Boniface, a Roman citizen, who had lived in sin with the noble matron Aglaë, was so overwhelmed with sorrow at that transgression, he gave himself up in penance to look for and bury the bodies of the martyrs. While he was at Tarsus, and apart from his fellow-travellers, he saw a great many persons being tormented in various ways, because they confessed to believing in Christ. He kissed their chains and earnestly exhorted them to bear their sufferings bravely, since the affliction which was theirs but for a moment, was working a great, even an eternal weight of glory for them. For this reason Boniface also was apprehended, and his flesh torn off with iron claws. Sharp reeds also were driven between his finger-nails, and melted lead was poured into his mouth. His only exclamation, in the midst of these tortures, was: I give thee thanks, O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God. He was then thrown head downwards into a cauldron of boiling pitch; when he came out unhurt, the judge, burning with rage, ordered him to be beheaded. During this time a great earthquake occurred, so that many pagans were converted to the faith of Christ the Lord. Next day his companions, searching for him, learned he had suffered martyrdom, and bought his body for five hundred pieces of gold, and having embalmed it with spices and wrapped it in linen, they had it taken to Rome. All this was made known by an Angel to the matron Aglaë, who, now penitent, had devoted herself to good works; going to meet the holy body, she built a church in his name, in which the body was buried on the 5th day of June. His soul had passed to heaven on the 14th day of May at Tarsus, a city of Cilicia, under the emperors Diocletian and Maximian.
