Boniface Faced Death in a Christian Spirit - 755
Boniface, missionary martyr to northern Europe.
Introduction
Sometimes the historian has to wonder what portions of death speeches that have come down to us were actually spoken and how much biographers invented. That is the case with Boniface, missionary to Germany and Friesland. A pagan horde descended on his camp on this day, June 5, 755, intent on murder. Seventy-year-old Boniface reportedly found time to urge the young men with him not to resist and the priests not to be afraid. He was then knocked in the head and killed. Regardless of whether he spoke it all, it remains a stirring speech.
Quote
[To the young men] “Cease to strive; for the Holy Scriptures teach us plainly, not to recompense evil with evil, but with good. Long have I desired this day…. Be strong in the Lord, and bear with thankful resignation what His grace shall send. Trust in Him, and he will deliver your souls.” [To the priests] “My brethren, be of good cheer, and suffer not yourselves to be terrified by those who can indeed kill the body, but cannot touch the soul destined for eternal life. Rejoice in the Lord, and cast the anchor of your hope upon Him, who will soon bestow on you the meed of eternal joy. Endure steadfastly the brief moment of death, that ye may reign everlastingly with Christ.”
Neander, Augustus. Light in the Dark Places: or, Memorial of Christian Life in the Middle Ages. New York: Land & Scott, 1851.