George has a cool story in a recent post that is especially meaningful to me. In various travels I have had the blessing of travelling to the city of Fulda in Germany to meet with long-distant relatives who live and work there. The Gerk family originated from this wonderful area, with Sebastian Gerk moving to Russia from there in 1767.
At any rate, St. Boniface is buried there and I have had the great opportunity to visit his tomb and meditate on his missionary work to the German people.
George tells this Christmas story about Boniface:
Boniface of Crediton spent the first forty years of his life in quiet service to the church near his home in Exeter. He discipled young converts, cared for the sick, and administered relief for the poor. He was a competent scholar as well, expounding Bible doctrine for a small theological center and compiling the first Latin grammar written in England. But in 718, Boniface left the comfort and security of this life to become a missionary to the savage Teutonic tribes of Germany. For thirty years he not only proclaimed to them the Gospel of Light, he portrayed to them the Gospel of Life.
Stories of his courageous intervention on behalf of the innocent abound. He was constantly jeopardizing his own life for the sake of the young, the vulnerable, the weak, the helpless, the aged, the sick, and the poor—often imposing his body between the victims and their oppressors. Indeed, it was during one of his famed rescues that his name was forever linked to the celebration of Advent during Yuletide.
You can and should read the complete story here. Be Blessed!
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