A letter from Boniface (c.735)

Translated letter:

To his most reverend and beloved sister, the abbess Eadburga, Boniface, humble servant of the servants of God, sends heartfelt greetings of love in Christ. I pray to Almighty God, the rewarder of all good works, that He will repay you in the heavenly mansions and eternal tabernacles and in the choir of the blessed angels for all the kindnesses you have shown me, the solace of books and the comfort of the garments with which you have relieved my distress. And I beg you further to add to what you have done already by making a copy written in gold of the Epistles of my master, St. Peter the Apostle, to impress honor and reverence for the Sacred Scriptures visibly upon the carnally minded to whom I preach. I desire to have ever present before me the words of him who is my guide upon this road. I am sending by the priest Eoban the materials for your writing. Do then, dearest sister, with this petition of mine as you have always done with my requests, so that here also your works may shine forth in golden letters for the glory of our heavenly Father. I pray for your well-being in Christ, and may you go on upward to still greater heights of holy virtue.

Original letter:

Reverentissime ac dilectissime sorori Eadburge abbatissae Bonifatius exiguus servus servorum Dei in Christo optabilem caritatis salutem. Deum omnipotentem, retributorem et remuneratorem omnium bonorum operum, deprecor, ut tibi in caelestibus mansionibus et in aeternis tabernaculis omnium beneficiorum tuorum, quae mihi prestitisti, aeternalem mercedem et in superna curia beatorum angelorum restituat, quia sepe sive solamine librorum sive vestimentorum adiuvamine pietas tua tristitiam meam consolata est. Sic et adhuc deprecor, ut augeas quod coepisti, id est, ut mihi cum auro conscribas epistolas domini mei, sancti Petri apostoli, ad honorem et reverentiam sanctarum scripturarum ante oculos carnalium in praedicando, et quia dicta eius, qui me in hoc iter direxit, maxime semper in praesentia cupiam habere. Et ad scribendum hoc, quod rogo, per Eoban presbiterum destino. Fac ergo, soror carissima, de hac petitione nostra, sicut benignitas tua de cunetis precibus meis semper solebat, ut et hic opera tua ad gloriam caelestis patris aureis litteris fulgeant. Valere te in Christo et sanctis virtutibus ad meliora conscendenda proficere opto.

Historical context:

Boniface thanks Eadburg for her gifts of books and vestments, asks her to copy the epistles of Peter in gold for him to display, and sends her the materials for it.

Printed source:

MGH, Epistolae Merovingici et Karolini Aevi, 6, S.Bonifacii et Lulli Epistolae, ep.35; translation, Ephraim Emerton, The Letters of Saint Boniface (New York: Columbia University Press, 1940, repr.2000), pp.42-3. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

Date:

c.735