You're listening to the SSPX Podcast. We're happy to present another installment of true heroes.

Stories of the Lives of the Saints, delivered by Father Thomas Tam. Father is also put together a video of each of these episodes. You can see the video at SSPX Podcast.com. Now here's Father Tam.

Great is the God of the Christians. Great is the God of the Holy Martyrs. I beseech you, the servants of Jesus Christ, to pray for me that I may join with you in fighting against the devil, St. Bonifis of Tarsus.

Hello, my friends, and welcome to true heroes. Today we're going to talk about the martyr St. Boniface, who started his life as one of sin,

but by the grace of God, turned his life around and ended up dying in the name of Jesus Christ.

Just so that you all know I am outside right now, this is one of the first nice days in upstate New York. So I am taking as much sun

in as I can. So you will probably hear, as you probably do at the moment, birds chirping and

animals in the background. Sorry, but I felt like I had to do this today. The name Bonifus, sorry, comes from two Latin words, that of bonus, which means good, and fatum, which means fortune.

So Bonifus would mean good fortune.

Let us begin his story. There lived at Rome about the beginning of the fourth century,

a certain lady called Aglae, that's A-G-L-A-E, young, beautiful and well-born, and so rich and fond of

making a figure in the world that she had entertained the city three separate times

with public shows at her own charge.

Her chief steward was one called Boniface.

This man, though addicted to wine and all kinds of debauchery, was, however, remarkable for

three good qualities, hospitality, liberality, and compassion.

Whensoever he saw a stranger or a traveler, he would assist him very cordially, and he used to go about the streets and into the public places in the nighttime,

and relieve the poor according to whatever they needed.

Regardless for several years, this sinful life of his continued. Eventually, though, Aglai, touched

with a motion of divine grace, and feeling some contrition within herself called Boniface to her,

and thus opened her mind to him. Quote,

You are sensible how deep we are plunged in vice, without reflecting that we must appear before God to give an account of all our actions.

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