Boniface

Holy Martyr Boniface of Tarsus.

The holy martyr Boniface was a servant of a wealthy Roman woman, Aglais, in the early fourth century. Sent by her to the East to bring back relics of the martyrs, he watched the sufferings of the confessors at Tarsus, was pierced with compunction for his own careless life, and openly declared himself a Christian; he was tortured and beheaded, and his own relics were carried back to Rome, where Aglais received them and thereafter lived in repentance.

His story is treasured as an image of sudden, wholehearted repentance crowned by martyrdom. He is commemorated on December 19.

Feast day

On the New Calendar, Boniface is commemorated on December 19. Churches on the Old (Julian) Calendar keep the feast on January 1 of the civil calendar.

Who celebrates a name day

People with these names keep their name day on this feast:

Vonifatios, Boniface

Also commemorated on December 19

• Aglaia of Rome

  Holy Woman, Αγλαΐα η Ρωμαία

  Righteous Aglaia of Rome, who received the relics of the Martyr Boniface.

  Name days: Aglaia, Aglaya, Aglae

• Elias, Probus and Ares

  Martyr, Ηλίας, Πρόβος και Άρης

  Holy Martyrs Elias, Probus and Ares, Egyptians who suffered at Ascalon.

• Timothy and Polyeuctus

  Martyr, Τιμόθεος και Πολύευκτος

  Holy Martyrs Timothy and Polyeuctus.

• Eutychius, Thessalonica and companions

  Martyr, Ευτύχιος, Θεσσαλονίκη και οι συν αυτοίς

  Holy Martyrs Eutychius and Thessalonica, with two hundred men and seventy women.

• Gregentios of Ethiopia

  Hierarch, Γρηγέντιος Αιθιοπίας

  Gregentios, Bishop of the Himyarites in Arabia and Ethiopia.

• Elias of Murom

  Venerable, Ηλιού Μουρόμας

  Venerable Elias of Murom, wonderworker of the Kiev Near Caves.

Icon: public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.