not known, though it was probably in the south-western part of Wessex. It seems safe to state that he was born between 672 and 680 AD. Descended from a noble family, from his earliest years he showed great ability, and received a religious education. His parents intended him for secular pursuits, but, inspired with higher ideals by missionary monks who visited his home, Boniface felt himself called to a religious state. At the age of thirty he was ordained a priest. Despite every prospect of a great career and the highest dignities in his own country he had no desire for human glory, for the thought of bringing the light of the Gospel to his kin, the Old Saxons in Germany, had taken possession of his mind. In 716 he set out for the mission in Frisia.

Since the Faith had already been preached there by Wigbert, Willibrord, and others, Boniface expected to find a good soil for his missionary work; yet the Faith had been consistently stifled by the rule of the pagan King Radbod. Boniface found the country in a sad condition. Great numbers of their rebellious subjects had lapsed into heathenism, or a mixture of Christianity and idolatry. Boniface tried to enkindle a missionary spirit in the priests and to make the people live up to the pure precepts of the Christian religion. Though he converted some of the heathens, he did not meet with the success which he had anticipated.

This handbook recounts the life of Saint Boniface, originally called Winfrid, and his mission to Germany to convert the Old Saxons, during which time he cuts down the ‘Oak of Jupiter’ or ‘Donar Oak’, how he wins plentiful converts by his work and by his miracles, and how the Saxons ultimately murder him and are punished.

(Biography adapted from Vol. 2 of the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1907, ‘Boniface’ by Francis Mershman)