WORKSHEET OVER LETTERS OF ST. BONIFACE
Name: _______________________________________________________________________________
Letter: Wynfrith (St. Boniface) encourages the youth Nithard in the pursuit of virtue and of his literary
studies. 716-717
1. What does Boniface encourage Nithard to consider important as he enters into his studies?
2. What is a sybarite?
3. What often happens to sybarites?
4. Why does Boniface exhort Nithard to study the Scriptures?
5. What promise does Boniface give to Nithard?
Letter: Boniface Writes to the English, Asking Prayers for the Conversion of the Saxons
6. To whom specifically does Boniface address this letter?
7. What role did Boniface have in the Church when this letter was written?
8. When Boniface refers to “we” and “ours” in this (and his other) letters, to whom is he referring?
(For example, he wrote: “With humble prayer, we beseech you, brethren, of your charity to
remember our lowly selves in your prayers…”)
9. Why is he writing these people?
Boniface Asks Protection for His Mission In Thuringia From Grifo, Mayor of The Palace
10. What famous men of history are related to Grifo?
11. What role did Grifo have during the time this letter was written?
12. What does Boniface ask of Grifo?
13. How should Grifo conduct himself?
Letter XIII, To the Holy Virgin and Dear Lady Eadburga
14. Boniface wrote this letter to describe a mystical experience of a certain religious brother.
Briefly explain what happened to him.
Boniface Thanks Abbess Eadburga for Sending Him Books
15. Boniface asks Abbess Eadburga to pray for him. Why?
DO THE FOLLOWING ON A SEPARATE SHEET OF PAPER. STAPLE IT WITH THIS SHEET AND SUBMIT:
To his friend in the embrace of loving arms, his brother in the bonds of spiritual brotherhood,
Archbishop Egbert
16. Boniface is facing a difficult situation and is struggling with how to handle it. He writes
Archbishop Egbert for advice. Pretend you are the Archbishop and write a response to Boniface
(5-7 sentences). Explain what he should do and why he should do it!
17. Return to Boniface’s letter to Nithard (#1). Imagine he wrote this to you as you are discerning
what to study in college these upcoming years. Write a response letter to Boniface, 10-15
sentences long.
St. LEOBA: FEMALE COUNTERPART TO ST. BONIFACE
Sts. Leoba and Boniface (Eighth Century) by Jenny Schroedel
The bonds so often present in the lives of the saints can serve
as a model for those seeking to enter into authentic
friendship with others. Through friendship, the saints were
able to overcome the traditional barriers of sex, age, and
rank. Friendship allowed these holy people to open their
hearts and to experience the awakening of their souls. The
following two Saints exemplified this truth:
Sts. Leoba, short for Liobgetha, and Boniface enjoyed a rich
spiritual friendship. St. Leoba was an English nun who was a
distant relative of St. Boniface.
She was born Leofgyth in Wessex to a noble family. Her
mother was related to Boniface (they were distant cousins),
and Boniface was a friend of her father's. Though her birth
date is unknown, her actual birth is regarded as a miracle.
Leoba was conceived to old parents who were barren. Her
mother had a dream in which she would conceive "the
chosen/ beloved" child of Christ. This dream also told her
mother that her offspring was to lead a spiritual life, and to
serve the church. Leofgyth was trained first by abbess
Eadburg at Minster. (The same Abbess Boniface wrote to in
his letters.)
She entered Wimborne Minster as an oblate. When Leoba heard that St. Boniface was serving as a
missionary in Germany, she was intrigued and she decided to begin a correspondence with him. Out of
their correspondence grew a devoted friendship.
After twelve years of sending letters back and forth, Boniface asked if Leoba and some of her sister nuns
might join him in Germany to help start monastic communities for women there. He knew that Leoba
was an educated woman, schooled in the scriptures, the church fathers, and canon law. It was said that
she was never seen without a book in hand. Archbishop Boniface repeatedly requested for Leoba to
accompany him because he thought that many would benefit from her holiness and example. Leoba
agreed to accompany him because of a dream that she had. It was a dream in which a purple thread was
coming from her mouth. She pulled the thread repeatedly until she rolled it into a ball. The labor of this
caused her extreme fatigue and resulted in her waking up from her dream. Out of curiosity, she
employed a fellow nun to seek out a nun whom was know to reveal prophecies. This nun listened to the
explanation of the dream and said that this dream represented the life of leadership that Leoba was to
live and that she was destined to be a wise teacher and a great counselor. This dream signified "that by
her teaching and good example she will confer benefits on many people. ... and carry out in her actions
whatever she expressed in her words.". She took heed of the dream and arrived in Germany in 748.
By the time the women arrived, Boniface had become a bishop and was able to provide them with a
monastery in Mainz. Leoba was successful in establishing the sister monasteries that Boniface had so
hoped to see.
In 754 Boniface traveled to non-Christian Frisia as a missionary. As he left Leoba, he told her that it was
his wish that she would be buried beside him so that “their bodies might wait for the resurrection and
be raised together in glory to meet the Lord and be forever united in his love.”
In her later years, she retired with a few other Anglo-Saxon nuns to an estate near Mainz in
Schornsheim. The estate was given by Charlemagne for her exclusive use.
Leoba often visited the grave of St. Boniface after he was martyred, and when she died, more than
twenty years later in 780, she was buried close to the bones of Boniface, in order to remain his
companion, both in life and in death
She died on 28 September 782. Boniface's will had originally designated that Leoba was to be buried in
his own tomb. However, when Leoba died, she was, instead, placed near him, but not in the same grave.
Several miracles were attributed to her gravesite, and she was
canonized. Her relics were translated twice and are now behind an
altar in a church dedicated to Mary and the virgins of Christ in
Petersburg in Fulda. Rudolf of Fulda was commissioned to write the
acta of her life (Vita Leobae) in connection with this second
translation of relics.
Her feast day in the Roman Catholic Church is 28 September. Her Life
was written some fifty years after her death by Rudolf of Fulda.
Several miracles have been attributed to Leoba both during her life
and death. During her lifetime, Leoba was responsible for many
miracles: saving a village from fire; saving a town from a terrible
storm, protecting the reputation of the nuns in her convent; and
saving the life of a fellow nun who was gravely ill. All of these
miracles were completed through prayer. According to Rudolf of
Fulda, Leoba's grave was the site of many miracles. These miracles
include: freeing a man of tightly bound iron rings around his arms;
and curing a man from Spain of his twitching disorder. Due to these
miracles, which were witnessed by Rudolf, Leoba's relics were
translated twice to ensure their safety.