(c.673-754) — Saint Boniface was born in England, educated by Benedictines, and became a Benedictine monk and missionary to what is now Germany. Along with other saints, he destroyed idols and pagan temples, building churches in their place. He became the Archbishop of Mainz and founded new dioceses in Bavaria, Thuringia, and Franconia. Boniface was martyred while evangelizing in what is modern-day Netherlands. He is known as the “Apostle of Germany.”

In one often-repeated story, Boniface chops down an oak believed by the locals to be a Norse deity and asks, “How stands your mighty god? My God is stronger than he.” Radical reliance on God (our Higher Power) must replace all idols we have created, including our obsessions, compulsions, addictions, and unhealthy attachments (Steps 1-3). What have been your “idols”? How have you replaced them?

“Let us trust in him who has placed this burden upon us. What we ourselves cannot bear let us bear with the help of Christ. For he is all-powerful, and he tells us: ‘My yoke is easy, and my burden light’” (Saint Boniface in a letter).

Reflection by Brad Farmer