Boniface

CONCERNING BLESSED BONIFACE, BISHOP OF LAUSANNE, AT CAMERA NEAR BRUSSELS IN BELGIUM.

A.D. 1265.

Preliminary Commentary.

Boniface, Bishop of Lausanne, at Camera near Brussels in Belgium (Bl.)

By I. B.

Section I. The age of Blessed Boniface, his episcopate, and his deeds after resigning from it.

[1] Lausanne is a city on the northern shore of Lake Geneva, to which the episcopal throne was transferred from Aventicum, formerly the chief city of the Helvetii, when the latter (by what fate is uncertain) had fallen from that spacious and celebrated state which Ammianus Marcellinus describes in book 15, chapter 27 — already in his own time, under the Emperor Valentinian, a deserted city, but not at all ignoble in former times, as the half-ruined buildings still demonstrated. But Lausanne itself also, a hundred years ago, when it came under the power of the Bernese heretics, was stripped of its episcopal See, which was relocated to Fribourg, a Catholic and populous town. Nonetheless, Lausanne retains great glory and splendor from the five preceding centuries, on account of the sanctity of its Bishop Boniface.

[2] He was born at Brussels in Brabant, around the year of Christ 1188, of respectable family. Around the year 1205 he went to Paris and spent thirty full years in learning and teaching the sacred disciplines, and then two more years at Cologne. Afterward created Bishop of Lausanne, when he had governed that Church for ten years during most difficult times, he at last, with the consent of Pope Innocent IV, resigned, and spent the rest of his life at Camera of the Blessed Mary, where he died on February 19 in the year (it appears) 1265. Not earlier — since he attended the Council of Lyons in the year 1245, then remained in his Church for some time, and afterward labored for a full year to be released from its burden; so that he does not seem to have come to Camera until the year 1247 or the beginning of the following year. Since, therefore, he lived there for eighteen years, he must have died in the year 1266 or certainly 1265. Camera, however, is not a village in the County of Burgundy, as Philippus Ferrarius writes in his Topography of the Roman Martyrology and his new Catalogue of Saints; but a convent of Cistercian nuns near Brussels, the chief city of Brabant, constructed by the devout virgin Gisla around the year of Christ 1200, in a place then called Pennebeke (the Villers Chronicle calls it Bunebeke), which Henry, Duke of Brabant, had bestowed upon her. By him and his son Henry and other noblemen, various gifts were conferred upon the same convent, concerning which Aubert Le Mire treats in book 1 of his Belgian Donations, in his Notice of Belgian Churches, and Chrysostom Henriquez in his Cistercian Menology under February 12, where he calls the virgin Gilda, but on August 22, treating of Godfrey, formerly Confessor of the same monastery, he calls her Gilla, as does the book concerning the deeds of the illustrious men of the Villers monastery, chapter 4, in the Life of Godfrey the Sacristan.

[3] Whether Boniface adopted the Cistercian habit and rule here, we have no grounds to affirm with certainty and beyond doubt. Henriquez declares so in his Fasciculus of Saints of the Cistercian Order, book 1, distinction 32, chapters 4 and 16, and Henry Murer the Carthusian follows him in his Helvetia Sacra. Henriquez supports this with the testimonies of several recent writers of the same Order, mostly Spanish. Among them, Barnabas Montalbus in part 1 of his Cistercian History, book 2, chapter 32, cites Arnold Wion, a writer by no means accurate, who does indeed state this in book 2 of his Lignum Vitae, chapter 58, but who manifestly errs when he cites Molanus's Index of the Saints of Belgium, a booklet in which no mention of this Boniface is made. Nor does Molanus, in other works — in his additions to the Martyrology of Usuard and in his Natales Sanctorum Belgii, where he does mention Boniface — assert that he became a monk. Another witness produced by Henriquez is Angel Manrique, who asserts the same in his Laureae Evangelicae, book 3, discourse 7, and cites the same Wion, as well as Molanus — who does not contain this at all — and the author of the Mirror of Examples, distinction 5, sections 112 and 113. Then the same Manrique and Henriquez cite a letter from Godfrey of Villers to a certain nun named Ida, in which this is affirmed. But who this Godfrey was, and where his writings survive, we have nowhere read; and elsewhere Henriquez attributes the same letter to Blessed Richard of Adwert.

[4] Somewhat greater weight attaches to what is adduced from the Life of Boniface itself: "Behold, we have said a few things about what he did in the world; now let us see what the Lord accomplished through him in the religious life." But this passage, as he reports it, is not found in the Life that survives in the library of Rouge-Cloitre (Rubea Vallis), but in the more ancient one found in the Camera codices. Aubert Le Mire in his Monastic Origins, book 5, chapter 15, absolutely lists Blessed Boniface in the catalogue of Saints and Blessed of the Cistercian Order. And we ourselves incline more to this opinion, especially if it is supported by old paintings and other monuments of the Camera convent. For although that most holy Order by no means needs distinctions borrowed from elsewhere, Boniface achieved by the sanctity of his conduct that he could be regarded as a pupil of that discipline. Nevertheless, it remains a fixed principle for us not to pronounce anything rashly. It is certain, however, that at that time not only nuns dwelt at Camera, but also monks — both priests who provided them with sacred services and lay brothers who cultivated their fields. This is made clear from the charter of Duke Henry, as found in Le Mire's Notice of Belgian Churches, chapter 203; for he acknowledges having promised three uncultivated acres of land and forest to the Brothers and Sisters of the monastery of Blessed Mary of Camera. And his son Henry testifies that "the Brothers of Camera, residing at the court of Holthem and dwelling in the allod of Filfordis, have hitherto had the right to dig peat for the use of their house," which right he confirms in the year 1232. "Turba" here, or perhaps "turbum," is the Teutonic Torf or turf, or turve — a sod dug from marshy places, which is used for fuel in certain parts of Belgium. We believe, however, that all these Brothers of Camera, before being sent there, had served their novitiate of monastic life in the monastery of Villers. For, as we reported on January 29 in the Life of Charles, the eighth Abbot of Villers, no. 5, the Villers Chronicle records that he had been entrusted with the Paternity in Camera of Blessed Mary near Brussels.

[5] If anyone, therefore, wishes to suppose that Boniface truly became a monk, we shall gladly agree, provided he does not maintain what Andrew Saussay writes in the Gallican Martyrology — that Boniface embraced the Cistercian institution from boyhood in the convent of Camera of St. Mary — for the remaining course of his life does not allow this to seem probable to us. Murer says that after abdicating the episcopate, he was made a monk in the Camera convent — that is, as we interpret it, he put on the habit of the Cistercian Order, which he had long wished to be permitted to do.

Section II. By whom was the Life of Blessed Boniface written?

[6] "The Life of Blessed Boniface," says Chrysostom Henriquez in the cited distinction 32, chapter 1, and in his Notes to the Cistercian Menology, "is found to have been written by various persons: namely, by a certain Religious of Rouge-Cloitre near Brussels, and by another monk of Camera of Blessed Mary." We shall give both: the latter from a manuscript codex of Camera, which Henriquez had previously published, but in his own style rather than that of the ancient author; the former from the second part of the Hagiologium that is preserved at Rouge-Cloitre, collected by John Gielemans, but collated with a manuscript of the Corssendonk monastery of Canons Regular, in which he is erroneously called Bishop of Laon. The former appears to have been written by some monk of the Cistercian Order, perhaps a contemporary residing at Camera, or at least from the papers of the Camera nuns. It is simpler and explains the course of his life more clearly. It was later interpolated by some Canon Regular of Rouge-Cloitre, perhaps Gielemans himself or Anthony Gentius, who often retained the original phrasing but added some things and also omitted certain others. The former is cited by John Gerbrand of Leiden in his Belgian Chronicle, book 23, chapter 8, writing thus: "But what follows is truly marvelous. For at the same time, while these things were happening, Boniface, Bishop of Lausanne, then dwelling at the monastery of Camera of St. Mary and engaged in prayer, saw in the spirit an armed knight..." — and he recites what is found in chapter 4, no. 14, in the very same words. He then adds: "These things are found in the Life of the said Bishop Boniface, who lies buried at Camera, or the crypt of the Cistercian monastery near Brussels." Thus Gerbrand, who wrote about 150 years ago. But Blessed Boniface was not buried in the crypt, as will soon be apparent.

[7] Chrysostom Henriquez, in his Phoenix Revived (so he titled his work on the English and Spanish writers of the Cistercian Order, which he published at Brussels in 1626, three years after the Fasciculus of Saints), says that Blessed Richard the Sacristan wrote about Blessed Boniface, Bishop of Lausanne, a Cistercian monk, whose body rests at Camera of Blessed Mary; and he lists other writings of the same Richard: a letter to the nun Ida; the martyrdom and miracles of Blessed Gerard, Abbot of Clairvaux; the life and miracles of St. Silvanus, also a monk of Clairvaux; the miracles that occurred in the Cistercian Order; one book on Harmony; the foundation of the Eboracian, or Eruacian, monastery in Upper Germany; and many other things — which, however, he admits he was unable to find. He cites Molanus, Pitseus, and Angel Manrique. Concerning Blessed Richard, a monk of the Cistercian Order at the monastery of Adwert, one league from the city of Groningen in Frisia, Molanus treats in his Natales Sanctorum Belgii under December 30, and Le Mire in his Belgian Calendar; but neither mentions his writings. Pitseus in his Appendix of Illustrious English Writers, century 3, no. 93, and Bale in his British Writers, century 13, no. 70, report from Leland that he wrote one book on Harmony. Angel Manrique in his Laureae Evangelicae, book 3, discourse 7, celebrates him as distinguished for his writings, but neither enumerates them; and what Molanus writes was divinely granted to Richard the Englishman of the Premonstratensian Order — that the hand with which he had written very many books should remain intact after twenty years, when the rest of the flesh had turned to dust — Manrique erroneously attributes to this Richard. From where then did Henriquez learn that the other books were written by Blessed Richard of Adwert, surnamed the Sacristan? He had already previously ascribed the letter to the nun Ida to Godfrey of Villers. We treated of Silvanus on February 17, in the catalogue of those passed over.

[8] Besides those already cited, Thomas of Cantimpre, his contemporary, mentions Blessed Boniface in book 2 of his work On Bees, chapter 30, section 6: "The venerable Boniface," he says, "formerly Bishop of Lausanne, then Master of Theology at Paris, related to me at that time, and to many others, that a certain Cleric had confessed to him that, accustomed to a bad habit, he provoked himself to lust by illicit self-touching. Horrible to hear! And see what follows. When he attempted this once, as was his custom, his hand grasped a serpent between his thighs in place of the male member. Struck with horror at this occurrence, he soon came to confession and did penance with many tears." In the printed books it reads "now Master," which we have corrected. For he did not return from the episcopate to the academy, but embraced a private and perhaps monastic life. The same Thomas of Cantimpre in the same book, chapter 51, section 4, writes that he learned from the truthful report of the venerable and God-worthy Master Boniface, formerly Bishop of Lausanne, that a certain nobleman of his diocese, going hunting around the mountains of the Alps, separated from his companions, had by night beheld a horrible vision and understood that a certain Brabantine knight, accustomed to indulge in lust and slaughter, who had also neglected confession during his illness, had been struck dumb when the hour of death was imminent; but that, forestalled by divine mercy and moved by powerful contrition of heart, he had expired thus, and was delivered to two most wicked demons to be tortured until the day of judgment, and that only then would he obtain pardon. The knight, however, who had seen and heard these things, was converted from the plundering of the poor and his wicked life, and lived more uprightly from that time on, and moved many other sinners to examples of repentance by his narrative. These things Thomas of Cantimpre relates from the account of Blessed Boniface; they are also found in the old Mirror of Examples, distinction 5, section 113. Thomas of Cantimpre in the same book, chapter 57, section 32, also recites another story which the venerable Boniface, formerly Bishop of Lausanne, had narrated to him, concerning a blind cowherd who grasped by the horns whichever cows someone commanded, of whatever color — through the help of demons. This ceased when he received the sacrament of Confirmation.

[9] Andrew Saussay composed an elegant and lengthy eulogy of Blessed Boniface in his Gallican Martyrology. Also treating of him are Chrysostom Henriquez in his Cistercian Menology; William Gazet in his Ecclesiastical History of Belgium, under the saints of the diocese of Mechelen; our own Heribert Rosweyde, who published his Life in the Flemish language using the Rouge-Cloitre codex, and treats of him in his Belgian History at the year 1250, as do other authors to be cited below. The same Life in German was published from the Fasciculus of Saints of the Cistercian Order by Chrysostom Henriquez, by the already-mentioned Murer of Lucerne in his Helvetia Sacra.

Section III. The public veneration of Blessed Boniface.

[10] Blessed Boniface was buried, as Henriquez describes more fully in distinction 32, chapter 8, in the presbytery of the Camera church, that is, the Choir, on the right side of which a tomb was built for him, four feet high, covered with blue marble, on which the image of a Bishop was carved. It has been received by tradition from the elders that many would flock thither and implore the Saint's aid, especially against fevers, with candles lit, arms outspread, or hands raised on high.

[11] His name has been inscribed in the sacred calendars by more than one authority. For John Molanus, in his additions to the Martyrology of Usuard, published in 1568, writes thus: "There died Boniface, Bishop of Lausanne in Burgundy. He was born at Brussels and rested in the monastery of Camera of the Cistercian Order near that same town in the year 1260, illustrious for miracles both in life and after death." Peter Canisius has the same in his German Martyrology. But Molanus in the later edition omitted the year of his death, and rightly so; for one who in the year 1245 at the First Council of Lyons decreed with the other Bishops that a sentence of excommunication should be pronounced against Frederick II, and afterward administered his Church for some time more, and for a whole year implored the Pope to release him from its burden, and then lived in retirement for eighteen years, cannot be considered to have died in the year 1260, but rather, as we have established above, in the year 1265. Even further from the correct calculation strays the author of the manuscript Florarium, who nevertheless counts him among the Saints in these words: "At a monastery of the Cistercian Order in Belgium, the deposition of Blessed Boniface, Bishop of Lausanne, a native of Brussels. He died in the year of salvation 1234." Molanus, Canisius, and others place Lausanne in Burgundy because the city was formerly in the province of the Maxima Sequanorum, which the Burgundians afterward occupied; and to this day Lausanne acknowledges the Archbishop of Besancon, as does Belley and Basel, whose proper diocese is contained within the County of Burgundy.

[12] What veneration was formerly paid to Blessed Boniface, Molanus explains: "On the anniversary of his deposition, his tomb is adorned with tapestries, flowers, and lights which are called 'stal-lichten.' The Office of the Dead is not celebrated for him, because he is numbered among the Blessed; but rather for his friends. His sacred chalice is used only once a year, in the sacred celebration of this day. Moreover, on Laetare Sunday, large loaves of bread are distributed, on account of the many benefits he conferred upon the monastery; and they are called 'the Loaves of St. Boniface.'"

[13] Concerning the veneration of the same Saint, Le Mire relates the following in his Belgian Calendar: "John Dorothee, Bishop of Lausanne, in the Status of the Lausanne episcopate transmitted to Pope Paul V in the year 1605, calls Protasius, Maximus, and Boniface, his predecessors in the episcopate, Saints, and says that they are devoutly venerated throughout the entire diocese. Of these, however, Boniface, who rests near Brussels at Camera of Blessed Mary, though raised from the earth in the year 1600, is not venerated with an ecclesiastical Office by the Belgians as a Saint; he is, however, held in great veneration as a Blessed."

[14] Others of more recent date have likewise inscribed him in their Martyrologies. Arnold Wion: "At the monastery of Camera of the Cistercian Order in Gaul, the deposition of St. Boniface, Bishop of Lausanne in Burgundy, a native of Brussels, whose life shone with virtues." Hugh Menard has the same, except that for "in Gaul" he substitutes "in Belgium" and omits "in Burgundy." Benedict Dorgani in the Benedictine Calendar: "St. Boniface, Bishop, whose life shone with virtues." Our Baldwin Willot in the Belgian Martyrology: "At the Camera monastery near Brussels, Blessed Boniface died and rests, who, born at Brussels, was Bishop of Lausanne on Lake Geneva." Philip Ferrarius, though in need of correction as we noted above: "At Camera in Burgundy, St. Boniface, Bishop of Lausanne." Claudius Robert in his Gallia Christiana, Arnold Raisse in his Belgian Hierogazophylacium, and others call him Blessed; Montalbus, Manrique, Rosweyde, and Murer, cited above, call him Saint.

Section IV. The relics of Blessed Boniface elevated.

[15] The sepulchre of this most holy Bishop stood for more than three hundred years, during which time the convent was enriched with estates and adorned with splendid buildings. But at length, in the year 1581 — a most ill-omened and rather accursed year, which brought eternal infamy upon Belgium among foreign nations and for all posterity: first by the edict of the Estates, decreed in the assembly at Antwerp at the instigation of the Prince of Orange, abrogating all power of the Catholic King over these provinces; and soon by even greater madness, at Antwerp, Brussels, and elsewhere, with the images of the Saints thrown down and torn apart, the priests driven out, and all exercise of the ancient religion forbidden — in that most calamitous year, the Camera monastery and its church were also burned on September 10, with fire set, as John Baptist Gramaye attests, by the royal soldiers themselves, because, since the nuns had already departed, it would be a perpetual refuge and stronghold for the enemy. The nuns numbered at least one hundred; and when they had retreated to Brussels, they were afflicted for several years with great hardship and poverty in all things, yet with such constancy of piety that not one deserted her vocation — which, after God, must be attributed to the protection perhaps of St. Boniface and to the solicitude of Abbess Barbara Tasse.

[16] Having eventually returned to their former dwellings, when the darkness of heresy had been dispelled from that region, the sacred community reassembled. The restoration of all the buildings and the church was then begun. The monument of Blessed Boniface, its covering stone having been broken, had been shamefully damaged by rains. Abbess Joanna Penninia and the other nuns judged it better to exhume the body of the holy Bishop and place it in a more honorable location than to repair the tomb. The plan was approved by those to whom she had disclosed it: Robert, Abbot of Camberon, and Gaspar, Abbot of Hautmont — the latter of the Benedictine institute, the former of the Cistercian, who was also at that time the Vicar of his Order for all Belgium.

[17] First, therefore, Joanna imposed a three-day fast and prayers upon her nuns. Then, on June 22 of the year 1600, she ordered the tomb to be opened, believing the sacred body to be enclosed within it. When it was found empty, it was decided to dig in the ground beneath. Here was found the foundation of another wall, perhaps of some house that had once stood there, at so narrow a distance from the church wall that it scarcely seemed probable to anyone that any person had been buried in that spot. On the following day, to the left of that interior wall, at the depth to which graves are customarily sunk, the body was found when the earth was removed — the bones still cohering and solid, except that some ribs were broken and some joints of the hands and feet were missing. The bones were extracted individually, for they could not be removed connected as they had lain. On the following day, dedicated to the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, both Abbots having duly celebrated the sacred rites, together with Giles Isogartus, the nuns' Confessor, and Florentius Curtius and James Surhonius, monks and Chaplains of the Camera convent, devoutly washed those sacred bones while the nuns meanwhile sang the Litanies. When they had been washed, they were placed in a casket and carried by the same monks through the Cloister — as they call the interior porticoes of the convent — with the entire community preceding and singing hymns, and finally placed upon the altar in the chapel of St. Barbara.

[18] Several manifestations of divine favor are recorded as having occurred at that time, besides the unusual piety and consolation felt by all who were present. Louisa Jouvenelle had been tormented for two years by a troublesome asthma, so that, having tried many remedies in vain, she was no longer able to sing the divine praises with the rest. Raised to new hope, she applied to her chest the earth that had lain nearest to the sacred remains. Within three days the pain was removed and the ability to sing was restored.

[19] Pasquina Cottemie, likewise a nun, was seized with an eagerness to search whether any small particles of bone had escaped those who exhumed the body. She afterward confessed that in this work she was completely freed from the sciatica from which she had suffered for two full years, and that whenever some small bone came into her hands, she was first suffused with a certain sweet fragrance — which she also perceived being wafted to her one night as she lay awake. Others testified that they had perceived a similar fragrance when the sacred bones were being unearthed. Giles Isogartus reported that his hands, with which he had washed those same bones, gave off a most pleasant fragrance for the entire day. Certain nuns related that they had been relieved of various ailments when they invoked the patronage of Blessed Boniface at that time.

[20] The fame of the event drew many from Brussels and other places to venerate the relics. Many sufferers from fevers were given to drink the water in which the bones had been dipped, with some dust sprinkled in from where they had previously lain, and health was soon restored. During those days there was a person who, unwillingly suffering a vile carnal temptation, implored the aid of Blessed Boniface, whom he had heard was a zealous cultivator and defender of chastity, and immediately experienced those importunate impulses subsiding.

Section V. The cult of Blessed Boniface inhibited, then restored.

[21] What was occurring in the sight of the great city could not fail to reach the ears of the Archbishop of Mechelen, in whose diocese Camera and Brussels are situated. He decreed that the body should not have been exhumed and exposed, even to private veneration, without having obtained his permission, in accordance with the prescription of the sacred Canons. He ordered the relics to be removed for the time being and all veneration of them to be suspended. Meanwhile, he delegated Peter Vinck, Dean of Brussels, with a public notary to the place, with orders to examine legitimately whether it was established both that the body was indeed that of Boniface and that veneration had been paid to him from ancient times.

[22] He came to Camera on September 13 of the year 1601, and from the testimonies of Abbess Joanna, several elderly nuns, and other respectable persons, he ascertained the following: that there were six places in all where burials were given to those who died; the outer cemetery was assigned to farm managers and servants, the inner one to the Conversi; the nuns' choir to distinguished persons whose names are inscribed in the Necrology; the Cloister to Confessors, Chaplains, and the nuns themselves; the Chapter House to Abbesses; but in the presbytery, or Priests' Choir, no one other than Boniface had ever been buried. Otherwise, some monument would survive, or at least a written record — as in the cited Necrology this entry is found: "The Lord Boniface of Brussels, formerly Bishop of Lausanne, buried at Camera in the Choir of the Lords." That the tomb stood in one place and the body lay in another appeared to have happened because the body either could not properly be placed closer to the wall of the Choir, or the other underground wall did not allow it, while the tomb, lest it be an obstruction, was judged fitting to be erected at the side of the Choir, even if somewhat removed from the body.

[23] What we have already narrated concerning the elevation, its manner, and the benefits divinely received, was reported to Dean Vinck, and Henriquez lists the individual testimonies. That veneration had been paid to him from ancient times was shown by what had already been adduced from Doctor Molanus, and by what is narrated in the epitaph — which the Abbess and others testified they had seen before the disturbances of the heretics, inscribed on parchment in an old wooden tablet hung on the wall beside the tomb. The tomb itself, on the anniversary of the blessed Bishop, February 19, was adorned with flowers, tapestries, and lights; very many would flock to it, even from distant places, and there offer prayers, light candles, and present other offerings; and some of them had been healed of fevers through his help after making prayers in due form — things which the same witnesses asserted they had partly seen themselves and partly heard from those of more advanced age.

[24] All of this, having been legitimately recorded and reported by Vinck to Archbishop Matthias Hovius, the latter caused it to be examined by the judgment of serious theologians — William Estius, Bartholomew of Lintre, John Clarius, and others. On their recommendation, he ruled that the relics which were established to have been venerated by the people from time immemorial, though still hidden in the tomb, could likewise be venerated after being raised from the earth, as before; and that for this purpose they could be enclosed in a casket, placed upon or beside an altar, and displayed for the people to see and kiss; yet the honor proper to Saints enrolled in the Canon should not be accorded to them. The decree of the Archbishop reads as follows:

[25] "Matthias, by the grace of God and the Apostolic See, Archbishop of Mechelen. Having carefully read the investigation, conducted by our order on various days of the past year, by the venerable Lord Peter Vinck and Master Philip van Asbroeck, Secretary of the Chapter of St. Gudula, after hearing many trustworthy witnesses on this matter, who declared that they had ascertained that the bones found and exhumed about two years ago, beneath the broken tomb in the church of the Camera monastery near Brussels, are the body of Boniface of happy memory, Bishop of Lausanne, who was formerly honored and adorned there with great reverence and devout invocation and with lights and other marks of veneration. For this reason, we consent by these letters that the aforesaid body shall remain elevated henceforth, and shall be honored, adorned, and devoutly visited by all the faithful of Christ and devout persons as that of a venerable and blessed man. We do not, however, permit the honor to be given to him that is proper to one who has been canonized. We also consent that appropriate letters be drawn up concerning these matters. In testimony of the truth, we have signed this our declaration and fortified it with our seal, on the twenty-fifth day of February, in the year of the Lord one thousand six hundred and three."

[26] On account of these letters, as we suppose, George Colvenerius wrote in his notes to book 2 of Cantimpre, chapter 30, that the bones of Blessed Boniface had been elevated with the consent of the Archbishop of Mechelen — though the elevation had been carried out without his knowledge; the ancient veneration, however, was retained with his consent. Gramaye also mentions this elevation in his Antiquities of Brussels, and Le Mire in his Belgian Calendar. Henriquez in his Cistercian Menology records the commemoration of this elevation under June 24. The sacred body was then enclosed in an elegant wooden casket, clothed in pontifical vestments, as Arnold Raisse testifies in his Belgian Hierogazophylacium.

[27] The dwelling which the same most holy Bishop once inhabited, within the outer walls of the monastery indeed, but somewhat removed from the habitations of the nuns, escaped the flames that consumed the convent. There a most beautiful chapel was fashioned, in which this inscription was engraved above: "By long tradition received from our ancestors, as it were from hand to hand, we have learned that Blessed Boniface, Bishop of Lausanne, after resigning the episcopate, dwelt in this place. In memory of this, this chapel was built in honor of the Blessed Virgin and All Saints in the year 1609."

[28] "On a certain tablet," says Henriquez in distinction 32, chapter 16, "which is seen hanging in the same chapel, the following prayer is contained:

I humbly ask and beseech you, O Blessed Boniface, to deign to remember me, a most wretched sinner, before the face of the Lord, that by your merits and prayers I may be defended and preserved from all evils of both body and soul, and may advance as much as possible in every virtue and good work; and at the hour of my death and departure, may you faithfully come to my aid against the wiles of the enemy, and deign to lead my soul, freed from all tribulation, to the joys of the heavenly Paradise. Amen.

V. Pray for us, Blessed Boniface. R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

We humbly pray You, Lord God, Father Almighty, receive the prayer of Your servants, that, recalling the memory of Blessed Boniface, we may by his merits and intercession be freed from all adversities in body and cleansed from evil thoughts in mind. Amen."

LIFE BY AN ANONYMOUS AUTHOR,

from manuscripts of the Camera monastery.

Boniface, Bishop of Lausanne, at Camera near Brussels in Belgium (Bl.)

LIFE BY AN ANONYMOUS AUTHOR,

from manuscripts of the Camera monastery.

Boniface, Bishop of Lausanne, at Camera near Brussels in Belgium (Bl.)

BHL Number: 1398

By an anonymous author, from manuscripts.

CHAPTER I

The life of Blessed Boniface before his episcopate.

[1] Although the blessed life of the Saints endures eternally with Almighty God, and the book of life contains their names without forgetting, we believe it is nonetheless in no way contrary to true religion if we turn over their merits more frequently in our minds and commemorate their deeds in words and writings. Wherefore we have thought it fitting to commit to writing, for those seeking an example of his life through the records of letters, certain things concerning the life, character, learning, divine consolations, miracles, and inspirations, collected with all discretion, of Bishop Boniface of blessed memory: so that although he is absent in bodily presence, the memory of his virtues may always be present. Since, therefore, his life was graced from the very cradle, let our narrative take its beginning from the origin of his earliest age.

[2] The venerable servant of Christ, Bishop Boniface, whose memory is in blessing, drew his origin in the city of the diocese of ^a Cambrai which is called Brussels, from a religious father and mother. It once happened that his mother was hastening to matins, when an old man with white hair and an angelic countenance met her and said these words: "You have conceived a glorious child, who will be acceptable to God and to His Saints and to men; he will be great and honored in learning." He immediately vanished from her sight. After this, the time of delivery came, and she gave birth to a son whom she called Boniface.

[3] This boy grew in age and in grace before God and men. Whenever his mother, or grandmother, or nurse kissed him, he would immediately wipe his mouth with his garment or wash it with water. When he was five years of age, he was taken by his mother to begin his studies. Having embarked upon the path of learning letters, while he was still very small in stature and tender in age, he gave various proofs of his future probity. For God gave him a capacious mind, a ready understanding, a tenacious memory, grace in conversation, and effectiveness in action. He was a humble listener to his teachers, and what he absorbed from his teachers through his ears, he stored faithfully in the little treasury of his heart. He was as innocent among the adolescents with whom he received his youthful instruction as he was free from the allurements by which the juvenile age is most accustomed to indulge in wantonness; and just as he came forth pure and undefiled from the womb of his mother, so he remained pure and undefiled unto the day of his death from carnal vices. He surpassed all his companions in learning and knowledge; on feast days he was praying in church or studying, and he was as it were the guardian of his companions.

[4] When he had reached the age of seventeen, he went to Paris. There he advanced from one level of learning to another, from one field of knowledge to another, until he became great and honored and was called to the Chair — without his knowledge. He sat in the Chair of ^b Theology for seven years, teaching and disputing with great honor, dignity, and reverence. He spent thirty years at Paris, learned in the seven liberal arts. The venerable man Boniface strove with every effort to live for Christ. He was also profuse in humility, assiduous in vigils, devout in prayer, preeminent in learning, cautious in speech, most holy in conduct, and strong in hard sufferings. He bore the simplicity of a dove; in correcting others he was austere, most fierce against heretics and unbelievers, and most steadfast in the Catholic faith.

[5] The man of God, therefore, adorned with no small beauty of virtues, by the office of God and divine grace, receiving sacred orders, attained the rank of the priesthood. Understanding himself to be bound by so great an office, he began to exercise the duties of a Priest devoutly and faithfully. He never celebrated Mass without tears. He chastised his body with prayers and vigils; he always wore a hairshirt; he bound his belly with an iron chain. Afterward, seeing that he could not bear that chain, he laid it aside. But he took a girdle made from horsehair with many knots, ^c and wore it for a long time.

[6] Once he was in a great desire to see the Blessed Mary, who appeared to him as he lay on his bed. Immediately leaping from his bed, he fell at her feet, saying: "My Lady, Holy Mary, ^d sanctify me." She answered: "I have sanctified you, and I will sanctify you again after a year, ^e or after three days, or after a Sabbath." And saying this, the vision departed. After this a dissension arose among the Masters and scholars, so that they did not come to lectures as they had been accustomed. Wherefore he departed from there and came to the city of ^f Cologne, where he was also received with great honor and was called to the scholastic chair, without his knowing; ^g and there he sat for two years.

CHAPTER II

The life of Blessed Boniface in the episcopate.

[7] After this he was called to the episcopal chair without his knowledge. He devoutly and humbly accepted this office, multiplying ^a the talent committed to him by the Lord, and scattered the seed of the word of God far and wide. Thus, watering the hearts of many with the stream of his teaching — hearts that were subject to worldly fear — he himself, or rather the Lord through him, dedicated them to the Creator, through public exhortation, private counsel, and every means by which he could incite men to good works. To all from the towns and surrounding villages who flocked to him for counsel, he was always ready. Set before all as a watchguard of virtues, he showed himself a model of the celibate life by his good example. What he taught in words, he fulfilled in deeds. He was especially accustomed to reprove the bad morals of men in his public sermons. He listened unwillingly to the lengthy gossip of men. Worldly words or unfavorable talk about the morals of men he removed from himself either by silence or by a stern countenance. He spent all his time either praying, or reading, or writing, or giving counsel, or hearing confessions, or preparing himself for preaching, or instructing others. Very rarely did a short hour of the day pass without his being occupied in one of the aforesaid activities. When he had a servant who spoke worldly, base, or indecent words, he dismissed him from his presence.

[8] After this, a certain ^b war arose between the Lord Pope and the Emperor ^c Frederick. Whereupon the Lord Pope summoned certain Bishops to a council, among whom was Bishop Boniface; and according to the counsel of Boniface and the other Bishops, a sentence of excommunication was issued against him. Then the Lord Pope excommunicated Frederick. When Frederick ^d learned that he had been excommunicated, he assembled two hundred soldiers to besiege the city in which Bishop Boniface was, and to kill him. Then the Bishop went out of the city, not knowing that there were ambushes there, with only two soldiers. When the Bishop had gone out of the city, they rose from ambush, ran to meet him, laid hands on him, bound his hands behind his back, threw him upon a horse, and departed. Then a soldier, kindled with the zeal of God, attacked the adversaries so vigorously that none of them dared to say anything in opposition; and the soldier turned the horse on which the Bishop was sitting and led him back into the city. And all his adversaries remained outside the city as if mute and struck by God. And thus the Lord liberated His servant.

[9] Once he preached a sermon to Priests who kept wives. But they, angered, gathered together and armed, came to a certain church where he was singing Mass, in order to kill him there before the altar. There was present a certain Brother of the Order of Friars Minor, who, perceiving their wickedness, began to cry out, and the entire city came running and freed him. When he saw that he could not endure the ambushes, terrors, blasphemies, and evils of wicked men, he went to Rome, asking the Lord Pope to absolve him from his office; the Pope refused. And the Bishop said: "I will not go there again, nor will I see that city." When he had troubled the Pope about this matter for an entire year, the Pope, at last overcome by his entreaties, accepted his resignation, with the preservation of his pontifical honor. With the counsel of upright men, however, the Pope offered him two other bishoprics, asking him not to refuse to accept them; but he absolutely refused to receive them, saying that he was now feeble and less suited for this work.

[10] Then he turned to prayer, praying and asking that God would deign to give him a suitable place where he might in peace and quiet, absolutely free from all worldly noise, spend the rest of his time. Then, having received leave from the Lord ^e Pope and the Cardinals, he set out on his way. He returned to his homeland and came to the city of Brussels, in which he had been born, visiting his relatives there. Then he came to the monastery called Camera of St. Mary, visiting the community and his kinsfolk there. Then a certain devout nun came to him and said: "This the Blessed Virgin Mary commands you: that you remain here with us; for it is her will, and that of her Son, that you spend the rest of your life here." Having heard this, he consented to her words, and the Abbess and the entire community received him with joyful hearts and with great devotion, honor, and reverence; and he remained there the rest of his time in great peace and quiet.

[Further annotations on William Count of Holland elected Emperor; on the siege and capture of Aachen; on the Blessed Aleydis de Scarenbeca who offered her eye for the new King; on St. George's miracles; on the capture of St. Louis, King of France, in 1250; and on the defeat of the Flemish in Zealand in 1253 — all providing historical context for the visions of Blessed Boniface.]

ANOTHER LIFE

by an anonymous Canon Regular, from the Corssendonk and Rouge-Cloitre manuscripts.

Boniface, Bishop of Lausanne, at Camera near Brussels in Belgium (Bl.)

BHL Number: 1399

By an anonymous author, from manuscripts.

PROLOGUE OF THE AUTHOR.

[15] When [e] the King of France was overseas against the Saracens and Pagans, defending holy Jerusalem and the sepulchre of the Lord, the Bishop was in prayer, and a voice came to him from heaven saying: "Know for certain that the King of France is this day delivered into the hands of the nations, and many of his people are to be slain, and the rest led captive." And so it was.

[16] Likewise, when ^f the Count of Flanders entered into combat against the Hollanders, he was similarly in prayer, ^g and a voice came to him from heaven saying: "Know that the Count of Flanders shall be led captive, and the greatest slaughter shall be made among his people." And so it was.

[17] He had the greatest compassion and grieved much over the perdition of Aristotle, and often prayed, if it could be, that God would deign to have mercy on his soul. Then a voice came from heaven, saying to him: "Cease, cease now, and do not pray for his soul; for he did not found My Church, as Peter and Paul did, nor did he teach My law."

[18] On the octave of St. John the Baptist, he was in great desire and would gladly have received some consolation from the Blessed Virgin. Then the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of heaven, appeared to him, wearing a crown on her head and a mantle woven with gold and garments adorned with various colors, bringing with her a company of Virgins; and the Virgins themselves were adorned with jewels and heavenly ornaments. They came as if to visit him, and sat on one side of his bed; and St. John the Baptist also came, most glorious, and was clothed in the whitest garments, and St. John himself sat on the other side of his bed. And they sat there through the entire night, and afterward departed.

[19] Once he was in great tribulation and fear over his sins, fearing that God had not pardoned his sins. Then two Virgins appeared to him, as if sent to him by God; one of them, holding a small parchment in her hand, said to him: "Read what is contained herein." And he took the parchment, saying: "I cannot read it, because no letters are written within." And she said: "Thus are all your sins blotted out in the sight of God." And immediately they departed.

[20] Once he sang Mass, and a certain religious woman, who is worthy of belief, saw two Angels: one stood at his right hand and the other at his left, and they raised his hands, ^h and likewise set them down, and ministered to him, and very lovingly inclined their heads to him.

[21] Once he was very weak on the night of the Lord's Nativity and could not come to matins, but remained on his bed. Then he was very saddened and complained to the Blessed Virgin Mary that he was there alone. Immediately the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to him, carrying in her arms her Son wrapped in swaddling clothes, and placed Him on his bed. And the Infant drew His hand from His swaddling clothes and raised the cloth from His face, as if showing him the beauty of His countenance. Then the Bishop was greatly delighted and rejoiced in His beauty, and marveling, he said: "If there were nothing else in paradise but that blessed face, it would be worthy to suffer everything that is sorrowful, in order to behold that glorious face."

[22] Once he was in prayer and was caught up in the spirit and led into Paradise, and he saw the Cherubim, how they are kindled and burn. And afterward he was led through the individual choirs of Angels and of Prophets, and he saw their dignities. Then he came to the choir of the Apostles, who were the first founders of the Church of God, and he saw their dignities and glory. Then he came to the choirs of the Martyrs, who were strong in battle and adorned the Church of God with their blood; their dignities also he saw and their glory. Afterward he came to the choir of Confessors, who sustained the Church of God by word and example; their glory also he saw. Then he came to the choir of Virgins, who follow the Lamb wherever He goes; and he saw their glory and dignities, and was greatly delighted in their glory. Lastly he was led to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and saw with what honor, reverence, and dignity she is honored by her Son and by all the Saints. Finally he came before the Majesty of God; there he saw the Son in the Father and the Father in the Son, the Holy Spirit proceeding from both; and how God is in His Saints and all the Saints in God. Of that glory, and union, and dignity, and reverence, it is better to be silent than to say anything; for whatever can be said about it is nothing compared to what it is.

[23] Whenever he came among Religious men and women, as wax melts before the fire, so he melted from devotion and divine grace. After this he fell into a great illness, so that he lost the strength of his hands and could scarcely raise his hand to his mouth; yet from great desire he could not refrain from celebrating Mass. Whence it was often shown that the Angels of God were helping him, as was said above.

[24] Once he held the text of the Gospel according to John in his hand, and embraced the book, saying: "This I have learned, in this I have lived, and in this I believe, and hope, and desire to die." And so it happened. Therefore the Pontiff Boniface, after he had governed the pontifical See of the Church of Lausanne for ten years, came to the monastery called Camera of St. Mary, and there lived eighteen years, and, taken from this light, was happily translated to the seat of the eternal kingdom, full of days and sanctity.

Boniface, Bishop of Lausanne, at Camera near Brussels in Belgium (Bl.)

BHL Number: 1399

By an anonymous author, from manuscripts.

PROLOGUE OF THE AUTHOR.

[1] We have learned that the wondrous works of God must always be received by the human race with faith intact and recounted with devout glorification, as holy Scripture admonishes and as the holy Angel himself commanded holy Tobias. Tob. 12:7 Yet very many things which the power of Christ accomplishes through himself, or works through his Saints set before the world as an example, are for this reason sometimes less known and celebrated in our time: because we neglect to transmit in writing to the age that will follow us those things which by their greatness move us to admiration and even to imitation -- not so much from ignorance of these deeds as from indolence of spirit. The deeds of the Saints must be narrated: In this matter our fault is far more manifest and inexcusable than that of our forebears, so that we are rightly compelled to bear the mark of guilt if we allow the deeds of the Saints, which have been able to come to our knowledge, to perish from the awareness of posterity. For although the blessed life of the Saints remains eternally with Almighty God, and the book of life contains their names without forgetting, nevertheless we believe it contributes no small measure to our own advancement and that of our successors if we more frequently revolve their merits in our minds and commemorate their deeds in words and writings.

[2] Wherefore I have thought it fitting to record certain things concerning the life and character of the venerable and God-worthy Boniface, of blessed memory, formerly Bishop of Lausanne, through the written word, as an exemplar of his life for one who desires it; therefore the Author writes this Life so that although he be absent in bodily presence, yet the memory of his virtues may always be present. And let no one esteem that I presumptuously assume the authority of correcting that work which the efforts of our elders have yielded, nor that I arrogantly undertake ^a a reader's labor under the name of composing a written work: but I consider what I set forth at the beginning, that according to Scripture it is a glorious thing to declare the works of God and to make known the deeds of the Saints to the age that will follow us. Indeed, in undertaking this work, trusting greatly in the merits of the Saint himself, about whom I eagerly desire to speak and write in a plain and simple style, with the help of God to whom I owe all that I can do, I am not lightly moved, nor do I think I should greatly regard the petty rumors or prejudices of any persons, since, if the matter goes well, I shall have among the well-disposed a testimony of truth and faith. ^b

CHAPTER I

The Life of Bl. Boniface before his Episcopate.

[3] ^a The venerable athlete of Christ, Bishop Boniface, drew his origin from the district of Brabant and the noble city of Brussels, Boniface of Brussels from religious parents. When his mother was carrying him in her womb, going one day to matins, she encountered an old man of venerable white hair, bearing an angelic countenance, who addressed her thus: (whose virtue and learning were divinely foretold to his mother) "You have conceived a glorious offspring, who shall be acceptable to God and to His Saints and to men, and shall be great and honored in learning." Having said these words, he was immediately taken from her sight. After this the time of delivery came, and she bore a son, whom she named Boniface.

[4] The boy grew and advanced in age and grace before God and men. The virtue of modesty and the purity of chastity so flourished and prevailed in him in childhood remarkably chaste that whenever his mother or grandmother or nurse kissed him, he would immediately wipe his mouth with his garment or wash it with water, as a sign of his future purity of mind. When he was five years old, he was placed by his mother at the study of letters; at five he is trained in letters and though still tender in age, he showed forth various tokens of his future blessedness. For the divine munificence had bestowed upon him an apt understanding, a ready intellect, a retentive memory, grace in conversation, endowed with a remarkable disposition and effectiveness in action. He was a humble hearer of his teachers, and what he had taken in by ear from his instructors he tenaciously stored away in the little treasury of his heart and frequently pondered. He was found as innocent among the youths with whom he was learning the rudiments of childhood as he was free from the allurements by which youthful age is usually wont to be wanton; and just as he came forth clean and immaculate from his mother's womb, so he remained clean and immaculate from carnal vices until the day of his death.

[5] ^b When he had reached his seventeenth year, he is sent to Paris he went to Paris, and there he advanced so greatly in knowledge and learning that he became great and honored. Indeed, just as he surpassed all his companions in the ardor of study, so he merited to go before them in honor. He persevered at Paris for thirty years, nobly instructed in the seven liberal arts; during which time he also sagaciously taught others. where he lives holily But with every effort he strove to live for Christ, and he was lavish in humility, diligent in vigils, devout in prayer, preeminent in teaching, cautious in speech, most holy in his manner of life, most steadfast in tribulation, solicitous in correcting faults, most severe against heretics and unbelievers, most constant in the Catholic faith, always abhorring idleness; and on feast days he was either studying or praying in church.

[6] ^c When divine mercy saw that his servant was advancing from virtue to virtue, it decreed to mark him more abundantly with its own character. The man of God, therefore, adorned in no small degree with the beauty of virtues, he is made a Priest having received sacred orders, merited to be raised to the rank of the priesthood. Feeling himself bound by so great an office, he devoutly and faithfully exercised the rights of the priesthood. There was accordingly in him so great a grace of compunction that he never celebrated Mass without tears. He also chastised his body with vigils, fasts, wondrously devoted to penance and various abstinences, lest it should become wanton and so impede him from his salutary purpose. But to say nothing of the hair shirt which he always wore next to his skin, he also bound his belly tightly with an iron chain; and when, for some reason or other, he was unable to wear this chain, he took care to remove it and exchanged it for a belt of horsehair fastened with many knots, which he wore for a long time.

[7] When, toward the end of the thirty years he spent at Paris, he teaches Theology at Paris he had for seven years read from the chair of Theology, teaching and disputing with great honor and reverence, it happened that a dissension arose between the Masters and the scholars, whence it came about that they disdained to come to lectures as usual. On that account he departed thence and came to the city of Cologne, then at Cologne which is called Agrippina, and there he was received with honor and called to the scholastic chair, in which he sat for two years.

CHAPTER II

The Life of Bl. Boniface in the Episcopate.

[8] ^a At length it pleased the Lord to say to him, "Friend, come up higher"; and after this he was called to the episcopal chair. Accepting this office devoutly and humbly, he is made Bishop he took care to multiply the talent entrusted to him by God, sowing the seed of the divine Word far and wide, irrigating the hearts of the faithful with the streams of his teaching, and he preaches and cares for his people those things which he found subject to worldly fear he himself subdued with the fear of the Lord, with manifest reason, private counsel, and every means at his disposal, inciting men to good works. From towns and villages, near or far, he was always ready for all who came to him seeking counsel. Set as a watchman over all in the mirror of virtues, he exhibited himself as a model of the celibate life. For what he taught in words he first fulfilled in deeds, whence it came about that, worthily displaying the etymology of his name through his works, he appeared a worthy Bishop of Lausanne. He heard the lengthy conversations of men unwillingly; secular or detracting words he abhorred detraction he silenced either by silence or by a stern countenance. Whenever he had a servant accustomed to speaking secular, foul, or dishonest words, he immediately expelled him from his presence, and foul speech not suffering so great an evil to creep into his honorable household. He occupied all his time either in writing, or praying, or studying, or instructing others, or hearing confessions; very rarely did even a small hour of the day pass by without his being occupied with one of the aforesaid.

[9] ^b He had the custom of reproving the wicked morals of men in public sermons, he rebukes the lust of Priests so that by this they might be confounded and repent. Once he preached a sermon to Priests ^c who kept concubines, in their assembly, concerning things that pertained to their correction. Aroused, they gathered together in a mob and, bursting into the church in which the man of God was singing Mass, attempted to kill him before the altar. Seeing this, a certain Brother of the Order of Friars Minor began to cry out, and immediately the people of the city rushed in and delivered him from their hands. who attempt to kill him

[10] When he saw that he could no longer bear the plots, terrors, blasphemies, and other evils of wicked men, he went to the Lord Pope, urgently requesting that he be relieved of this burden; but the Pope delayed doing this, knowing him to be necessary to the people over whom he had been appointed as Pastor. he begs to be released from the episcopal burden And the Bishop said, "I shall not go there again, nor shall I see that city." And when for an entire year he had pressed the Pope on this matter, and the Pope at last consenting, he resigns it at length, overcome by his entreaties, he accepted his resignation, with the pontifical honor preserved to him. With the counsel, however, of upright men, the Apostolic See offered him two other bishoprics, asking that he not refuse to accept them. But he utterly refused to accept them, he refuses other bishoprics declaring himself deficient in age and less fit for such work. Then he turned to prayer, asking that God would deign to provide him a suitable place in which he might spend the remainder of his time in quiet, free from all worldly tumult. Having received leave from the Lord Pope and the Cardinals, he returns to Brussels he came to his native city of Brussels to revisit his parents and friends.

[11] Before we descend to declaring the rest of his virtuous deeds, it is not beside the point -- indeed it is consonant with the subject -- to commemorate another injury and insult inflicted upon the man of God in his bishopric. For a dissension had once arisen between the Lord Pope and the Emperor Frederick, the second of that name; whence it happened that the same Pope summoned certain Bishops to a council, he takes part in a council against Emperor Frederick II among whose number was Bishop Boniface. Having held a careful deliberation, therefore, and having considered all things, according to the decree of the same Boniface and the other Bishops, a sentence of excommunication was issued against the Emperor. Taking this badly, he sent two hundred knights to surround the city in which Bishop Boniface was, and to kill him wherever he might come forth. captured by 200 emissaries of this excommunicate It happened, however, at that time that he went outside the city with only two knights, because he was unaware that ambushes lurked there. When he had gone out, those who were lying in ambush, seeing the Bishop, rose up, laid hands upon him, bound his hands behind his back, threw him upon his horse, and departed. Then one of the knights in the man of God's company, freed by the valor of one knight burning with zeal, made such a fierce assault upon the adversaries that none of them dared resist. The knight himself then turned the horse on which the Bishop sat and led him into the city, and all his adversaries remained outside as if mute and struck by God; and thus God again delivered his servant from the snares of his enemies.

CHAPTER III

The Visions and Apparitions of Bl. Boniface.

[12] ^a When at length, free from the episcopal office, he had undertaken to revisit his native soil, he turned aside after some time had elapsed to a monastery of Cistercian nuns, of Camera of Blessed Mary, which is situated near the city of Brussels to the south, visiting there the community and his kinswomen. By the admonition of Bl. Mary, he remains at the convent of Camera At that time a certain religious nun from the community approached him and said to him: "This the Mother of God, the glorious Virgin Mary, commands you: that you should remain here with us; for it is her will and the will of her Son that you should spend the remaining time of your life here." Hearing these words, he acquiesced to this decision; and the Abbess, together with the whole community, received him joyfully and with great devotion and reverence; and he remained there for the whole time of his life, devoting himself to God and to himself, in great peace and quiet.

[13] Once he sang Mass with the devotion that was customary to him, when behold a certain religious woman, who is worthy of belief, Angels assist him while he celebrates the sacred rite saw two Angels, one of whom stood at the right hand of the man of God and the other at his left, and they raised his hands in like manner and similarly set them down; and thus they ministered to him and very lovingly inclined their heads toward him.

[14] A certain Cardinal was sick at Paris unto death, and Master William of Milieton was ministering to him. He said to his companions: "I am going to rest a little, for I am very weary." And when he had gone out, immediately in a vision the venerable Boniface appeared to the sick man himself, he appears with Bl. Agnes to a sick Cardinal and heals him resplendently adorned in pontifical vestments, bringing with him a certain most beautiful Virgin, most becomingly adorned with jewels. And Boniface said to the sick man: "My lord, what ails you, and how do you fare?" He answered: "I am very weak." Then the Bishop signed his forehead with his finger, and wiped his face and breast with his hand, and having given his blessing, the man immediately recovered. Meanwhile, when the sick man asked who that maiden was, the Bishop answered: "This is St. Agnes." And immediately the vision vanished.

[15] ^b At the time when William, King of Germany, was besieging the city of Aachen, the blessed man Boniface was at Camera of St. Mary in prayer, and he saw in the spirit a certain knight clad in white armor, sitting upon a white horse and carrying a lance in his hand; and other knights followed him, armed in the same manner. Then the Bishop said in his heart: he learns in advance by heavenly revelation of the victory of King William "Lord God, who is this, and where is he going?" And the Angel of the Lord answered him, saying: "This is St. George, whom God has sent to aid King William, because today he shall obtain the victory." And this was found to have truly come to pass.

[16] Likewise, at the time when the Count of Flanders entered into battle against the Hollanders, the man of God was similarly in prayer, and a voice came to him from heaven saying: "Know that the Count of Flanders shall be led captive, likewise the defeat of the Count of Flanders and the greatest slaughter shall be made among his people." The firmness of this saying was afterward confirmed by the very truth of the event.

[17] Once he was in great tribulation and fear on account of his sins, reconsidering whether the Lord God had pardoned all his offenses. Then two beautiful Virgins appeared to him, sent by God, one of whom, holding a small parchment in her hand, addressed him thus: "Read," in a vision he learns that his sins have been blotted out she said, "what is written herein." The Bishop, taking the parchment and finding nothing written in it, said to her: "I cannot read it, because nothing is contained within." Then she replied: "Thus," she said, "are all your sins blotted out in the sight of God, nor does anything of them remain upon your conscience."

[18] This holy man had the greatest compassion for the soul of Aristotle, he is forbidden to pray for the soul of Aristotle and grieved much over his perdition, and often prayed that, if it could be, God would deign to have mercy upon him. On a certain occasion, therefore, he heard a voice from heaven saying to him: "Cease to pray for his soul, because he did not build My Church, as Peter and Paul did, nor did he teach My law." Hearing this, and grieving, he ceased thenceforth.

[19] ^c On a certain occasion the man of God was in great desire to see the glorious Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, who, satisfying his pious wish, appeared to him as he lay upon his bed. When he saw her, he sees the Blessed Virgin immediately leaping up, he fell at her feet, saying: "My Lady, sanctify me." And she, graciously assenting, answered: "I have sanctified you, and I shall sanctify you again." Having said this, the vision vanished, nor did she grant him a greater share of her presence for that time.

[20] On another occasion, on the octave of St. John the Baptist, he was in great desire to receive some consolation from the Blessed Virgin herself, likewise at another time, with many Virgins and St. John the Baptist who immediately appeared to him, wondrously crowned and mantled in cloth of gold, most becomingly adorned with other multi-colored garments, bringing with her a company of Virgins, who themselves were also adorned with precious garments and jewels. They all came to visit the Bishop, and were seated on one side of his bed. St. John the Baptist also came, exceedingly glorious, distinguished in garments of the purest white, and sat on the other side of the bed of the man of God. Who could estimate, let alone express, with what great consolation he was filled in the visit and conversation of such and so great a company? And when they had sat with him through that entire night, at dawn they departed.

[21] Once the man of God was very weak on the night of the Lord's Nativity, so that he could not be present at the office of matins; wherefore he was greatly saddened over this likewise at another time, with the little Son and made his complaint to the glorious Mother of God, Mary. To him the Blessed Virgin immediately appeared, bearing in her arms her most beloved Son wrapped in swaddling clothes, and she placed Him upon the bed of the blessed man. The Infant himself drew His hand from the swaddling band and raised the cloth from His face, showing the Bishop the beauty of His countenance. And he was wondrously delighted at the sight, whose countenance is of wondrous beauty and marveled all the more, so that he afterward said to those of his household: "If there were nothing else in paradise but that glorious face, it would assuredly be worthy to suffer everything that is thought sorrowful, in order to behold that blessed face in its glory."

[22] ^d Being one day in prayer, this holy man was caught up in the spirit; and when he had been led into the heavenly paradise, in the spirit he sees the glory of the Saints and their individual orders he saw there the Seraphim, how they are kindled and burn, the Cherubim, how they are illuminated and shine. Then he came to the individual choirs of the Angels and saw their orders and ministries. Afterward he was led to the assemblies of the Patriarchs and Prophets, where he contemplated their dignities. Then he came to the choir of the Apostles, who with their blood had founded the Catholic Church, whose preeminence he saw and their glory. Next he came to the army of the Martyrs, who adorned the Church of God with their sufferings, whose honor and beauty he also beheld. He came also afterward to the assembly of the Confessors, who sustained the Church of Christ by word and example, and their excellence also he perceived. Moreover, coming to the fellowship of the Virgins, he saw how they follow the Lamb wherever He goes; beholding their glory and beauty, he was wondrously delighted. After this he was led to the blessed and glorious Virgin, Queen of Virgins, and he saw with what honor, reverence, and dignity she is venerated by her beloved Son and by all the aforementioned Saints. Finally he came before the throne of the majesty of God on high, where he saw the Son existing ineffably in the Father and the Father in the Son, the Holy Spirit also wondrously proceeding from both. Lastly he saw how God dwells and rests in His Saints, and how conversely they abide in Him. By this vision he was so greatly edified and inflamed that, with his whole heart intent upon heavenly things, he labored to become a partaker of those whose most excellent glory he had specifically beheld with blessed sight.

CHAPTER IV

The Miracles of Bl. Boniface.

[23] ^a The Lord deigned to glorify His Saint with wondrous and varied prodigies and signs, even in this life. For a certain girl, seized by a sudden illness, was weighed down unto death, to such a degree that it seemed to her that her face must burst and her eyes leap from her head. His hair heals a sick woman She cried out in pain to her mother and said: "Mother, behold, I am dying." Then her mother took some of the clipped hair of Bishop Boniface and, binding it upon her daughter's face, caused her to sleep a little; and she at last, having awakened, rose up whole and well.

[24] He frees a demoniac by his blessing Once the man of God came to a certain place where there was a youth possessed by a demon. Having offered a prayer, he blessed him, and he was freed. A certain other youth, suffering from sickness, sought the blessing of the blessed man; likewise a sick person as soon as he obtained it, he recovered his health. Moreover, a certain boy afflicted with epilepsy asked the man of God an epileptic that he might be permitted to receive the sacrament of Confirmation from him. Immediately, seized by the falling sickness, he fell at his feet; but when the blessing was given, he rose up perfectly well.

[25] A nun of a certain convent was held by great and severe fevers. The blessed man came to her and, standing over her, blessed her, and she was healed. two women with fevers There was also another woman who was likewise suffering greatly from fever, who also recovered at the blessing of the man of God. Once a certain girl filled with a demon encountered the holy man; another demoniac without any fear he opposed to her the sign of the holy Cross, and immediately the demon departed from her, and she was totally freed. There are also many other wondrous deeds which Bishop Boniface performed, but let it suffice to have narrated these few, to declare how great his merit is now, when he stands before the fountain of mercy, if he had such power with God when he lived here among us.

[26] ^b A certain man of servile condition was sick unto death in the monastery of Camera of St. Mary, who was so bound by the devil that he could not confess his sins even if he wished. And when Priests came to him and tried to compel him to tell his sins, having labored much in this very effort, at last they accomplished nothing. Finally Bishop Boniface was invited to visit him. Coming, he said to the sick man: To one unable to confess his sins "Confess your sins." But he answered: "I cannot." And the Bishop said: "You shall go to hell unless you tell the sins you have committed." The sick man answered and said: "Most willingly would I tell them, if I could." Then the Bishop said to the Priest: "Go, bring the Body of the Lord." When he had brought it, the Bishop said to the sick man: he commands the Eucharist to be given "Do you believe this to be the true Body of Christ, and that He is your salvation and deliverance?" He answered: "I believe, my Lord." When the Bishop heard this, he said to the Priest: "Give him the Body of the Lord." When this had been done, he was immediately freed from the bond of the devil and made confession of all his sins, having received it, he confesses and dies piously and after no great space of time he departed this world happily under good hope. O the wisdom of the physician, who knew by what art the poison could be drawn from the bowels of the sick man! -- which, had it been retained, would assuredly have made him liable to eternal death. Moreover, many others of various conditions were freed from various temptations and tribulations through his holy prayers, giving thanks to God.

CHAPTER V

The Death, Burial, and Epitaph of Bl. Boniface.

[27] ^a When after many labors the Lord wished to reward His servant, it happened that he fell into a severe illness, he falls into sickness from which he also died. This illness first deprived him of the function and strength of his hands, to such a degree that he could scarcely raise his right hand to his mouth. Yet from great devotion he could not refrain from continually celebrating Mass; whence it was often shown to some he often celebrates, with Angels ministering; he makes a profession of faith that Angels were ministering to him and assisting him, as was said above. When he was drawing near to the end of his life, he asked for the text of the Gospel according to John; holding it in his hand, he embraced the book, saying: "These things I have learned, in these I have lived; finally these are the things in which I believe and hope, and in which I desire to die" -- which not long after, as he had wished, came to pass; nor was he defrauded of his hope, but God granted him the desire of his soul, and this swiftly.

[28] Therefore the man of God, Boniface, after he had worthily and laudably governed the Church of Lausanne for ten years, and afterward, coming to the monastery of Camera of Blessed Mary and there serving God day and night in holiness and justice before Him, had survived for eighteen years, at last he was taken from this light he dies piously and was happily translated to the seat of the eternal kingdom, full of days and good works. He departed from this world to the Father and to the fatherland on the nineteenth day before the Kalends of February, about the year of the Lord one thousand two hundred and sixty; and he was buried in the aforesaid monastery of Camera of Blessed Mary, in an eminent place, namely in the part of the choir. His epitaph, which summarizes his entire life, is found there in the following manner.

[29] Here lies buried a man of the most serene life, the Lord Boniface, Bishop of Lausanne, His epitaph, containing a summary of his life Doctor of sacred Theology and the seven liberal arts, who drew his origin from religious parents in the city of Brussels. His mother, when she had conceived him, heard from heaven that she bore a glorious offspring, acceptable to God and His Saints and to men, and destined to be great and honored in life and learning. From his earliest age even to the end he persevered continually chaste, just, sober, quiet, humble, generous, well-mannered, and exemplary; and he grew in grace and age before God and men. As he came forth clean and immaculate from his mother's womb, so he remained clean and immaculate until the day of his death. This venerable man strove with every effort to live for Christ: for in humility he was lavish, in vigils diligent, in prayer devout, in teaching preeminent, in speech cautious, in his manner of life most holy, in harsh sufferings a brave athlete, pursuing a dove-like simplicity. He never celebrated without tears; he chastised his own body with want and abstinence. He merited to behold the Blessed Virgin Mary sometimes with bodily sight and to be comforted and sanctified by her. By his honey-flowing teaching he converted many from error to salvation, and, multiplying in wondrous fashion the talent entrusted to him, he faithfully rendered it to the Lord. What he taught in words, he fulfilled in works; he displayed to all the form of the celibate life; he spent his times in the praises of God; he often came almost to the point of martyrdom, but by God's will he was always rescued. And because he was just and vigorous, though always gentle, in his corrections, the perverse, unable to endure this, pursued him with murderous intent. Relinquishing one bishopric, guided by God, he came to this monastery and perceived by a revelation of the glorious Virgin Mary that it was the will of her Son that he should spend the remaining time of his life here. At his arrival the Abbess of that time and the whole community rejoiced exceedingly. For when he chose to dwell here, God wrought remarkable miracles through him: for he cured the ailing and those suffering from whatever infirmity at once, by the sign of the Cross alone or by the laying on of hands. He merited to foreknow many things by frequent heavenly revelation; he raised up those who were tempted by mercifully succoring them; he freed those vexed by demons and, subjugating the demons to himself, everywhere put them to flight. When he celebrated, Angels were often seen raising his arms on either side and, as if concelebrating, assisting him. When he dwelt among religious, as wax melts before the fire, so he melted with devotion and divine grace. At last the man of God, leaving this life, found a blessed and happy death, and, taken from this light, enjoys eternally the secrets of secrets with the blessed spirits. And although this man of God and Priest of the Most High has not been canonized by the Church on earth, he is nonetheless held in heaven among the Saints of God as glorified; and among us he is worthy to be canonized. Therefore let all who behold the tomb of this most sacred man beseech him, for he is worthy, that he may deign to intercede for us before God, so that by his merits we may be rendered worthy of His grace, and may glory in reigning with him perpetually in heaven. Amen.