Saint Boniface IV
Pape (67 ème) de 608 à
615 (+ 615)
Il continua fidèlement le pontificat de son maître saint Grégoire le Grand. Il transforma le Panthéon païen en une église et sa maison familiale de Rome en un monastère. Il décida que les moines pouvaient être ordonnés prêtres et exercer pleinement le ministère sacerdotal. Il équilibra les relations pontificales entre les Francs, les Anglais et l'empire germanique. Son culte se répandit grâce au pape Boniface VIII qui avait beaucoup d'admiration pour sa vie et son œuvre.
À Rome, près de saint Pierre, en 615, saint Boniface IV, pape, qui obtint de
l’empereur Phocas le temple du Panthéon, le transforma en église et le consacra
à Dieu en l’honneur de sainte
Marie et de tous les martyrs.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/1115/Saint-Boniface-IV.html
Saint Boniface IV
(608-615)
Il était moine
bénédictin.
Ce fut lui qui institua
la fête de tous les Saints (Toussaint).
Il transforma le Panthéon
en temple chrétien, lui épargnant, probablement, la destruction.
SOURCE : http://eglise.de.dieu.free.fr/liste_des_papes_05.htm
Mezzo
busto di papa Bonifacio IV a San Benedetto dei Marsi
Pope St. Boniface IV
Son of John, a
physician, a Marsian from the province and town of Valeria; he
succeeded Boniface III after a vacancy of
over nine months; consecrated 25
August, 608; d. 8 May, 615 (Duchesne); or, 15 September, 608-25 May, 615
(Jaffé). In the time of Pope
St. Gregory the Great he was a deacon of
the Roman
Church and held the position of dispensator, i.e., the first
official in connexion with the administration of the
patrimonies. Boniface obtained leave from the Emperor Phocas
to convert the Pantheon into a Christian Church,
and on 13 May, 609 (?) the temple erected by Agrippa to
Jupiter the Avenger, to Venus, and to Mars was consecrated by
the pope to
the Virgin
Mary and all the Martyrs. (Hence the title
S. Maria Rotunda.) It was the first instance at Rome of
the transformation of a pagan temple into
a place of Christian
worship. Twenty-eight cartloads of sacred bones
were said to have been removed from the Catacombs and
placed in a porphyry basin beneath the high
altar. During the pontificate of Boniface, Mellitus,
the first Bishop of London,
went to Rome "to
consult the pope on
important matters relative to the newly
established English Church" (Bede, H. E., II, iv). Whilst
in Rome he
assisted at a council then being held
concerning certain questions on "the life and monastic peace
of monks", and, on his departure, took with him to England the decree of
the council together with letters from the pope to Lawrence, Archbishop of Canterbury,
and to all the clergy,
to King Ethelbert, and to all the English people
"concerning what was to be observed by the Church
of England". The decrees of the council now extant
are spurious. The letter to Ethelbert (in William
of Malmesbury, De Gest. Pont., I, 1464, ed Migne)
is considered spurious by Hefele (Conciliengeschichte, III, 66),
questionable by Haddan and Stubbs (Councils, III, 65), and genuine by Jaffé [Regest.
RR. PP., 1988 (1548)].
Between 612-615, St.
Columban, then living at Bobbio in Italy,
was persuaded by Agilulf, King of the Lombards, to address a letter
on the condemnation of the "Three
Chapters" to Boniface IV, which is remarkable at once
for its expressions of exaggerated deference and its tone of excessive
sharpness. In it he tells the pope that
he is charged with heresy (for
accepting the Fifth Council, i.e. Constantinople, 553), and exhorts
him to summon a council and prove his orthodoxy.
But the letter of the impetuous Celt, who failed to grasp the import of
the theological problem
involved in the "Three
Chapters", seems not to have disturbed in the least his relation with
the Holy
See, and it would be wrong to suppose that Columban regarded
himself as independent of the pope's authority.
During the pontificate of Boniface there was much distress in Rome owing
to famine, pestilence, and inundations. The pontiff died
in monastic retirement (he had converted his own house into
a monastery)
and was buried in the portico of St.
Peter's. His remains were three times removed—in the tenth or eleventh
century, at the close of the thirteenth under Boniface VIII, and to
the new St. Peter's on 21 October, 1603. For the
earlier inscription on his tomb see
Duchesne; for the later, Groisar, "Analecta Romana", I,
193. Boniface IV is commemorated as a saint in the Roman Martyrology on
25 May.
Sources
Liber
Pontificalis (ed. DUCHESNE), I, 317; JAFFÉ, Regesta RR. PP. (2nd
ed.), I, 220; Acta et Epistolæ in MANSI, X, 501; PAUL THE
DEACON, Hist. Longobard., IV, 36 (37); GASQUET, A Short History
of the Catholic Church in England (London, 1903), 19; HUNT, A History
of the English Church from its Formation to the Norman Conquest (London,
1901), 42; MANN, Lives of the Popes, I, 268-279; VON REUMONT, Gesch.
der Stadt Rom (Berlin, 1867), II, 156, 165; GREGOROVIUS, II, 104; LANGEN,
501.
Oestereich, Thomas.
"Pope St. Boniface IV." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 2. New York:
Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 8 May 2015
<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02660c.htm>.
Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by
WGKofron. In memory of Fr. John Hilkert, Akron, Ohio — Fidelis servus et
prudens, quem constituit Dominus super familiam suam.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John
M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2021 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02660c.htm
Boniface IV, Pope (RM)
Born at Valeria, Abruzzi, Italy; died 615. Son of a doctor named John, Boniface
may have been a student under Gregory the Great. Boniface was possibly a
Benedictine monk of Saint Sebastian in Rome and became a dispensator when he
entered papal service. He was elected pope in 608, was responsible for
converting the Roman temple of the gods, the Pantheon in Rome, into a Christian
church dedicated to Our Lady and all the saints. Boniface corresponded with
Saint Columba (or Saint Columbanus?), who chided him for some of his theological
stances while expressing devotion and loyalty to him (Benedictines, Delaney).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0508.shtml
(34) 1. BONIFACIO (?-615)
Birth. (No date found),
Valeria, Marsi nel Sannio. Son of Giovanni, a physician.
Education. He went to
Rome and professed as a monk in the monastery of S. Sebastiano fuori le mura in
that city (1).
Cardinalate. Mentioned as
deacon cardinalis of the Holy Roman Church and dispensator
Ecclesiae Romanae (the highest office in the papal financial
administration) in 591. He was elected to the papacy after the death of Pope
Boniface III on November 10, 607 but his election was not approved by Byzantine
Emperor Phocas until ten months later.
Papacy. Consecrated Pope
Boniface IV on August 25, 608. He governed the Church in terrible times of
chronic famine, pestilence, floodings and oppression from the Barbarians and he
distinguished himself for his great charity. The pope maintained cordial
relations with the Byzantine empire and its official representatives in Italy.
He counted in the exercise of his apostolic ministry, the energetic and willing
cooperation of the new exarch of Italy, Smaragdus. The exarch was probably
present at the ceremony of consecration of the new pope, because after the
renewal of the three years truce with the Lombards, he gone to Rome for the
solemn inauguration, in the Roman Forum, of a column topped by a golden statue
of Emperor Phocas; the monument, which was the last erected in Rome to celebrate
the emperor, was to symbolize the renewed agreement between Rome and Byzantium.
Pope Bonifacius IV obtained from Emperor Phocas authorization to convert the
Pantheon (temple of all the gods) into a church dedicating it to the Blessed
Virgin Mary and all the martyrs. The new church, named S. Maria ad
Martyres, was solemnly consecrated on May 13, 609. The pope donated his house
for the establishment of a monastery, which he enriched with numerous gifts.
The pope actively organized the church in England, where Augustine and his
missionaries had recently converted many Anglos to Christianity. In the Roman
synod that the pope celebrated in 610 to discuss some problems of the monastic
life, one of the participants was Mellitus, first bishop of London. When Bishop
Mellitus was preparing to leave, the pope gave him letters for Archbishop
Lawrence of Canterbury, King Ethelbert of Kent, and the English people. Bishop
Mellitus was also entrusted with the task of communicating to the king and the
Church in England approved the decrees of the Synod of 610. The pope
recommended, in particular, to apply the provision that allowed bishops to
promote the priesthood those who, in monastic communities existing in their
dioceses, had the necessary requirements. The schism of the Three Chapters,
not yet completely solved in the metropolitan provinces of Milan and Aquileia,
was revived with heated discussions when the new Lombard King Agilulf, an
Arian, and his wife Theodolinda, a Catholic, favored the repudiation of Pope's
Vigilius condemnation of the Three Chapters and Columbanus, a monk
from Bobbio and a future Irish saint, persuaded the pope to intervene in the
dispute. In a long letter, written in 613, the monk urged the pope, with
formulations rather daring, to exercise the supervision that Pope Vigilius, in
spite of his name (Vigilant), had left wanting. The monk also wanted the pope
to convene a council to demonstrate his orthodoxy. The answer from the pope is
unknown. During his pontificate, he ordained thirty six bishops for different
sees and eight deacons.
Death. May 8, 615, while
in monastic retirement, in Rome. Buried in porticu pontificum of St.
Peter's basilica (2). His remains were brought into the interior of the
basilica by Pope Nicholas III. Pope Boniface VIII ordered the transfer of the
remains of this pontiff to his own burial chapel that was built by Arnolfo di
Cambio in St. Peter's basilica (3).
Sainthood. His cult dates
back to the time of his canonization by Pope Boniface VIII. Inscribed in
the Roman Martyrology, his feast is celebrated on May 25; and on June
1, pro clero Romano.
Bibliography. Bertolini,
Paolo. "Bonifacio IV, santo." Enciclopedia dei papi. 3 vols.
Roma : Istituto della Enciclopedia italiana, 2000, I, 579-581; Cardella,
Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome :
Stamperia Pagliarini, 1792, I, pt. 1, 28; Chacón, Alfonso. itæ, et res
gestæ Pontificum Romanorum : et S.R.E. Cardinalium ab initio nascentis
Ecclesiae usque ad Clementem IX P. O. M. Alphonsi Ciaconii Ord. Praed.
& aliorum opera descriptæ : cum uberrimis notis. Ab Augustino Oldoino, Soc.
Jesu recognitae, et ad quatuor tomos ingenti ubique rerum accessione productae.
Additis Pontificum recentiorum imaginibus, & Cardinalium insignibus,
plurimisque aeneis figuris, cum indicibus locupletissimis. Romæ : P. et A.
De Rubeis, 1677, I, col. 418 and 423-426; Cristofori, Francesco. Cronotasi
dei cardinali di Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Tipografia de Propaganda Fide,
1888, p. XXXVII and 283; D'Amato, Sandro. '"De Civitate Valeria'. Papa S.
Bonifacio IV." Bullettino della Deputazione Abruzzese di Storia
Patria, 79 (1989), 121-96; De Angelis, Maria Antonietta. "Bonifacio IV,
papa, santo." Mondo vaticano. Passato e presente. Città del Vaticano
: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1995, p. 151-152; "Essai de liste générale
des cardinaux. Les cardinaux des 10 premiers siècles". Annuaire
Pontifical Catholique 1926. Paris : Maison de la Bonne Presse, 1927, p. 144,
no. 43; Gray, P.T.R. ; Herren, M.W. "Colombanus and the Three Chapters
Controversy." The Journal of Theological Studies, 45 (1994), 160-70;
Kelly, John Norman Davidson. The Oxford Dictionary of Popes. Oxford ; New
York : Oxford University Press, 1986, p. 69; Le Liber pontificalis. Paris
: E. de Boccard, 1981, 1955. 3 v. : facsims. (Bibliothèque des Écoles
françaises d'Athènes et de Rome). Notes: Reprint of the 1955 edition./ Includes
indexes./ Vol. 3: "Additions et corrections de L. Duchesne publiées par
Cyrille Vogel ... avec L'Histoire du Liber pontificalis dupuis l'édition de L.
Duchesne une bibliographie et des tables générales, I, 317-318; Montini, Renzo
Uberto. Le tombe dei papi. Roma : Angelo Belardetti, 1957. Note: At head
of title: Instituto di studi romani, p. 116-118, no. 67; Reardon, Wendy
J. The deaths of the popes : comprehensive accounts, including funerals,
burial places and epitaphs. Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland & Co., Publishers,
2004, p. 49-51; Regesta pontificum Romanorum ab conditio Ecclesia. Ad
annum post Christum natum MCXCVIII. Graz : Akademische Druck- u.
Verlagsanstalt, 1956. 2 v. Reprint. Originally published : Lipsiae : Veit et
comp., 1885-1888. Original t.p. included : Regesta pontificum Romanorum ab
condita ecclesia : ad annum post Christum natum MCXCVIII. Editionem secundam
correctam et auctam edidit Philippus Jaffè ; auspiciis Gulielmi Wattenbach;
curaverunt S. Loewenfeld, F. Kaltenbrunner, P. Ewald, I, 220-222.
Links. Biography by
Thomas Oestereich, in English, The Catholic Encyclopedia; biography,
in English, Encyclopaedia Britannica; biography,
in English, Wikipedia; biography,
in English, The Lives of the Popes in the Seventh Century, The History and the
Lives of the Popes; biography by
Joseph Brusher, S.J., Popes through the Ages; biography by
Paolo Bertolini, in Italian, Enciclopedia dei papi, Treccani; brief
biographical entry, in Italian, Dizionario bigrafico degli italiani,
Treccani; images
and biography by Franco Prevato, in Italian, Santi e Beati; his
bust and biography, in Italian, S. Benedetto dei Marsi (AQ),
radicchio.it; Bonifacio
IV: figlio illustre di questa terra marsicana, testi a cura di Americo Roberti,
in Italian, Communde di San Benedetto dei Marsi; biography by
Sandro D'Amato, in Italian, S. Benedetto Official Web Corner; Marruvium; his
image and biography, in Spanish; brief
biography by Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz, in German,
Biographisch-Bibliographischen Kirchenlexikons; biography,
in Norwegian, Den katolske kirke; his
engraving, Fondazione Marco Besso, Rome; his
engraving, Fondazione Marco Besso, Rome; another engraving,
from the same source; his
engraving, Biblioteca comunale dell'Archiginnasio, Bologna; engravings,
Araldica Vaticana; his
engraving, from "Historia B. Platinae de vitis Pontificum
Romanorum", Digital Image Archive, Pitts Theology Library; his
engraving, iStockphoto; his
image, Shutterstock images; his
engraving, Bildarchiv Austria. Die Bildplattform der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek; his
engraving, Bildarchiv Austria. Die Bildplattform der Österreichischen
Nationalbibliothek; his
engraving, Bildarchiv Austria. Die Bildplattform der Österreichischen
Nationalbibliothek; , Bildarchiv Austria. Die Bildplattform der
Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek;his
engraving, Bildarchiv Austria. Die Bildplattform der Österreichischen
Nationalbibliothek; another engraving,
from the same source; another engraving,
also from the same source; his
effigy on a medal, Numismatic collection of Olomouc archiepiscopate,
Czech Republic; his
effigy on another medal, from the same source; and his
tomb under the altar of S. Tommaso, St. Peter's basilica, Rome.
(1) This is according to Cardella, Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa, I, pt. 1, 28. "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. Les cardinaux des 10 premiers siècles". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1926, p. 144, no. 43, says that he was Benedictine monk. None of the other sources consulted mention that he was a monk.
(2) This is the text of his epitaph, taken from Montini, Le tombe dei papi,
p. 116:
VITA HOMINVM BREVIS EST
CERTA HANC DETERMINAT HORA
SED VITAE AETERNAE INDE PARATVR ITER
QVOD NON INDECORA AVT RVRSVM PERITVRA VIDENTVR
SED PVLCHRVM ATQVE DECENS IAM SINE FINE MANET
DIC IGITVR QVID MORS STIMVLIS AGITARIS INIQVIS
QVID FREMIS INCASSVM QVID FVRIBVNDA GERIS
COMMODA NVLLA TIBI POTERVNT TVA FACTA REFERRE
NEC PRODESSE POTEST IMPETVS ISTE TIBI
GREGORII SEMPER MONITA ATQVE EXEMPLA MAGISTRI
VITA OPERE AC DIGNIS MORIBVS ISTE SEQVENS
QVO HVNC TERRERE PVTAS SVNT HVIVS MAXIMA VOTA
MITTERE AD ASTRA ANIMAM REDDERE CORPVS HVMO
SAVCIA MVLTIPLICI SI QVIDEM NAM MEMBRA DOLORE
RVRSVS IN ANTIQVO PVLVERE VERSA MANENT
QVAE CONIVNCTA ANIMAE STABILITO IN CORPORE SVRGANT
AD VITAM AETERNAM TE PEREVNTE MAGIS
SANCTA FIDES MERITO VITAE CLEMENTIA PATRIS
SPEM CERTAM HANC FAMVLOS IVSSIT HABERE SVOS
HIC REQVIESCIT BONIFATIVS IVNIOR QVI SEDIT ANNOS V MENSES VIlI DIES XII
DEPOSITVS OCT IDVS MAli IMPERANTE DOM N ERACLIO .... ANNO EIVS II
(3) Pope Boniface VIII placed the following inscription on the tomb of his
prdecessor, transcrubed by Montini, Le tombe dei papi, p. 117:
+ GREGORIO QVARTVS IAGET
HIG BONIFAGIVS ALMVS
HVIVS Q (ui) SEDIS FVIT AEQVVS RECTOR ET AEDIS:
TEMPORE Q(ui) FOGAE GERNENS TEMPLVM FORE ROMAE
DELVBRA CVNCTORVM FVERANT QVO DEMONIOR(um):
HOC EXPVRGAVIT SANCTIS CVNCTIS Q(ue) DICAVIT:
EIVS NATALIS SOLLEMPNIA QVI CELEBRATIS:
PRIMIS SEPTEMBRIS FERT HAEC LVX QVARTA K (a)L (en)DIS
OCTAVVS TITVLO HOC BONIFATIVS OSSA REPERTA
HAC LOCAT ERECTA BONIFATII NOMINIS ARA
Montini adds on p. 118 that when the chapel built by
Pope Boniface VIII was demolished on October 20, 1605, during the construction
of the new basilica of St. Peter, the remains of that pontiff were transferred
to the groto of the baislica, while the remains of Pope Boniface IV were placed
in the new basilica under the altar of S. Tommaso, in the Clementine chapel,
with the customary led plate with an inscription. Externally, the sarcophagus
that contains it, has a cross of red mosaic and in its four fields it has the
inscription:
CORPVS SANCTI
BONIFACII PAPAE IV
SOURCE : http://www2.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios591.htm#Bonifacio
formerly 25 May
Profile
Son of a physician named
John. Student under Saint Gregory
the Great. Benedictine monk at
the Saint Sebastian Abbey in Rome, Italy.
Served as deacon under Saint Gregory
the Great; dispenser of alms and
patrimonies. Chosen 67th Pope in 608.
Converted the Roman
temple of the old gods, the Pantheon, to a Christian church
dedicated to Our Lady and
all the Martyrs in 609,
the first such conversion of a temple from pagan to Christian use
in Rome.
Supported the expansion of the faith into England,
and met with the first bishop of London.
Encouraged reforms among the clergy,
and balanced it with improvements in their living and working conditions.
Corresponded with Saint Columba.
Worked to alleviate the sufferings in Rome due
to famine and
the disease that
follows it. Late in life he converted his own house into a monastery and
lived there, dividing his time between his papal work
and life as a prayerful monk.
Born
c.550 at
Valeria, Abruzzi, Italy
Papal Ascension
615 at Rome, Italy of
natural causes
relics moved
in the late 13th
century by order of Pope Boniface
VIII
relics re-interred
in Saint
Peter’s Basilica, Rome, Italy on 21 October 1603
Additional
Information
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of Saints, by the Monks of
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sites in english
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Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
fonti
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MLA
Citation
“Pope Saint Boniface
IV“. CatholicSaints.Info. 8 May 2021. Web. 5 June 2022. <https://catholicsaints.info/pope-saint-boniface-iv/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/pope-saint-boniface-iv/
Saint of the Day – 8 May
– Saint Pope Boniface IV (c 550-615)
Posted on May
8, 2021
Saint of the Day – 8 May
– Saint Pope Boniface IV (c 550-615) Bishop of Rome from 608 until his death,
Deacon, Assistant and dDsciple of St Pope Gregory the Great, Papal Treasurer
under Pope Gregory. Born c 550 at Valeria, Abruzzi, Italy and died in 615 at
Rome, Italy of natural causes.
Boniface was the son of a
man named Johannes, a Physician, from the area of Maria and town of Valeria. It
is assumed that he was a student of Pope Gregory I. Around 591, Boniface was
ordained a Cardinal-Deacon. Under that office, he served Gregory as treasurer .
In other words, he was the first official in connection with the administration
of papal property.
Boniface IV was elected
to succeed Boniface III but a vacancy of over nine months ensued, awaiting
imperial confirmation from Constantinople. He was consecrated on 25 September
608.
Like his mentor, he ran
the Lateran Palace as a Monastery. As Pope, he encouraged Monasticism. With
imperial permission, he converted the Pantheon into a Church. This was the
first pagan temple in Rome to be transformed. On 13 May 609, the Pantheon was
consecrated to the Blessed Virgin and all the Christian Martyrs. Boniface
ordered 28 cartloads of bones from the Catacombs to be reburied under the high Altar
of the new Church.
In 610, St Mellitus, the
first Bishop of London, went to Rome “to consult the pope on important
matters relative to the newly established English Church.” While in Rome,
he assisted at a Synod concerning certain questions on “the life and
monastic peace of monks” and, on his departure, took to England the Decree
of the Council together with letters from the Pope to Archbishop Laurence of
Canterbury and to all the clergy, to King Æthelberht of Kent and to all the
Anglo-Saxons.
Inspired by Gregory the
Great, he converted his home into a Monastery and divided his time between the
Monk’s life and the Papal life until he died. He was buried at his Monastery
and reburied several times, the last time at the new St Peter’s Basilica on 21
October 1603.
Author: AnaStpaul
Passionate Catholic.
Being a Catholic is a way of life - a love affair "Religion must be like
the air we breathe..."- St John Bosco Prayer is what the world needs
combined with the example of our lives which testify to the Light of Christ.
This site, which is now using the Traditional Calendar, will mainly concentrate
on Daily Prayers, Novenas and the Memorials and Feast Days of our friends in
Heaven, the Saints who went before us and the great blessings the Church
provides in our Catholic Monthly Devotions. "For the saints are sent to us
by God as so many sermons. We do not use them, it is they who move us and lead
us, to where we had not expected to go.” Charles Cardinal Journet (1891-1975)
This site adheres to the Catholic Church and all her teachings.
SOURCE : https://anastpaul.com/2021/05/08/saint-of-the-day-8-may-saint-pope-boniface-iv-c-550-615/
San Bonifacio IV Papa
m. 615
(Papa dal 25/08/608 al
8/05/615)
Originario della regione
dei Marsi, fu eletto dopo nove mesi di sede vacante. Ottenne dall'imperatore il
Pantheon, che consacrò alla Vergine e a tutti i suoi santi martiri.
Martirologio Romano: A
Roma presso san Pietro, san Bonifacio IV, papa, che trasformò in chiesa il tempio
del Pantheon ottenuto dall’imperatore Foca e lo dedicò a Dio in onore della
Beata Maria e di tutti i martiri; fu pieno di meriti anche a riguardo della
vita monastica.
C'è questo Pontefice
all’origine della festa di Ognissanti, che celebriamo il 1° novembre. Aveva
ricevuto in dono da Foca, imperatore d’Oriente, un gioiello dell’architettura
romana, fatto costruire 600 anni prima da Marco Vipsanio Agrippa, genero di
Augusto e capo della flotta imperiale: il tempio della dea Cibele, più noto
come Pantheon (tempio di tutti gli dèi, secondo un’interpretazione corrente).
Bonifacio lo rimise in ordine salvandolo dalla rovina (Roma, all’epoca,era una
distesa di ruderi),ne fece un tempiocristiano e il 1° novembredi un anno
imprecisatolo dedicò solennementealla Madonna ea tutti i santi martiri, cheda
allora vennero festeggiatiannualmente alla stessadata; prima nella sola Roma,
poi via viain tutta la Chiesa, onorando con essi isanti non martiri e anche
quelli non canonizzati,«il cui nome è noto a Dio».
Bonifacio IV, abruzzese
di origine, figliodi un medico, si è fatto monaco benedettino,e dall’anno 590
al 604 è statouno dei più vicini collaboratori di papaGregorio Magno: una sorta
di “ministrodel Tesoro”, al tempo in cui quelgrande Pontefice doveva soccorrere
Roma,una città affamata per le inondazionio le siccità (disastrose per i
raccolti),decimata dalle continue epidemie.
È stato chiamato a
guidare la Chiesain modo inaspettato e in una situazionedifficile: il suo
predecessore BonifacioIII è morto dopo soli nove mesi di pontificato,e la Sede
è rimasta vacante per altridieci mesi. Salito poi in cattedra a fineagosto del
608, si trova a fronteggiarele emergenze che ha già conosciutoai tempi di
GregorioMagno. Dall’Inghilterrapoi, come Gregorio, ricevenotizie di gravi dissensitra
cristiani sulladata della Pasqua e sullaliturgia. Poi ci sonocontrasti tra i
monaci e ivescovi. Nell’anno 610 vienea parlargli di questi problemiil vescovo
di Londra, Mellito. Lui loinvita a partecipare al concilio che vi sitiene in
quell’anno, e gli consegna poi idocumenti conciliari che lo aiuterannoad
affrontare i problemi sorti tra episcòpie monasteri.
L’Italia è ora un
condominio spartitotra Longobardi e Impero d’Oriente, alquale appartiene anche
Roma. Ma i sovraniabbandonano praticamente a séstessi i sudditi italiani (gli
Italiotes, comeli chiamano) perché l’Impero passadi crisi in crisi. L’imperatore
Foca ha uccisoil suo predecessore Maurizio, e saràucciso dal successore
Eraclio. E poil’impero viene attaccato in Dalmazia dagliÀvari e dagli Slavi,
che lo costringonoa “comprare” la pace. Ma il pericolomortale arriva dalla
Persia, quandol’esercito del re Cosroe sferra un attaccogenerale, occupando
Siria e Libano, dilagando in Palestina e impadronendosianche di Gerusalemme.
Nel saccheggio della Città
Santa, vieneportata via anche la reliquia della SantaCroce. Tutti i giorni
arriva una cattivanotizia per Bonifacio IV, il Papa che continuaa vivere tra
preghiera e penitenzacome un monaco, e che muore nel momentodi maggior pericolo
per la cristianitàorientale. Sarà poi canonizzato, ottosecoli dopo, da un
successore col suostesso nome: Bonifacio VIII.
Autore: Franco
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