The Holy Martyr Boniface, at Tarsus in Cilicia (290) and Righteous Aglae (Aglaida), of Rome (ca. 303)
Martyrdom for Christ makes a saint out of a sinner. The example of St. Boniface shows this. At first, he was a servant in Rome to a wealthy and immoral woman, Aglaida, and had impure and unlawful relations with her. They were both pagans. Once, Aglaida desired to have the relics of a martyr in her house as an amulet to protect against evil, so she sent her servant to Asia to find and purchase what she desired. Boniface took several slaves with him and a large amount of money. Before parting with Aglaida, he said to her: “If I cannot find a martyr, but instead they bring you back my body martyred for Christ, will you receive it with honor, my lady?” Aglaida laughed and called him a drunkard and a sinner, and then they parted. Coming to the city of Tarsus, Boniface saw many Christians undergoing torture: some with their legs cut off, others with their hands severed, others with their eyes plucked out, still others on the gallows, and so forth. Boniface’s heart was changed, and he repented of his sinful life and wept. He cried out among the Christian martyrs: “I too am a Christian!” The judge took him for interrogation and ordered that he be harshly flogged, then that boiling lead be poured into his mouth, and—since this did him no harm—that he be beheaded. The slaves then took his body and carried it to Rome. An angel of God appeared to Aglaida and said: “Receive the one who was once your slave but now is our brother and fellow servant; he is the guardian of your soul and the protector of your life.” The awestruck Aglai- da came out to meet them, received the body of Boniface, built a church for him, and placed the relics of the martyr in it. She then repented, gave away her goods to the poor, withdrew from the world, and lived for fifteen more years in bitter repentance. St. Boniface suffered in the year 290.
