St. Boniface: Apostle and Patron Saint of Germany

St. Boniface (about 675–754) was an English Benedictine monk who became the “Apostle of Germany”: he preached the Gospel to the Germanic peoples for nearly forty years, founded monasteries and dioceses, became archbishop of Mainz, and died a martyr in Frisia at almost eighty. He is the patron saint of Germany. The most famous story about him tells how he cut down a great oak sacred to the pagan god Thor and built a chapel from its wood. His feast day is June 5. Below are his story, the prayer of his feast and prayers to St. Boniface for Germany, for missionaries and for courage.

A short prayer to St. Boniface, written for this page:

St. Boniface, you left your homeland to bring Christ to people who had never heard of Him.
Pray for Germany and for all of Europe, that the faith you planted may flourish again,
and give me the courage to speak of Jesus without fear. Amen.

Who was St. Boniface?

Boniface was born in Wessex, in southwest England, around 675, and was baptized Winfrid. He became a monk as a boy, and at the monastery of Nursling he grew into a respected teacher and preacher. In his forties he felt called to preach to the pagan peoples on the continent, to whom the English were related. After a first, unsuccessful mission to Frisia, he went to Rome, where in 719 Pope Gregory II gave him a mission to the peoples of Germany and the new name Boniface.

For more than thirty years he traveled through Hesse, Thuringia and Bavaria, baptizing, founding monasteries such as Fulda and organizing dioceses. Pope Gregory II consecrated him bishop in 722, and he later became archbishop of Mainz. He called monks and nuns from England to help him, among them his kinswoman St. Lioba, and he worked to reform the Church in the Frankish kingdom.

In his old age he returned to Frisia, where his missionary life had begun. On June 5, 754, as he waited to confirm newly baptized Christians near Dokkum, in what is now the Netherlands, a band of pagans attacked. He told his companions not to fight back, and he and about fifty others were killed. Tradition says he held up a book of the Gospels to shield his head. He is buried at Fulda.

The Oak of Thor

Around 723, at Geismar in Hesse, stood a huge oak sacred to Donar, the god of thunder known in the north as Thor. While a crowd watched, Boniface took an axe to the tree. According to his earliest biographer, the oak crashed to the ground and split into four parts, and the people, seeing that their god had not struck him down, believed in Christ. Boniface used the wood to build a chapel in honor of St. Peter. A much later legend adds that he pointed to a young fir tree as a sign of Christ’s everlasting life, and some tell it as the origin of the Christmas tree.

Scripture

A verse often applied to missionaries like St. Boniface (Isaias 52:7, Douay-Rheims):

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, and that preacheth peace: of him that sheweth forth good, that preacheth salvation, that saith to Sion: Thy God shall reign!

The prayer of his feast from the 1916 daily missal:

O God, who didst vouchsafe to call a multitude of peoples to the knowledge of thy Name by the zeal of thy blessed Martyr and Bishop Boniface, mercifully grant that as we venerate his feast we may benefit by his patronage. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God world without end. Amen.

What is St. Boniface the patron saint of?

Germany, as its Apostle, and the cities and dioceses of Fulda and Mainz
Missionaries, especially those who preach in Europe
Brewers and tailors, in some traditional lists

Prayers to St. Boniface

Written for this page.

For Germany

St. Boniface, Apostle of Germany, pray for the German people.
Renew their faith, strengthen the Church in your land,
and make it a light for all of Europe. Amen.

For missionaries

St. Boniface, you gave your whole life to spreading the Gospel.
Pray for missionaries everywhere, that they may be brave, patient and full of love. Amen.

Feast day

The memorial of St. Boniface, bishop and martyr, is June 5, the day of his martyrdom.

Frequently asked questions

Who is the patron saint of Germany?

St. Boniface, the Apostle of Germany, whose feast is June 5.

Why did St. Boniface cut down the oak of Thor?

To show the people that their pagan god had no power and to lead them to faith in Christ.

Did St. Boniface invent the Christmas tree?

No. The story of the fir tree is a much later legend, though it is a beautiful one.

More saints

Texts and sources

Isaias 52:7 (Douay-Rheims).
The Mass Every Day of the Year (1916), St. Boniface (June 5), Collect, public domain (archive.org).