Saint Boniface was an English Benedictine monk known as the “Apostle of Germany” for evangelizing and reforming the Germanic church. He was a respected scholar, teacher, and priest, (then bishop) that was called to be a missionary. To convert the superstitious German pagans he cut down the giant oak tree dedicated to the god Thor, as a show of power of the true God, Christ. Boniface believed in Christian orthodoxy and fidelity to the Pope. He died, with 53 companions, a martyr.