Boniface the Roman

ON S. BONIFACE THE ROMAN, MARTYR AT TARSUS IN CILICIA.

IN THE YEAR CCXC.

Boniface the Roman, Martyr at Tarsus in Cilicia (S.)

BY THE AUTHOR G. H.

[1] We give the Acts of S. Boniface, who suffered at Tarsus in Cilicia, and those most ancient and described by most faithful authors: just as the companions ^a of the brother Commentariensis, who had presided over the writing of them, Very ancient Acts received them there, and brought them to Rome with the sacred body: to which those things were added which pertain to the life of B. Aglaes. They are held in very many most ancient codices of the best faith, MSS., and those preserved at Rome: from very many Roman MSS. among which three of the Vatican

library, marked with the number 1191, 1195, and 6075, whence we give them here: likewise from an ancient MS. codex of the church of S. Mary Major, and another MS. of the Lateran Basilica, from which Paulus Aringhus alleges some things in volume 2 of Rome Subterranean, book 4 chapter 6 number 6: and finally from an old manuscript of the Monastery of S. Cecilia across the Tiber, of which Baronius makes mention in the Notes on this XIV day of March, and from it chiefly drew Lucas Holstenius the Passion of S. Boniface, after his death printed at Rome in the year MDCLXIII: who moreover asserts, that he used four codices, which the library of the Prince of the Apostles supplied. From this we have described two illustrious Martyrologies: but the Acts of S. Boniface, which we already had described from so many other MS. codices and collated with them, we were further loath to compare with more. Some things also we have from the MS. codex of the Congregation of the Oratory of Rome, but contracted and into eight Lessons, distributed to be recited at Matins: which in an old MS. Roman Breviary were into nine Lessons divided. Only six are printed in the Breviary of Rome of the year MCCCCLXXIX, of the year MCCCCXC, and of the following years: and these, into two lessons by command of Pius V contracted, are until now recited in the Church. Besides the Roman codices, and several others. those same Acts likewise are found in many ancient MSS.; from which moreover we have the same are, a double codex of Trier of the monasteries of S. Maximinus and S. Martin, likewise the MS. books of the monasteries of Wineberg of the Order of Premonstratensians in Bavaria, and of Boedeke of the Canons Regular in the Westphalian diocese of Paderborn, but in this latter from time to time another phrase is substituted. Finally these same Acts were printed by Boninus Mombritius two hundred years ago, from MS. codices of the Italian libraries, and from another collection, but in several places contracted, at Cologne in the year MCCCCLXXXIII and at Louvain in the year MCCCCLXXXV, and also edited by Peter de Natalibus book 4 chapter 165.

[2] The birthday, on which the Martyr died, in the chief MSS. is called the fourteenth of the month of May, in some the day before the Ides of May, which coincide: The birthday May 14 in the Breviaries and Martyrologies. and on that day it is reported in the cited Roman Breviaries written by hand and printed in type: likewise by Bellinus in the Martyrology according to the custom of the Roman curia printed at Venice in the year MCCCCXCVIII, and by Grevenus, Molanus, Maurolycus, Galesinius, and others: likewise in several MSS. also under the name of Usuard and Ado with today's Roman one. In the MS. Acts of the monastery of S. Maximinus, however, he is said to have been martyred on the Nones of June. Which concerning the commemoration of the martyrdom, announced at Rome by the bearers of the body, or the anniversary of some deposition or elevation, seems to be understood: whence certain librarians took the license of changing the day, and gave others the occasion of doing the same: which Ado and Notker, understanding on the said Nones of June, in their Martyrologies, their elogia taken from the said Acts thus end, so that the Saint is said to have been martyred on the XIV day of the month of May at Tarsus the metropolis of Cilicia, the burial at Rome on June 5. and buried at Rome on the Nones of June. Which same things are read in the cited old Legend printed at Cologne and Louvain. On the same day, the V of June, he is reported by Usuard and other more recent ones, and in several MSS. But by Rabanus on the second day of June, and in the MS. Florarium on the sixth of June.

[3] The Greeks in the Menaea with a solemn office celebrate the feast of S. Boniface the Martyr on the XIX day of December, and an illustrious encomium they report from the Acts of the same Saint, of which a most ancient copy is in the Vatican. The Acts translated into Greek by Metaphrastes, Leo Allatius attributes those Acts to Simeon Metaphrastes in his Diatribe on the writings of the Simeons, page 126, and there alleges the beginning of the Acts, which we give in Greek from the MS. Medicean of the King most Christian: but translated into Latin by Gentianus Hervetus, it is enough that they be had edited in Aloysius Lipomanus volume V and Lawrence Surius on the V day of June, that, by reprinting these here, the mass of a Work in itself most vast be not increased. But they so in most places agree with the Latin, that we do not doubt but that from these the Greek emanated, yet some things for the sake of explanation are interjected, and by Metaphrastes with a more eloquent diction explained. Again Lipomanus in his seventh volume edited the Acts of the martyrdom of this holy Martyr from the Greek, and others by a monk of Grottaferrata. formerly preserved in the monastery of Grottaferrata in the Tusculan territory, rendered into Latin by William Sirleto. They are much more strictly translated from the Latin Acts, yet some things from Metaphrastes or certainly from the Menaea they contain inserted: namely that, the head being cut off, milk together and blood flowed out, that the body fifty stadia from the city was buried, that fifteen years Aglais survived. Two other illustrious compendia of the martyrdom we have, one on the XIX day of December in the MS. Synaxarion of the Church of Constantinople, which belongs to the Clermont College of the Society of Jesus at Paris, collected on the 19th and 20th of December. another reported on the XX of December in the Menologium of Basil Porphyrogenitus the Emperor.

[4] Paulus Aringhus in the cited volume 2 of Rome Subterranean, book 4 chapter 6 number 7 asserts, The body in the church of SS. Boniface and Alexius that the sacred body of S. Boniface from the place of its first burial, to the Church on the Aventine hill built under his name, by the pious obsequies of the faithful and the festive dances of all Rome was brought. To which Church, when afterward had been brought also the body of S. Alexius, under his name also it began to be called with the Monastery adjoined, in which S. Adalbert Bishop of Prague in the tenth century of Christ led the monastic life for five years, as on the XXIII day of April in his double life is said; where in one it is called of SS. Boniface and Alexius, in the other under the name of S. Boniface alone it is indicated. Baronius in volume XI of the Annals at the year 1004 number 8 inserted a Homily found in a Cassinese codex, and at Rome in the Church of SS. Boniface and Alexius spoken, from which together with the exordium receive the following. Not only those who by assiduity inhabit Rome, the Mistress of cities by the power of Peter alone more than by the judgment of Kings, but also those who from diverse parts of the world seek it, know the most precious temple, decorated with the bodies of the Saints of Christ the Martyr Boniface and the Confessor Alexius. In which, while the fame of sacred religion grew, by their patronage Franco Maringus converted, a certain man mighty in nobility of flesh and abounding in riches, took the monastic habit, renouncing the things which are of the world, by name John Canaparius … There was his godfather Franco, surnamed Maringus… who asked to be led to the monastery of the aforesaid SS. Boniface and Alexius … Led into the Church of the Saints … with a hoarse voice he began such words: Eia, godfather, eia, Lord, receive me the deceitful, receive me the unfaithful, and consign me to your Lords Boniface and Alexius, make me a servant of them: because I know and truly know, that, except by their patronage, I shall not be freed from the power of the wicked spirits… S. Boniface, aid me, S. Alexius, succor me… Him, without intermission crying out, S. Boniface, S. Alexius, they made a monk with many tears. After therefore these things were done in the monastery, God willing to show, how much by the intercession of these Saints He is bent to mercy, and how mercifully He frees sinners fleeing to them; He permitted a troop of mounted armed malign spirits visibly to descend, the demons crying out in vain seeking the aforesaid Franco, whom by a judicial definition they boastingly cast about that they had conquered as a servant. For thus altercating, seeking the one carried off, they were seen to come to the gate of the monastery. Where not finding him, they returned sad, casting many nefarious things against the Saints. Who, when they were asked by the neighbors of the monastery, what this was? the answer; Franco their servant carried off by Boniface and Alexius: and muttering they added, that there remained that by which they thought to conquer him. Which when to the Abbot and the Brothers it was announced, subtly inquiring, they found that he had not made the regular profession. he piously dies there: Which being studiously made, that soul was loosed from the flesh. From which it is given to understand, that the most merciful God, whom He permitted all things of the monastic Order to fulfill, by the merits of SS. Boniface and Alexius, whose suffrage with his whole heart he had sought, rescued him from all the snares of the enemies, to the praise and glory of His name. Thus far there.

[5] where formerly dwelt Basilians and Benedictines, Among the twenty privileged Roman Abbeys, enumerated by Onuphrius Panvinius on the VII Churches of the City, page 142, the fourth is this of S. Alexius, where, he says, is his body and that of S. Boniface the Martyr. That there lived S. Adalbert above mentioned among the Basilian and Benedictine monks, each living according to their rites, asserts in his second Life number 17 a contemporary author, himself also a monk. But it seems that afterward the Benedictines alone obtained the place, until the beginning of the fifteenth century, when from the supreme Pontiffs Lupus Olmetus obtained it for his monks of the Order of S. Jerome living according to the rule of S. Augustine, afterward the Hieronymites. he himself dying there in the year MCCCCXXXIII. Concerning this Order introduced there, can be consulted the Ocean Sea of Silvester Marulus book 5 page 365, and the Hidden Treasure of the city of Rome, edited by Octavius Pancirolius, Region 8 the ninth Church. The body placed again in the year 1603. There when in the year MDCIII Octavius Paravicinus, Cardinal of the title of the same Church, was giving his effort to the restoring and adorning of the high altar of that very Church, were found and in it placed again the bodies of SS. Boniface and Alexius: as the now praised Aringhus and Pancirolius write. These we in the year MDCLXI, the XXVI of July, venerated, decently placed again in marble chests under the altar; the heads being taken off, which, enclosed in silver herms, we beheld in a singular chapel at the left side of the temple, upon the altar, among other reliquaries beautifully ordered, through the crystalline windows by which they were closed.

[6] That at Benevento there is the Body of S. Boniface the Martyr, from the MS. codex of the Church of S. Sophia, where the names of the Saints, whose Bodies and Relics in that Church are preserved, are extant noted, of another Boniface, Mart., at Benevento. and from an inscription in marble there existing near the chapel of the treasury, writes Marius de Vipera, Archdeacon of Benevento, in the Catalogue of the Saints whom the Church of Benevento celebrates with a double or semidouble rite; and asserts that S. Boniface the Martyr is venerated with a double rite on the V day of June, and some compendium of the Acts of S. Boniface, of whom here we treat, sets forth, and to it adds these things: At last from the City on the Nones of June he was brought, and in the illustrious temple of S. Sophia placed. But at what time this was done, by no one is read expressed. There is some ancient Martyrology, five hundred years ago written in Lombardic character for the use of the Church of Benevento, but at Rome in

the Vatican library preserved, number 5949, in which at the Nones of June no mention is made of S. Boniface, but at this XIV of May these things are read: At Benevento of S. Boniface the Martyr in S. Sophia, who suffered at Tarsus and was buried at Rome. Whether there some Relic of this Martyr is to be said to be preserved, or rather it is to be believed to be the body of another S. Boniface the Martyr, whose birthday being unknown, this XIV of May was assumed; let others judge. Furthermore that from a similar occasion a great confusion of sacred Relics has been introduced, until now we have more than once warned. In the Diary of Prague on this day it is asserted, that an illustrious part of S. Boniface the Martyr in the year MCCCLXX was brought from Rome. The people of Volterra also assert, that they have some Relics of S. Boniface the Martyr.

THE LIFE

From very many ancient MS. Latin codices

Boniface the Roman, Martyr at Tarsus in Cilicia (S.)

BHL Number: 1413

FROM THE MSS.

CHAPTER I.

Conversion from a licentious life. The journey to Tarsus. The service rendered to the contending Martyrs. The arrest.

[1] In the times of Diocletian four times and Maximian three times ^a the most impious Emperors, In the persecution of Diocletian, there arose a very great sedition in the time of their persecution against the Christians, that all worshippers of God ^b should be compelled to bow their necks to their most nefarious idols ^c. under Simplicius the Judge of Tarsus Which tyrants also sent ^d from their own persons, together with their Divine commands, a judge into ^f the parts of the East, into Tarsus the city, which is the metropolis of the province of Cilicia; that there all who confessed Christ, of both sex and age, by public audience he might interrogate; and them by diverse kinds of torments, and maceration ^g, to the madness of his mind as quickly as possible he might incline.

[2] In those times therefore there was a certain great woman in the city of Rome, by name Aglaes, daughter indeed of Rome of an Ex-Prefecture, there was at Rome S. Boniface the steward of Aglaes's procurators, having under her seventy and three procurators, who managed the affairs in her possessions, and one chief, who was over all, by name Boniface, who also ^l mingled with her in sin. He was moreover a drunkard and an adulterer, and a friend ^m of sinners, which the Lord God hates: but he had three works of righteousness, namely hospitality, vicious but hospitable, and merciful: liberality, and mercy. Who, if at any time he saw a stranger or one coming from a journey, with all haste and alacrity exhorting him to enter into his lodging, ministered to him. But by night he went round the squares and streets of the city, distributing to the poor all things that were necessary.

[3] But after many years, the grace of God pricking Aglaes, who, sent by the penitent Aglaes to Tarsus, she called her servant Boniface, and says to him: Brother Boniface, you know in how great sins we are involved, not considering that we shall have to stand before God, and render an account of the evils which we have done in this world. And now I have heard certain of the Christians saying, that if anyone shall have ministered to the Saints, who for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ are contending, and have taken up the contest for Him, he shall be their consort on that terrible day of the judgment of God. And now, as I have foretold, I have learned from certain ones, because the servants of Christ are contending against the devil in the parts of the East, delivering their bodies to the executioners, that they may not deny Christ. to obtain the Relics of the Martyrs: Go therefore to those parts, and bring us relics, that is the bodies of the holy Martyrs, if in any way serving and ministering to them, and also building oratory houses worthy of them, through their holy passions we may be saved, both we and many others. And the servant Boniface received ⁿ gold quite abundant for the purchase of the bodies of the Saints, and for the ministration of the needy, and twelve horsemen, and three litters, and also diverse unguents for the honor of the holy martyrs.

[4] And when the servant Boniface had begun to go forth, he says to his Lady gratulatingly: My Lady, if I shall find to purchase relics, he predicts he will be a Martyr: that is the bodies of the holy Martyrs, I bring them with me; but if my body shall return, in the name of a Martyr will you receive it? But his Lady said to him: Cast from you drunkenness and foolish talk, and so go as one who ^o shall know, that the bodies of the holy Martyrs you shall carry. But I, a sinner, although I am unworthy, yet I will await you the more swiftly. But the Lord and God of all [p] things, who for the sake of us men and for our salvation, taking the form of a servant, poured out His own blood for the salvation of the human race, may He Himself send His Angel before your face, and direct your steps in His benignity, and fulfill in good things [q] my desire, my faults forgotten. But the servant Boniface, going forth [r] on his journey, was thinking, saying; Just it is truly, and accomplishes the journey fasting. that I should neither touch flesh, nor take wine; because although I am unworthy and a sinner, yet the bodies of the holy Martyrs I shall have to carry. And extending his eyes to heaven he said: Lord God omnipotent, Father of Your Only-begotten, be present as a help to me Your servant, and direct my way in which I walk, that Your name may be glorified forever and ever. Amen. And when he had finished the prayer, he walked his journey rejoicing.

[5] Arriving therefore after some days in Tarsus the city, and learning that the holy Athletes of Christ are contending in martyrdom, he says to those who were with him: Men, brothers, going seek for us a lodging, and there cause the animals to rest; but I go to see those whom I greatly desire. When therefore he went to the stadium, where the holy Martyrs were contending; he saw them placed amid torments, at Tarsus he beholds the Martyrs contending and a certain one of them hung head downward, and fire spread beneath him: another stretched on four pieces of wood, and for a very long time mangled: another having his face exterminated: another lacerated with claws; another having his hands cut off; another with a stake fixed in his neck, and breathing out into the ground; another inclined from the opposite side, that is, having his hands and feet behind, and so beaten with cudgels by the ministers: and [s] so there was a most evil darkness [t] for those who saw these torments. But more was it to see the devil conquered, but the servants of Christ contending bravely. Approaching therefore the servant Boniface began to kiss the holy Martyrs, and having kissed them, when they were in torments most wicked: for all the men were in number [v] twenty: And crying with a great voice he said: Great is the God of the Christians: great is the God of the holy Martyrs. I beseech you, servants of Christ, he asks that prayer be made for him: intercede for me, that I also may be made worthy to be found your consort, contending against the devil. And [x] sitting at the feet of the holy Martyrs, he embraced their bonds, kissing them and saying: Contend, Athletes and Martyrs of Christ, tread down the devil, persevere a little. Small indeed is the labor, but much is the rest: less is the torture, but ineffable is the satiety: upon the earth the body is tortured by the ministers, but in the future age by the holy Angels it shall be ministered to him.

[6] But Simplicius the Judge, looking to the people, and when he had contemplated him, said: Who is that, before the Judge he professes the faith: who out of contempt of me and the injury of the Gods does these things? let him be brought therefore before my tribunal. And when he had been led, the Judge to him said: Who are you, declare to us, who have despised my most splendid judgment? B. Boniface said: I am a Christian, and having my Lord Jesus Christ, I despise both you and your tribunal by the help of my God. But the Judge said to him: What is your name called? B. Boniface said: I have already told you, that I am a Christian; but if you wish to learn my common name, I am called Boniface. The Judge said to him: Before I touch the flesh of your sides, approaching sacrifice to the immortal gods. he despises the threats. B. Boniface said: I have told you many times, that I am a Christian, and I do not sacrifice to demons, nor to the most nefarious idols: what therefore you wish to do, do, and do not delay; for behold your body is set before you: my body.

ANNOTATIONS.

p. The three Vatican MSS. and Wineberg: of Kings.

q. The Wineberg MS.: yours.

r. The MS. of S. Mary Major: began his journey and was thinking within himself, saying.

s. The Vatican MS. 6075: And a great horror and intolerable dread upon those who.

t. The Lateran MS.: for the minds of those who tortured the Saints of God, and a great gladness for the servants of Christ, who bravely contending merited to obtain a triumph over the most wicked Prince.

v. These, twenty in number, are venerated on the 6th of June, inscribed in the Martyrologies of Usuard, Ado, and others, and in today's Roman one. In some MSS. is read "about twenty."

x. The Vatican MSS. 1191 and 1195 and Lateran: sitting. The Vatican MS. 6075 and Trier of S. Mart.: sitting down at the feet. The Maximinus MS.: sitting down at the feet. The MS. of S. Mary Major: and sitting, embraced and kissed the feet of the holy Martyrs, saying.

CHAPTER II.

The diverse torments inflicted. The Martyrdom completed. The body brought to Rome.

[7] Hung up, he is scraped with claws: And when the Judge heard these things, he was vehemently angered, and ordered him to be hung up; and for a long time his body to be scraped with claws. So greatly did the ministers of the devil scrape him, that his bones appeared. But blessed Boniface answered nothing; but had his eyes ^a attentive to the holy Martyrs of God, and the Judge ordered him to be lifted from the earth. But about the space of one hour having passed, the Judge said to him: Wretch, sacrifice to the immortal gods, and have mercy on yourself. B. Boniface answered him, saying: Are you not ashamed, thrice most wretched, often saying to me, Sacrifice? to me, unwilling to hear about your perishing idols?

[8] And when the Judge was angered, he ordered that reeds be sharpened, he is tortured with sharp reeds under the nails and that they be fixed under the nails of his hands. And when this was done, the holy Martyr, looking to heaven, eagerly bore the pains. But the most impious Judge, seeing that he felt the torments not at all, ordered his mouth to be opened, and boiling lead of Christ Boniface, looking to heaven, and with lead poured into his mouth: besought the Lord saying: I give thanks to You, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, be present as a help to me Your servant, and relieve me from these pains, and do not permit me to be conquered by this most profane Judge. For You know that for Your name's sake I suffer all these things. And when he had completed the prayer, he cried out to the holy Martyrs, saying: I beseech you, servants of Christ, pray for me your servant. But the holy Martyrs as with one mouth said to him: May our Lord Jesus Christ Himself send His Angel, and rescue you from this most profane Judge, and complete your course swiftly, and inscribe your name ^c with the firstborn. And when they had completed the prayer, and had said, Amen; there was made a weeping by the crowd; therefore very many being converted to the faith. and a very great outcry of those saying: Great is the God of the Christians: Great is the God of the holy Martyrs: Christ Son of God, save us; for all of us believe in You, and to You we flee: let perish all the idols of the nations. And all the people made an assault, and destroyed the altar, ^d and stoned the Judge. And the Judge, rising, withdrew on account of the tumult, fearing the crowds.

[9] But at dawn, the Judge sitting on the tribunal, ordered the holy Martyr Boniface to be set before him, and says to him: Why, wretch, do you thus rave, having hope in a man; and Him crucified as a worthless one do you adore? The holy Martyr says to him: Be dumb, unhappy one, and do not open your lips against my Lord Jesus Christ, serpent of most obscure mind, inveterate of evil days: anathema to you, for my Lord Jesus Christ all these things endured, willing to save the human race. Cast into a pot of pitch he is not injured, And the angered Judge ordered a pot to be brought, and it to be filled with pitch, and into the boiling pitch the holy Martyr to be cast head downward. But the holy Martyr of Christ, the sign of the Cross being made, was cast into the pot. But an Angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and touched the pot; and forthwith it was liquefied like wax before the face of the fire. And the holy one indeed was not ^e molested; but it burned of the bystanders many men.

and admiring the endurance of the holy Martyr, ordered that his head be cut off with the sword, saying: Whom we find not obeying the laws of the Emperors, him our Power orders to undergo the capital sentence. But the executioners took him with haste from the midst of the judgment. But the holy Martyr of Christ, the sign of the Cross of Christ being made, asked the executioners that they grant him a little hour until he prayed. and the prayer being made And standing toward the East, he besought the Lord, saying: Lord God omnipotent, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, be present as a help to me Your servant, and send Your Angel, and receive in peace my soul, that the pestiferous and slayer dragon may not impede me, in his malignity; and may he not persuade me in his deceit; but make my soul to rest together in the choir of Your holy Martyrs: and rescue, Lord, Your people from the tribulation of the impious; since to You is due all honor and power, together with Your Only-begotten, he is beheaded: and the holy and life-giving Spirit, forever and ever. Amen. And when he had completed the prayer, he was struck by the executioner; and there was made a great earthquake, so that all cried out, saying; Great is the God of the Christians: and many believed in the Lord Jesus Christ.

[11] His fellow-servants come to knowledge of him: But the fellow-servants of B. Boniface went round, everywhere seeking him: and not finding him, they began to say to one another: That one is now in adultery or placed in a tavern feasting, and we go round everywhere seeking him? When therefore they were conversing among themselves, it happened that the brother ^f Commentariensis met them, and they say to him: Perhaps you have seen some man, a pilgrim man was martyred for Christ, and was cut off at the head. Who said to him: And where is that one? But he said to them: In the stadium; where also he suffered. And again he says to them: For what is his appearance? And they said to him: He is a square man, of ^g robust gait, his hair composed, clothed in a scarlet ^h armelausia. And he says to them: That one whom you seek among us yesterday was finished by martyrdom. But they said to him: The man whom we seek ⁱ is an adulterer and a drunkard. But he says to them: For what will it harm you to come as far as the stadium and see him? But they followed him as far as the stadium; and he showed them his precious body: and they said to him; We beseech you, show us also his head. But he, running, brought them also his precious head. But when his fellow-servants had contemplated the head of the holy Martyr, and on offering 500 solidi they obtain the sacred body: he laughed in the Holy Spirit. And the servants, recognizing him, wept bitterly, saying: Do not remember us in sin, how great things we have spoken of you, servant of Christ. And they say to the Official: This is whom we seek; we beg you, give him to us. He says to them: I cannot give you his body for nothing. But they, giving him five hundred solidi, received the body of the holy Martyr: and anointing this with aromatics, and wrapping it in precious linens, they placed it in one of the litters, and so they set out on their journey, rejoicing and glorifying the Lord over the death of the holy Martyr.

[12] But an Angel of the Lord appeared to his Lady, him Aglaes, admonished by the Angel, receives, saying: Whom once you knew as your servant, but now our brother, receive as intervention all your sins shall be remitted to you. And Aglaes, rising forthwith, took with her Clerics and religious men, and so with hymns and spiritual canticles, and all veneration she met the holy body, and placed it is called Latina, ^l building for him a house worthy of his passion. In which place also abound benefits by the ^m prayer of the holy Martyr until the present day; so that even demons are expelled: the race of men. But Blessed Boniface was martyred of May.

[13] But Blessed Aglaes renounced the world and its pomps, all that she possessed distributing [p] to the needy. And freeing also all her household of diverse sex and age from the yoke of servitude, and passing her life holily so with a few girls renouncing, she served Christ; and so she was made [q] great, that even grace from God she merited to receive, and expelled demons, and diverse infirmities cured. she shines with miracles. But Blessed Aglaes survived in the habit of sanctity for [r] thirteen years; and so she fell asleep in the Lord, and in peace was buried [s]. So also the glorious Martyr Boniface contended, taking the crown of victory, to the glory and praise of God the Father and His only-begotten Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto all ages of ages. Amen.

ANNOTATIONS.

p. Some MSS. add, also to monasteries and hospices.

q. The Lateran MS.: worthy of God.

r. The Greeks: fifteen years.

s. Holstenius adds: with the aforesaid Martyr, as is also read in the MS. Lessons, and the Greek have τῷ μάρτυρι προσετέθη: she was placed beside the Martyr. Therefore her memory in some Fasti is celebrated together with the festival of S. Boniface, and this on 14 May and 5 June, and separately on 25 February, as has been said among the Passed Over. Indeed also Pancirolius says that her body in the year 1603, together with the sacred bodies of SS. Boniface and Alexius, was found and placed again.