Boniface
was born in Belgium in 1205, and when he was just 17, was sent to study
at a university in Paris. Once he completed his education, he remained
at the university as a teacher, and over the course of seven years,
became a very popular lecturer.
When the students at the
university became locked in a dispute with their teachers and started
boycotting classes, Boniface left Paris to fill a post at the cathedral
school in Cologne.
Just two years later, in 1230, Boniface was
elected Bishop of Lausanne. He accepted his new position
enthusiastically and devoted all his energies to the spiritual
leadership of his diocese.
But his eight years as Bishop of
Lausanne were riddled with disputes, and the people of his diocese were
discontented with his frank and open ways in the pulpit: he publicly
scolded Emperor Frederick II and the local clergy for their corruption.
As
a result of this rebuke, in 1239 he was attacked and gravely wounded by
Frederick's men. This caused Boniface to ask Pope Gregory IX for
permission to resign as bishop. The pope agreed, and Boniface returned
to his native Belgium and began living at the Cistercian monastery at La
Cambre. Although he stayed there for the rest of his life and wore the
habit of the order, he apparently never became a Cistercian.
Boniface was canonized in 1702.
Friday, February 19, 2021
St. Boniface of Lausanne
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