The Regina Coeli

Queen of Heaven rejoice, alleluia:

For He Whom you did merit to bear, alleluia,

Has risen as He said, alleluia.

Pray for us to God, alleluia.

Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia.

For the Lord has truly risen, alleluia.

Let us pray. O God, Who gave joy to the world through the resurrection of Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, grant we beseech Thee, that through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, His mother, we may obtain the joys of everlasting life. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

Information: St. Boniface

Feast Day: June 5

Born: 673-680 at Crediton, Devonshire, England

Died: 5 June 754 at Dokkum, Freisland

Patron of: brewers; file cutters; tailors

Catholic Culture

Easter: June 5th

Memorial of St. Boniface, bishop and martyr

MASS READINGS

June 05, 2019 (Readings on USCCB website)

COLLECT PRAYER

May the Martyr Saint Boniface be our advocate, O Lord, that we may firmly hold the faith he taught with his lips and sealed in his blood and confidently profess it by our deeds. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

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Old Calendar: St. Boniface

St. Boniface, a monk of Exeter in England, is one of the great figures of the Benedictine Order and of the monastic apostolate in the Middle Ages. Gregory II sent him to preach the Gospel in Germany. He evangelized Hesse, Saxony and Thuringia and became Archbishop of Mainz. He well earned the title of Apostle of Germany, and Catholic Germany in our own times still venerates him as its father in the faith. He was put to death by the Frisians at Dokkum in 754 during the last of his missionary journeys. The famous abbey of Fulda, where his body lies, has remained the national shrine of Catholic Germany.

St. Boniface
A Benedictine monk was chosen by divine Providence to become Germany's great apostle and patron. Boniface's first missionary endeavor proved unsuccessful (716). Before attempting a second he went to Rome and received papal authorization (718). Under the holy bishop Willibrord he converted Frisia within a period of three years. On November 30, 722, Boniface was consecrated bishop by Pope Gregory II.

In 724 he turned his attention to the Hessian people, among whom he continued his missionary activity with renewed zeal. On an eminence near the village of Geismar on the Eder, he felled a giant oak that the people honored as the national sanctuary of the god Thor. Boniface used the wood to build a chapel in honor of St. Peter. This courageous act assured the eventual triumph of the Gospel in Germany.

The resident clergy and the priests dwelling at the court, whose unworthy lives needed censure, were constantly creating difficulties. Nevertheless Boniface continued to labor quietly, discreetly. He prayed unceasingly, put his trust in God alone, recommended his work to the prayers of his spiritual brothers and sisters in England. And God did not abandon him. Conversions were amazingly numerous. In 732 Gregory III sent him the pallium, the insignia of the archiepiscopal dignity. Boniface now devoted his time and talent to the ecclesiastical organization of the Church in Germany. He installed worthy bishops, set diocesan boundaries, promoted the spiritual life of the clergy and laity, held national synods (between 742 and 747), and in 744 founded the monastery of Fulda, which became a center of religious life in central Germany. In 745 he chose Mayence for his archiepiscopal see, and affiliated to it thirteen suffragan dioceses. This completed the ecclesiastical organization of Germany.

The final years of his busy life were spent, as were his earlier ones, in missionary activity. Word came to him in 754 that a part of Frisia had lapsed from the faith. He took leave of his priests and, sensing the approach of death, carried along a shroud. He was 74 years of age when with youthful enthusiasm he began the work of restoration, a mission he was not to complete. A band of semi-barbarous pagans overpowered and put him to death when he was about to administer confirmation to a group of neophytes at Dockum.

Patron: Brewers; Tailors; Germany; Prussia.

Symbols: Axe; book; raven; scourge; sword; sword piercing heart; Bible transfixed by sword; fallen oak; book and pen; club; fox; axe and fallen oak of Thor.

Things to Do:

One tradition about Saint Boniface says that he used the customs of the locals to help convert them. There was a game in which they threw sticks called kegels at smaller sticks called heides. Boniface bought religion to the game, having the heides represent demons, and knocking them down showing purity of spirit. You might use your ingenuity to imitate this game for your children and tell them the story of St. Boniface.
When reading more about St. Boniface, you will discover that his baptized name was Winfrid. He took the name Boniface either when he took religious profession as a Benedictine, or when Pope Gregory II consecrated him as a regional bishop. More details can be found at Catholic Encyclopedia's entry.
St. Boniface was the uncle of St. Walburga. St. Boniface worked with many other canonized saints in his evangelization of Germany. Find out which saints these were.
Read some of the letters of St. Boniface from The English Correspondence of Saint Boniface: Being for the Most Part Letters Exchanged Between the Apostle of the Germans and His English Friends. Also, you can look at it on microform The English correspondence of Saint Boniface: being for the most part letters exchanged between the apostle of the Germans and his English friends or buy a copy at Amazon.
St. Boniface, although an Englishman, planted the seeds of the Catholic Faith in Germany (at that time "Germany" included the domains of the Frankish monarchs, present-day Belgium and the Netherlands), and now Germany calls St. Boniface her patron. Bake some special German cookies or treat and learn some of the religious customs that come from this country.

Daily Gospel Commentary

• Saint Maximus the Confessor (c.580-662)
monk and theologian
Mystagogy, 1

"So that they may be one just as we are"

The Church bears the imprint and image of God since she shares in the same activity as he... God has brought all things into existence by his infinite power; he contains them, gathers them into one and embraces them. In his Providence he binds all things firmly together to each other and to himself... The holy Church will appear as working the same effect in us as God does, whose image she is. Men, women, children are numerous – and practically innumerable – each distinct from the other, infinitely different by birth, characteristics, nationality and language, way of life and age, ability, customs, habits, knowledge, fortune, personality and relations. Yet all are brought to birth in this Church and, through her working, all are reborn to new life, recreated by the Holy Spirit.

The Church has given to all... one single form, one single divine name: to be Christ's and to bear his name. And to all, too, she gives a certain kind of oneness that does not allow us to distinguish the numerous differences between them... because of the reuniting of all things in her. It is through them, her members, that absolutely no one is separated from the community since all converge towards each other and all are held together by the working of the indivisible power of grace and faith. It is written: “All were of one heart and soul” (Acts 4:32)... To be a single Body formed out of such very different members is something that is really worthy of Christ himself, who is our true Head (Col 1:18). “In him,” says Paul the apostle, “there is neither Jew nor Greek..., neither slave nor free person” but “he is all in all” (Gal 3:28; )... In this way, then, is the holy Church in God's image, since she brings about the same union between believers as God does.

Marriage = One Man and One Woman Until Death Do Us Part

Daily Marriage Tip for June 5, 2019:

You and your spouse are one unit: make time to talk about each other’s days, both big and small events.

Regnum Christi

Memorial of Saint Boniface, Bishop and Martyr

Father Paul Campbell, LC

John 17:11b-19

Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed, saying: “Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are. When I was with them, I protected them in your name that you gave me, and I guarded them, and none of them was lost except the son of destruction, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you. I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely. I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth.”

Introductory Prayer: Lord, I believe in you. I believe that you are here with me. I thank you for your loving presence in my life. I place all of my hope in you. I humbly offer you the love in my heart and my desire to continue your mission in the world.

Petition: Lord, strengthen my resolve to serve you.

He Always Loved Those Who Were His Own in the World: Jesus completed his mission of protecting those entrusted to his care. He fulfilled his vocation as a man; not one of his apostles was lost except the son of destruction. We have his protection still. He sits at the right hand of the Father to intercede for us. We have the help of his mother, Mary, and all the saints in heaven. We are surrounded by a great crowd of saints, who support our efforts to live as God wants us to live. They are God’s gift to protect us on our pilgrimage in life.

Here For the Spiritual Battle: As Jesus was leaving the world, he prayed for his disciples. He did not pray that they would be taken out of the world, but that they be kept from the evil one. Sometimes we can feel beaten up and broken, and we seek to flee the battle. Jesus needs us in the combat and entrusts us with the fight. He doesn’t keep us from the battle, instead offers us the strength of his help. He is with us, fighting at our side. He is within us, giving us the interior strength to do his will.

Just Passing Through: Although we are in the world, we are here as pilgrims. We are passing through on our way to heaven. We have a mission: to save the souls that God has entrusted to our care. It is easy to get distracted, to begin to look for calm, ease or a more comfortable resting place for our weary souls and bodies. The world remains attractive to our fallen nature. Alluring advertisements can leave their mark on us, and we can desire the things of earth more than the treasures of heaven. This is why we must give priority to prayer in our life and contemplate life from the perspective of eternity.

Conversation with Christ: Jesus, protect me from the evil one. He is battling me on many fronts. Keep me strong in your love. Don’t let me give in to discouragement or despair. I have the protection of your love and your intercession. Increase my hope in you. Help me to continue your work in the world.

Resolution: I will speak to someone about Christ today, sharing with them the love he lavishes upon us.

One Bread, One Body

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All Issues > Volume 35, Issue 4

<< Wednesday, June 5, 2019 >>

St. Boniface
Pentecost Novena - Day 6

Acts 20:28-38
View Readings

Psalm 68:29-30, 33-36

John 17:11-19
Similar Reflections

"THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT"

"Be on guard, therefore. Do not forget that for three years, night and day, I never ceased warning you individually even to the point of tears." �Acts 20:31

Paul warned the Ephesian Christians individually for three years, night and day. He warned them of "savage wolves" from their own number who would distort the truth and lead astray any who follow them (Acts 20:29-30).

Guarding Christians against false teaching is a major emphasis in the New Testament. Jesus warns us against wolves in sheep's clothing (Mt 7:15) and hireling shepherds who don't protect the sheep (Jn 10:12-13). Paul told Timothy to "stay on in Ephesus in order to warn certain people there against teaching false doctrines" (1 Tm 1:3). He warned Timothy: "The time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine, but, following their own desires, will surround themselves with teachers who tickle their ears. They will stop listening to the truth and will wander off to fables" (2 Tm 4:3-4).

Using the sword of the Spirit (see Eph 6:17), the Church is to be "the pillar and bulwark of truth" (1 Tm 3:15). In the power of the Spirit of Truth (see Jn 16:13), we are "to fight hard for the faith delivered once for all to the saints" (Jude 3). We "must hold fast to the authentic message, so that [we] will be able both to encourage men to follow sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict it. There are many irresponsible teachers" (Ti 1:9-10). "Their lustful ways will lure many away. Through them, the true way will be made subject to contempt" (2 Pt 2:2).

Therefore, "guard the rich deposit of faith with the help of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us" (2 Tm 1:14).

Prayer: Father, on this sixth day of the novena to the Holy Spirit, send the Spirit of truth.

Promise: "I consecrate Myself for their sakes now, that they may be consecrated in truth." —Jn 17:19

Praise: St. Boniface is known as the Apostle of the Germans.