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The live and work
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Bruno was born into a family of earls In Querfurt (Saxony). He received a good education at a cathedral school in Magdeburg. Listening to the voice of God he abandoned a career in politics and joined the Benedictine order in Aventine, Rome in 998, where St. Adalbert earlier stayed. Bruno took religious vows there and accepted the monastic name Boniface. In 1004 he was bestowed with a mission pallium and received Episcopal orders. Upon the request of Duke Bolesław Chrobry, the Pope Sylvester II appointed him in 1004 to do missionary work in Poland. However, because of the regional conflicts between Emperor Henry II and the Duke Bolesław Chrobry, his mission there, for some time, was delayed. Instead, he spent time on missions in Kievan Rus and Hungary.
In 1008, he went on his final mission to the land of the Yotvingia, where he died a martyr’s death in 1009. Historical evidence does not point clearly to the place of his death. Some say he died near Giżycko (Lötzen, Lëcius), where in 1910 the Evangelical Christians erected a monumental cross in his honor.
Saint Bruno is closely associated with both spreading the word of God and the beginnings of the Church as well as the Polish statehood. With regard to the historical context of St. Bruno’s mission, his name is inscribed in the heritage of our entire Nation and remembered for fostering friendly relations with our neighbors.
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