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English Correspondence

St Boniface, tr. Kylie, 1911

Letter 30: Boniface Thanks Egbert of York for Gifts. He Asks Egbert to Pray for Him and…

To a friend worthy of being embraced in the arms of love and held by the ties of spiritual kinship, wearing the robes of the highest priestly office, Archbishop Egbert, Boniface, a humble bishop, legate in Germany of the Catholic and Apostolic Roman Church, greetings of imperishable love in Christ.

The gifts and books which you so kindly sent us, we received with gratitude and rejoicing. With hands lifted to heaven we have besought the King above that He may bestow upon you a bounteous reward in the heavenly court of the angels. And now we beg your holy clemency with sincere entreaties, that you may deign to pray for us struggling amidst toil and danger. Our great need forces us to seek the aid of the just, since it is written: “The effectual prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”² But from telling all the ills which we suffer within and without, the brevity of a letter prevents us.

We ask with earnest desire, that to bring joy into our sorrow as you have done before, you should take care to send us a tiny gleam from that candle of the Church, which the Holy Spirit lit within the limits of your province; that is, that you should deign to send across some part of the commentaries which Bede, that saintly priest and investigator of the Holy Scriptures, composed; especially, if it be possible, his Homilies, and his Proverbs of Solomon, for they will be very convenient and useful to us in our preaching. We have heard that he wrote commentaries on these subjects.

Meanwhile, the greatest necessity forces us to seek your advice and judgment. For I have found a priest who long ago fell into adultery, and after repentance was restored again to his place by the Franks; now, dwelling in a vast district occupied by faithful but erring people, alone without other priests he administers baptism, and celebrates mass. If in accordance with the most binding canons I remove this man, infants will die without the sacred waters of regeneration, owing to the scarcity of priests — provided that I have none better to take the place of the fallen one. Judge therefore between me and an erring people, whether it is better, or, at least a smaller evil, that such a man should discharge the ministry of the holy altar, or that a multitude should die in unbelief, because they could not obtain a minister of purer life. But if amidst all our priests I find one who has fallen into the same sin and through repentance has been restored to his former rank — in whom all the priests and people have had confidence begotten of favourable opinion — if he is degraded in this manner, his secret sin will be revealed, a multitude will be scandalized, through the scandal many souls will be lost and there will result a great hatred of the priests and a distrust of the ministers of the church, so that believing in none they will look down upon all as false. Wherefore, we boldly ventured to suffer him to remain in the holy ministry, thinking the danger to one man a lighter thing than the ruin and damnation of the souls of almost all the people. But in all these matters, I desire above all else to see in writing and to hear your holy counsels, as to what I must tolerate, forced by the necessity of avoiding scandal, or what I must reject.

Lastly, we have sent across to your grace with the bearer of this letter two measures of wine as a proof of affection that, at our loving entreaty, you may use it to spend a happy day with your brethren. We pray you, therefore, so to answer these our requests that your reward may shine forth in the heights of heaven.

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