A letter from Boniface (735-36)

Translated letter:

To his beloved sister, the abbess Eadburga, to whom he has long since been bound by the ties of spiritual propinquity, Boniface, servant of the servants of God, wishes eternal welfare in Christ. May He who rewards all righteous acts cause my dearest sister to rejoice in the choir of angels above because she has consoled with spiritual light by the gift of sacred books an exile in Germany who has to enlighten the dark corners of the Germanic peoples and would fall into deadly snares if he had not the Word of God as a lamp unto his feet and a light upon his path. Trusting in your affection, I earnestly beg you to pray for me because, for my sins, I am tossed by the tempests of a perilous sea. Pray to Him who dwells on high but looks after the lowly, that He may forgive my faults and lend me His word in the opening of my mouth, so that the gospel of the glory of Christ may run its course and be made manifest among the nations.

Original letter:

Dilectissimae sorori et iam dudum spiritalis clientelae propinquitate conexae Eadburge abbatissae Bonifatius servus servorum Dei in Christo salutem. Carissimam sororem remunerator aeternus iustorum operum in superna laetificet curia angelorum; quae sanctorum librorum munera transmittendo exulem Germanicum spiritali lumine consolata est, quia, qui tenebrosos angulos Germanicarum gentium lustrare debet, nisi habeat lucernam pedibus et lumen semitis suis verbum Domini, in laqueum mortis incidet. Praeter ea de caritate tua diligenter confidens obsecro, ut pro me orare digneris, quia peccatis meis exigentibus periculosi maris tempestatibus quatior; rogans, ut ille, qui in altis habitat et humilia respicit, indulgens flagitia, praestet mihi verbum in apertione oris mei, ut currat et clarificetur inter gentes evangelium gloriae Christi.

Historical context:

Boniface thanks Eadburg for her gift of holy books and asks for her prayers.

Printed source:

MGH, Epistolae Merovingici et Karolini Aevi, 6, S.Bonifacii et Lulli Epistolae, ep.30; translation, Ephraim Emerton, The Letters of Saint Boniface (New York: Columbia University Press, 1940, repr.2000), pp.38-9. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

Date:

735-36