Willibrord, Archbishop of Utrecht, Missionary to Frisia, 739 -- Biographical Sketch

O Lord our God, you call whom you will and send them where you choose: We thank you for sending your servant Willibrord to be an apostle to the Low Countries, to turn them from the worship of idols to serve you, the living God; and we entreat you to preserve us from the temptation to exchange the perfect freedom of your service for servitude to false gods and to idols of our own devising; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

Most of what we know about Willibrord’s life and missionary work in the late 7th and early part of the 8th centuries comes from the Venerable Bede’s book Ecclesiastical History and a biography by his younger kinsman, Alcuin. We know that he went into the monastery as a child (age 7). At the age of about 20 he traveled from England to Ireland and studied there for twelve years.

In 690, Willibrord and twelve companions set out for Frisia (Holland), a part of Europe that was not yet Christianized, but was coming under the domination of the Christian Franks. There had been previous missionary efforts in the area, but with little success. With the assistance of the Frankish rulers, Willibrord established a base at Utrecht. In 695 Pope Sergius ordained him to the episcopate and gave him the name of Clement.

In 698, he established a monastery near Trier. Frisia continued to be a land of significant unrest and Willibrord’s work was frequently interrupted by the conflicts between the Frisians and Franks. For a while, he was assisted by Boniface, who at a later time returned to Frisia to strengthen the mission there. In a very real sense, it was Willibrord’s steadfast commitment to “staying put” in a difficult environment that prepared the way for Boniface’s more successful achievements later on.