This is the day I have long desired, and the hour
of our deliverance is at hand. Be strong in the Lord: hope in him, and
he will save your souls." The barbarians slew the holy man and the
majority of his company. A little while after, the Christians of the
neighborhood came in arms and recovered the body of St. Boniface. Near
him was a book which was stained with blood and seemed to have dropped
from his hands; it contained several works of the fathers, and among
others a writing of St. Ambrose, _On the Blessing of Death_. The death
of the pious missionary was as powerful as his preaching in converting
Friesland. It was a mode of conquest worthy of the Christian faith, and
one of which the history of Christianity had already proved the
effectiveness.
St. Boniface did not confine himself to the evangelization of the
pagans; he labored ardently in the Christian Gallo-Frankish Church to
reform the manners and ecclesiastical discipline, and to assure, while
justifying, the moral influence of the clergy by example as well as
precept. The councils, which had almost fallen into desuetude in Gaul,
became once more frequent and active there: from 742 to 753 there may be
counted seven, presided over by St.
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