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English Correspondence

St Boniface, tr. Kylie, 1911

Letter 47: Cuthbert, Archbishop of Canterbury, Writes to Lul and His Companions of the…

To my reverend brother Lul, dear in the love or Christ, my fellow-bishop, and to the fellow-bishops working with thee and the priests of God, whose names should be written in the book of life, Cuthbert, servant of the servants of God, with the other fellow-priests of Christ and presbyters and abbots, greetings of eternal happiness and peace in the Lord.

We declare, beloved, with hearts pure in the sight of God and His chosen angels, that whenever we hear from the bearers of news that your love has made an advance towards greater peace and happiness, and progress in Christ for our holy religion, and has gathered through the conversion of others the abundant fruit of your holy preaching, rejoicing thereat and praying still more earnestly for you, we gladly return thanks to God the bestower of all good things. But when we are told of any injury done to your church, or any loss inflicted upon it, grief and sadness distress us; just as we share your joy in Christ, so do we mourn for Christ’s sake over your adversities. For never can be obliterated from our memory the diverse and unceasing tribulations and sufferings which we in our hearts, but you with our father beloved of God, the martyr Boniface, of holy memory, out of love for your eternal country, long endured among persecuting pagans and leaders of heresy and schism on such a dangerous and barbarous mission; and now when in the agony of martyrdom he has departed gloriously and happily with his companions to the everlasting rest of his heavenly home, you, the survivors of such men, move, perchance amidst diverse temptations, with the more danger and difficulty, that you are deprived for the present of such a father and teacher.

Though the bitterness of this grief tears our hearts, yet a certain new and strong delight comes often to our minds to sweeten and assuage the sorrow. The more frequently we reflect thereon, the more joyously we thank the admirable, nay the ineffable goodness of God, that the race of the English settled in Britain deserved to send forth from itself openly before the eyes of all to spiritual agonies such a famous investigator of the divine books, and such a splendid soldier of Christ, together with many well-trained and instructed disciples, — through the grace of the omnipotent God, — to the safety of many souls: that as leader and standard-bearer, going before, and with God’s help, bravely overcoming opposition, through the impulse of his holy preaching, and the example of piety and goodness he might happily lead fierce nations far and wide, wandering long in by-paths, from the broad and deep pit of eternal perdition to the bright streets of the heavenly city. What has really been accomplished the outcome of events proclaims more splendidly than words, especially in those places which no teacher before him sought to visit for the purpose of preaching. Wherefore, after the choice and the number of the apostles, a mystery unequalled in the whole world, and the ministry of other disciples of Christ who preached the gospel at that time, we lovingly place this man among the splendid and glorious doctors of the orthodox faith, and praise and venerate him.

Accordingly, in our general synod — where we also conferred fully upon other things of which we can inform you only briefly — we determined to fix the day when he and the band with him suffered martyrdom, and to celebrate it with a solemn yearly feast. We seek him especially as our patron along with blessed Gregory and Augustine; we are indeed assured of having him for such before Christ our Lord, whom he always loved during his life, and whom, as by the favour of Christ he deserved, in death he gloriously exalted.

Moreover, as we have said above, we confess that we are always ready whenever and under whatever circumstances we can, to relieve and console with paternal words and brotherly comfort your own anxious watch and care and the flock of the servants of God under your charge, now that your strength has been diminished by the loss of the father of the family. Wherefore, to confirm the love which our hearts feel towards you, let us employ the words and sentiments of the apostle, saying with him: “Grace be unto you and peace. We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers: remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labour of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father.”² We think it necessary to renew the mutual arrangement which was established by several letters and faithful messengers during the lifetime of Boniface of revered memory: that for ourselves and our associates, living or dead, mutual appeals and prayers and masses should be offered to the Living God, the Judge of all, according to the warning of the apostle: “Pray for one another, that ye may be healed,”³ and the rest. For in this way, as we are assured, we shall satisfy the divine clemency, offering it the pure libation of our prayers: thus in adversity we shall find it ready to assist us. When by His own promise the help of the Lord is at hand, all opposition from the ill-disposed must give way. He Himself has said: “If two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.”⁴

This we judge must be undertaken more earnestly and with prudent watchfulness, because by the prophecy of the apostle “perilous times shall come,”⁵ and the rest to the end of the letter. There is no need of writing to you of calamities and attacks from without, such as, I think, you have often suffered, persecutions and plunder and hatred and scandals and such like. But behold how in most places the position of the Christian religion is weakened, since ecclesiastical order is disturbed both within and without, and evil sects with new ways of life have sprung up almost everywhere. Nor is it to be wondered at that, when the decrees of the early Fathers have been neglected and the laws of the Church abandoned, many, according to their own invention, believe and declare and perform what is evil and injurious to the safety of many, as was pointed out in the past year by a man of great authority. In the face of these things what ought we to do, but demand without ceasing the aid of the holy apostles and martyrs of Christ and the venerable leaders of the Church of God, that in the work which we have been called and appointed to do, the grace of Christ may make us persevere with constant watchfulness, and that we may be not rejected but accepted, not languid but active, and may not scatter but gather, whomever we can to the fellowship of the Christian faith in the unity of the religious life? Thereby our ministry, our care and toil will avail to the praise and glory of the Omnipotent God, so that with those good servants who are pleasing to God we may deserve at length to hear: “Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord when He cometh shall find so doing. Verily, I say unto you that He shall make him ruler over all His goods.”⁶

Hence, let us frequently, for the sake of the example, call to mind in what manner and with what zeal our illustrious master of honoured memory, the holy martyr Boniface, toiled in the teaching of God, what dangers and difficulties for the love of Christ and the gain of souls, he bore cheerfully to his very death. And since he has now become the companion of the Omnipotent, your wisdom should carefully take thought how you should correspond with his admonitions, and follow vigorously the example of his goodness. For he, since he has become the companion of Him whom he loved before all else, will be able to obtain the greater favours from Him. Wherefore, if any of those subject to him, over whom the divine dispensation once placed him as master, dissent from his spiritual teachings and withdraw into evil ways of life, he who could have been their defender before the Eternal Judge, becomes rather their accuser, and with the Judge Himself, demands the more strictly an account from them. But, on the contrary, those who follow the rule of his holy precepts and teaching, may be certain of having, both living and dead, in prayer and the mass, as we have said above, eternal communion with the Roman and Apostolic Church, by which he was appointed their legate and instructor, and with all of us; that is, if to the last end, they are willing, for the sake of God and their eternal reward humbly and lovingly to obey you, their teachers and guides to salvation, and never fall away like unbelievers and hypocrites, but make progress always like well-disposed pupils, and adhere faithfully to the leaders of their ministry in Christ until they are called by God to their reward and the glory of the heavenly kingdom.

These words of greeting we have addressed to your holiness, not that you are ignorant or need guidance from our ignorance, but for the sake of our mutual love and intercourse: we beg and entreat by the Omnipotent God and His Son, Jesus Christ, and the coming and the kingdom of Christ, that you all, beloved, together with those subject to you in Christ, may be faithful helpers one of another and co-labourers of one mind against all the enemies of the orthodox faith and heretics and schismatics and those of evil life, for thereby you will be worthy of love and praise from all good men and will be acceptable and dear to the Omnipotent God. And thus, together with the holy father himself, your predecessor, of whom we have spoken, you will deserve, each of you in the future to hear from Christ, the Judge of all, the glad words: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”⁷ Amen.

May the Omnipotent God long deign to keep you all safe in holy love and fear of Him, beloved brothers and sons.

Archbishop Cuthbert to his fellow bishop Lul.

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