RELIC OF SAINT BONIFACE

Rare bronze reliquary with a glass front containing the first-class relic Ex Ossibus of Saint Boniface. The relic is fixed in the center of a richly ornamented setting, decorated with silver thread. It is identified in Latin on a handwritten label as: Ex Oss: S. Bonifatii M (From the bones of Saint Boniface, Martyr). A red cloth background provides contrast and highlights the relic; this color, omnipresent in the Christian liturgy, symbolizes the blood of Christ and his redemptive sacrifice.

Good used condition with its original glass.

Unopened.

Ecclesiastical seal and silk threads present.

PERIOD : 18th century
DIMENSIONS : 3.5 cm X 2.7 cm
SIZE : 1.3" X 1.1"

Saint Boniface (c. 675-754) was an Anglo-Saxon missionary monk who became the "Apostle of Germany" . Born in England under the name Wynfrith, he joined the Church and set out to evangelize the Germanic peoples. In 719, he received the blessing of Pope Gregory II and adopted the name Boniface. He founded numerous monasteries and reorganized the Church in Germania, notably by establishing the Archbishopric of Mainz. His most famous symbolic act was the felling of the Thor's Oak , a pagan sacred tree, to prove the superiority of Christianity. He was martyred in Friesland (present-day Netherlands) in 754, murdered by pagans during an evangelical mission. He is celebrated on June 5 and venerated as the patron saint of Germany.