The son of a physician, little is known about the early life of St. Pope Boniface IV, who was born in Italy in the year 550. He was a student of St. Pope Gregory the Great and served as a deacon during his pontificate, and two popes and four years after the passing of his mentor, he was consecrated pope in the year 608. Monastic by nature, Pope Boniface IV instilled discipline and converted the papal house into a monastery, and despite being the Vicar of Christ he sought the life and monastic peace of being a monk. His papacy was anything but serene, however. His seven years in the See of Peter was afflicted by heretics, schism, famine, plague, and natural disasters.
CHALLENGE
St. Pope Boniface IV is best known for converting the Roman temple the Pantheon into the Basilica of St. Mary and the Martyrs, the first time a pagan temple had been converted in Rome. Twenty-eight carts of martyr’s relics from the catacombs were interred under the high altar. Today, people often make their television the “high altar” of their Domestic Church. Consider what pagan gods you allow on the high altar of your home, and pray about how you can better dedicate it to Mary and the martyrs.
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