Saint Bonaventure

Saint Bonaventure 

Doctor of the Church & Second Founder of Franciscan Order
St. Bonaventure was born in Viterbo, only about 60 miles from Assisi, in 1221, just five years before the death of St. Francis.  There is a tradition that he was re-named by St. Francis when he was healed of a serious illness by the little Poverello, or poor one. His birth name was John, but the tradition, or Fioretti, tells us that when St. Francis healed him, he proclaimed "O buona ventura" or good fortune.  There's nothing to base that on, other than tradition, but St. Bonaventure himself, tells us that he was spared from death by the intercession of St. Francis of Assisi. 

He was destined to be clothed in the tunic of St. Francis and the friars all his life.  He loved Francis and everything Franciscan, except the bitter infighting in the Franciscan community that had been going on for as long as he could remember, actually since before the death of St. Francis.  One of his greatest ambitions in life was to bring the dissident factors of the Franciscan community, which had grown so far apart, together as a family.  But his attempt to unite the Franciscans didn't happen until later on in his life.

Browse our Saint Bonaventure Collection

Open by Steve Bailey

Transcript

Saint Bonaventure 

BOB 

Hello, family and welcome.  We're Bob and Penny Lord.  Today, we want to share the life of St. Bonaventure, Doctor of the Church - Seraphic Doctor and Second Founder of the Franciscan Order.  It is said of St. Francis of Assisi, that he didn't trust books, and never wanted his Friars to get distracted and influenced by the words of authors, whose works he also didn't trust.  He trusted the Bible, but not certain people's interpretations of it.  He was finally willing to bend in his staunch stand against book learning on the advice of St. Anthony of Padua, who was not only brilliant, but who St. Francis trusted. 

PENNY

We preface this story on St. Bonaventure with this insight into the philosophy of St. Francis, because had St. Anthony not convinced the Seraphic Father to relent where it came to teaching the friars, we may never have had St. Bonaventure, or at least the Franciscans would not have had him.  Because if there was one thing that Bonaventure was, it was brilliant.  That being said, he was also one of the humblest, purest, most precious and innocent men the world has known, in that, he followed very closely the characteristics and traits of his mentor, St. Francis.  

St. Bonaventure was born in Viterbo, only about 60 miles from Assisi, in 1221, just five years before the death of St. Francis.  There is a tradition that he was re-named by St. Francis when he was healed of a serious illness by the little Poverello, or poor one. His birth name was John, but the tradition, or Fioretti, tells us that when St. Francis healed him, he proclaimed "O buona ventura" or good fortune.  There's nothing to base that on, other than tradition, but St. Bonaventure himself, tells us that he was spared from death by the intercession of St. Francis of Assisi.  

BOB

He was destined to be clothed in the tunic of St. Francis and the friars all his life.  He loved Francis and everything Franciscan, except the bitter infighting in the Franciscan community that had been going on for as long as he could remember, actually since before the death of St. Francis.  One of his greatest ambitions in life was to bring the dissident factors of the Franciscan community, which had grown so far apart, together as a family.  But his attempt to unite the Franciscans didn't happen until later on in his life.

PENNY

Bonaventure’s superiors in the Franciscan community could see early on that as well as being extremely spiritual, Bonaventure was also very intelligent, and so he was sent to the University of Paris to complete his studies.  An English professor, Alexander of Hales, who founded the Franciscan school at the University of Paris, took Bonaventure under his wing.  It was he who said of Bonaventure, "It would seem as if he had never been affected by the sin of Adam."  This gives us just a small inkling of how spiritual, and also how well-respected Bonaventure was.  He was very cheerful, and pleasant.  Even when he had to be firm in his dealings with the Franciscan community, or during his years of teaching at the University of Paris, or any of the many tasks he had to perform for the various Popes who reigned during his lifetime, he projected humility and the love of Jesus in everything he did.

BOB

Bonaventure took after St. Francis in another aspect, that of considering himself the worst sinner in the world, which contrasts greatly to the opinion of most other people, especially his professor, Alexander of Hales.  But Bonaventure was so serious in his belief that he was guilty of flaws and failings, he would deny himself the gift of Our Lord Jesus in the Eucharist.  Bonaventure suffered scrupulosity long before it became prevalent in the Church.  However, the Lord took care of that.  At a given time when Bonaventure had absented himself from the Eucharist for a number of days, the Lord decided He had had enough of this behavior.  During the celebration of the Mass, Bonaventure was deep in prayer, meditating.  During the Consecration of the Mass, when the priest went to break a particle of the Consecrated Host to drop It into the Chalice, the Host left his hands and drifted slowly, by the help of an Angel, into the mouth of St. Bonaventure.  From this time on, he was cured of his scruples, and was free to receive Our Lord Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament with great joy.

PENNY

After Bonaventure’s time of study at the University of Paris, was completed, he was given his teaching credentials. This would allow him to spread the word of Jesus through his teaching of Philosophy and Theology at the University.  He became well-known, and wrote one of his most famous commentaries on the writings of Peter Lombard, regarding the entire span and scope of scholastic theology.  However, his fame also caused him a great deal of trouble, not just him, but all those who bore the title of Mendicant Friars.  The attacks at this time were against St. Bonaventure, who became the Seraphic Doctor, and St. Thomas Aquinas, later known as the Angelic Doctor.  Strangely enough, the vicious assault was waged upon the Franciscans and Dominicans largely because of their success!  They were living proof that the worldly life enjoyed by all those at the University was not necessary, and the simple lives that the friars lived, were a contradiction to many of the values taught and practiced by the professors at the university.  And maybe worst of all, the teachings of the Mendicant Friars were brilliant, and they were Christ-centered.  

BOB

The onslaught was spearheaded by a professor, William of Saint-Amour, in all his writings, but especially in one called "The Perils of the Last Times."  Bonaventure countered with a dissertation entitled "Concerning the Poverty of Christ" in which he not only defended the Friars' mode of living and teaching, but without actually pointing a finger at their accusers, caused many to take another look at those in the University who were living the high lifestyle.  Remember, Bonaventure, Thomas Aquinas and the other friars were not attacking the establishment with their way of living; but the image of Jesus was so strong in everything they did that their detractors could not stand the brightness of their light.

BOB

Bonaventure had to stop lecturing for a while, until the problem was finally resolved by the Pope, Alexander V.  After an investigation into the charges, and both Bonaventure's writing and that of William of Saint-Amour, the Pope condemned the attacks, re-established the privileges of the Mendicant Friars, and the following year, gave both St. Bonaventure and St. Thomas Aquinas the official title of Doctor of Theology.  So what began as an assault on the Church through their greatest preachers and teachers, became a triumph for Christ.

PENNY

That same year, 1257, when Bonaventure was barely 36 years old, one of the most serious and difficult challenges in his life would be given to him.  He was chosen Minister General of the Franciscan Order.  While this would seem to most to be a great honor, it was a job which no one would have been able to handle as well as St. Bonaventure.  He was the right man for the job at a crucial time.  But he suffered.

To give you a little background, from the time the new Rule was forced upon the entire community in 1223, and St. Francis formally resigned as head of the Friars Minor, a rift had opened which became wider and wider, and more and more vindictive, until it had reached disaster proportions.  Either you were a supporter of Father Francis, or you were an adherent of the new Rule, which they knew was not what Francis wanted.  

BOB

"In the last days of September, 1226, Francis was brought back to Assisi.  It was enough now with the doctors and the cures.  Francis knew the Lord was calling him Home, and he responded.  He dictated his last Testament.  He wanted to set things straight.  While he trusted in God, he didn't trust in man.  He wanted everyone to know exactly how he felt, what his concerns were for the Order, now that he was leaving them.  In reading the Testament, it doesn't appear that Francis was trying to open an old wound, but that's exactly what happened.  While he made a point of telling the brothers not to interpret what he was saying, this Testament became the ammunition for many who believed he did not accept the Rule of 1223.  It became food for those who wanted to split from the Fraternity as it existed.

Francis did recap his values, and his commitment to the Rule.  He warned the brothers not to be going off in all directions, but to be obedient to the legitimate authority.  He ended his Testament with a blessing from the Holy Trinity, and from himself."

PENNY

However, the split did come about, and today we have the Friars Minor and the Conventual.  It all began in 1226, and by 1257, when Bonaventure became Minister-General, it was completely out of control.  Bonaventure was almost like the Franciscans' last ditch effort.  If he could not put things back together, there was danger that they might be disbanded.  The first thing he did was to criticize both ends of the spectrum, those who wanted complete laxity in the Rule, and the others who wanted to go even beyond Francis in their rigid spirituality.  He insisted that the Rule of 1223 should be strictly observed, and in addition, neither the excesses of the Conservative extremists, nor the liberal wing, would be tolerated either.  He wrote a letter to each of his provincials outlining exactly what he expected of them.  Now remember, many of these provincials were much older than Bonaventure, but all respected him as having the wisdom and endurance, and above all, the love of St. Francis and all things Franciscan, to make it work.  And so they obeyed.

BOB

He held five general chapters, the first of which was in 1260 in Narbonne, France, in which he wrote and presented a new set of constitutions, in an attempt to bring all factions together amicably, or so he hoped.  They were accepted and adopted by most, but not by all.  They did, however, have an enduring effect on the Franciscan community, at least enough to get them out of the big trouble they were in.  However, there were those who felt he had sold out to the more liberal elements in the community, and were never really reconciled with the rest of their Friar brothers.  One of the complaints of the rigorous devotees of the original Rule was that Bonaventure was attempting to take the Francis out of the new Franciscan constitutions.  However, for the most part, that accusation was attributed to sour grapes.

PENNY

During this first general chapter in 1260, those assembled asked Bonaventure to write a new Life of St. Francis, which would supersede all those in existence at the time.  Now the first question that comes to mind, now, over 800 years later, is what would make the Franciscans believe that this young man, who was only five years old when Francis died, albeit a very intelligent man and a spiritual man, proclaimed a Doctor of Theology on a par with St. Thomas Aquinas, would be in a better position to tell the life of the Saint, than those who were with him, or knew him, and had either written a life of St. Francis, or passed down legends of the Saint.  Let's just take a minute here and explain what we mean by legends.  Legends come from the Latin Leggere, which means "To read, to study" or in this context, readings, teachings passed down.  They are not meant to be myths.

BOB

There are the Fioretti of St. Francis, and St. Clare, which tell legends of things that happened during their lives.  There is another book, "The Legend of the Three Companions" which is in effect, more legends and traditions; however, these come from very reliable sources, because they were written by the friars who traveled with him.  And all of these are most likely trustworthy, but then, there were probably hundreds if not thousands of stories floating around the Franciscan community, and possibly the whole world, which made all kinds of claims with regard to the Saint.  Remember, he had only been canonized 32 years before.

PENNY

So that may be the reason that St. Bonaventure was asked to write a new life of St. Francis in 1260.  They knew that although he had a tremendous love for Francis, and most likely believed many of the accounts of his life, he would only include those that he could authenticate in some way.  And to give St. Bonaventure credit, before he wrote his life of St. Francis, he did a great deal of research.  He went to many places where St. Francis had lived and worked, and researched the miracles.  He went to Mt. La Verna where St. Francis received the Stigmata of Our Lord Jesus in 1224.  He spent time up on the mountain, praying for insights and discernment.  He most likely sat on the split mountain where his Father in Faith, St. Francis, had sat when the Seraphic Angel came down and gave him the wounds of Jesus.  It has been said that after his time in La Verna, he became more open to the mystical than he might have been before.

BOB

In 1263, at a general chapter in Pisa, the newly written life of St. Francis was first introduced to the 34 provincials present at that meeting.  It was accepted as the official life of St. Francis.  This did not make a lot of people happy, but it did not cause a major rift until three years later, when at a chapter meeting in Paris in 1266, it was declared that all other legends, or lives of St. Francis, were to be destroyed.  They most likely didn't think that the reaction would be as extreme as it was.  After all, the Dominicans had done the same thing in 1260, when the Master General of the time, had written a new legend of the life of St. Dominic.  But that apparently was not the same situation.  When this decree was announced, the roof blew off the chapter meeting.

PENNY

St. Bonaventure and anyone who agreed with this decree was under great criticism.  They were accused of trying to silence the real Francis, to take his words away and have them replaced with others of their own making, which just happened to coincide with the agenda of those trying to promote this new interpretation of the life of St. Francis.  They accused Bonaventure of trying to re-create Francis in a different image, and repress the traditional sources of Franciscan history, which were called primitive.  It had only been 39 years since Francis had died; how primitive could they have been?  Well, that never happened.  Till today, in the Franciscan Omnibus of Sources, which contains the official writings of the Franciscan Order, both lives of St. Francis, Thomas of Celano and St. Bonaventure can be read, as well as all the Fioretti, the Legends of the Three Companions, the Writings of St. Francis and countless legends dealing with the lives of St. Francis and St. Clare.  

BOB

To give St. Bonaventure credit, the old history of the Franciscans was in some way directly connected to the split which had taken place.  It is believed that what they were trying to accomplish was to eliminate the causes of dissension and separation between the various factions in the community and allow them to begin with a fresh slate.  What actually was accomplished was that many in the Franciscan community felt betrayed by St. Bonaventure, and would follow him no longer.  Variations on the theme of what St. Francis actually wanted have been interpreted down through the centuries.  

PENNY

St. Bonaventure became a Bishop and Aid to the Popes.  Our Saint continued to lead the Franciscans for the rest of his life.  But the Popes had other things for him to do.  Pope Clement V asked him to be Archbishop of York, but he politely declined.  It has been suggested that it was because of his great humility that he couldn't accept the honor.  There's not much written about his activities from 1266, until 1269.  He is said to have lived quietly in a residence in France, writing and studying.  He preached at the University of Paris, and gave some beautiful Lenten reflections.  He returned to Rome where he received the Archconfraternity of the Gonfalonieri into Spiritual Communion with the Order.  Then he went to the general chapter of the Franciscans in Assisi.  He ordered that Mass be sung in honor of Our Lady every Saturday in every friary in the world.  Then he found himself back in Paris at the University, again defending the Mendicants against the attacks from the teachers there.  Bonaventure wrote "The Apology of the Poor," which had the desired effect; the attack was put down.

PENNY

Viterbo is a beautiful town in Italy, some 60 or 65 miles north of Rome.  It is also the birthplace of St. Bonaventure.  If its people have one shortcoming, it's that they may be a little too gentile, too accommodating, especially when it comes to the hierarchy of the Church.  When Pope Clement IV died in 1268, the cardinals took themselves to Viterbo to form a conclave to elect a new Pope.  In those days, it was not like it is today.  It was more of a casual affair, almost like a vacation for the cardinals.  The people of Viterbo treated them and their entourage as royalty, feeding them and attending to their every wish.  However, the cardinals may have abused the privilege given them by the gentle people.  They stayed there for three years.  They couldn't form a consensus as to the candidate they were going to vote for.  Bonaventure was asked to go there in 1271, to kind of gently nudge them into action.  Now his biographers insist he was not the one who ordered them to be locked in their conclave room and not be given any more food until they had made a decision.  But apparently someone did.  Because every time we take a tour of the Vatican Museum, something in the museum sparks our Italian guide to tell us that someone ordered they be locked in until a Pope was elected, which was actually done, and once locked in without benefit of food, they elected Pope Gregory X in short order.  We will probably never know who made the decision which brought about such swift results.

BOB

Pope Gregory wanted St. Bonaventure to be a Bishop.  So in 1273, he made him Cardinal-Archbishop of Albano.  He knew that Bonaventure was going to refuse the honor, so he beat him to the punch.  He sent his people out to meet Bonaventure and advise him of this great honor, and also to advise him that he was not allowed to refuse.  They found him in a small friary in Mugello, near Florence.  When they arrived, he was washing dishes.  Shades of St. Anthony, who used to do the same.  Bonaventure advised them to place his Cardinal's hat on the branch of a tree until he finished with his chore.  Then he reluctantly accepted the honor.

PENNY

At the time that St. Charles Borromeo became Archbishop of Milan, Bishops hardly ever spent any time in their dioceses.  They stayed in Rome to be of assistance to the Pope.  With St. Bonaventure and the Pope, his action was complete loyalty to the Pope and whatever he needed Bonaventure to do for him.  He never gave a thought to not doing whatever was required of him.

BOB

Pope Gregory had great work in store for St. Bonaventure.  Together they traveled to Lyon, France, where the Council of Lyon was to take place.  The Pope had a definite reason for having Bonaventure with him for this Council.  He needed the most brilliant minds of the Church of the Thirteenth Century to be with him to advise him.  He also had asked Thomas Aquinas to attend.  However, St. Thomas died en route to the Council, and so the major work was up to Bonaventure.  The reason Pope Gregory wanted his greatest minds to be there, was because he was going to address the issue of reconciliation with the Greek Orthodox, which had been proposed by the Greek Emperor Michael Palaeologus VIII.  Had it come about, it would have worked to the benefit of both the Greek and the Roman Church.  

PENNY

Pope Gregory had been in the Holy Land prior to being elected Pope.  He saw the way the Christian Shrines were being attacked, and the Christians persecuted.  He wanted to have another Crusade to defend all the things we hold dear.  He felt strongly that if he were able to unite the Roman Church with the Greek Church, he could enlist the aid of the Greek Emperor.  On the other side of the equation, Emperor Michael Palaeologus felt threatened by Charles of Anjou, who was determined that the Latin Empire be restored in the east.  The Emperor of Greece felt the only one who could control Charles was the Pope, so he threw him a bone, telling him that the Greek Church wanted to be reunited with the Roman Church, which was not at all the case.  But Pope Gregory and St. Bonaventure went to the Council in good faith to try to talk the Cardinals into this joint effort.  St. Bonaventure was brilliant at Lyons.  

BOB

Bonaventure's major task at the Council was to confer with the Greeks regarding the renunciation of the schism.  He gave two brilliant speeches, one on May 18, 1274, and then again at the Pope's Mass at the general council on June 29.  Many things happened in a short period of time.  It was just before the Council began that he gave up his position as Minister General of the Franciscans.  But he was to use the Friars to go to Constantinople and meet with the Greeks there; they were able to persuade the Greeks to accept the union, which was incorporated into the Council.  However, it was really pushed on the Greek Church by the Emperor.  Sadly, after all the work done by the Pope, by St. Bonaventure, and all the Franciscans, the reunion between the Greek Church and the Roman Church never came to pass.  It was largely disregarded by the west, and the new emperor of Greece, Andronicus II, condemned it altogether.  And if that were not bad enough, St. Bonaventure died suddenly and mysteriously on July 15, 1274.  

PENNY

St. Bonaventure was much-loved and much-missed.  The Pope could not have been more unfortunate, having lost Bonaventure and Thomas Aquinas, who died within two months of each other.  We read in the Catholic Encyclopedia”

"'At the funeral, there was much sorrow and tears, for the Lord had given him this grace that all who saw him were filled with immense love for him.'  Nevertheless, his canonization did not take place until April 14, 1482, a delay occasioned partly by internal strife within the Order, the attitude of the Spirituals, the Western Schism, partly too (as Sixtus IV hints), by lack of interest on the part of the Order and of ecclesiastical and secular princes."  Finally, on 14 April, 1482, Bonaventure was enrolled in the catalogue of the Saints by Sixtus IV."  And then, 70 years later, another Sixtus, Sixtus V proclaimed him Doctor of the Church on 14 March 1557.

BOB

We also read in the Catholic Encyclopedia, "When in 1434, Bonaventure's remains were translated to the new church erected at Lyons in honor of St. Francis, his head was found in a perfect state of preservation, the tongue being as red as in life.  This miracle not only moved the people of Lyons to choose Bonaventure as their special patron, but also gave a great impetus to the process of Canonization.  Dante, writing long before, had given expression to the popular mind by placing Bonaventure among the Saints in his 'Paradiso', and no canonization was ever more ardently or universally desired than that of Bonaventure."  

PENNY

It is ironic to note that this great mind, on a par with St. Thomas Aquinas, who was so loved by the people of a foreign country (France), they made him their patron before he was canonized, whose funeral oration was preached by a future Pope - Innocent V, and on the following day, at the Council, was praised by the current Pope Gregory X who commanded that all Bishops and Priests throughout the world should celebrate Mass for the repose of his soul, who was eulogized by Dante Aligheri - one of the greatest poets in the history of world literature, was not canonized until 208 years after his death.

BOB

We end our chapter on this most powerful Saint, who was truly Maligned, Misunderstood and Mistreated by calling your attention again to the fact that after he had given 17 years of his life as Minister General of the Franciscan Order, after he had reformed the Franciscan Order and re-written the Constitutions, after he had re-written the Legend of the Life of St. Francis, and worked so hard to unite them that he has been given the title of the Second Founder of the Franciscan Order, it took over 200 years to accomplish his canonization. 

PENNY

Like most of our beloved Saints, Bonaventure had a deep love for Mother Mary.  We would like to close this program with a short piece he wrote in honor of Our Lady:

"If you could understand the loftiness of Mary's elevation,

   the glorification of humanity,

          the condescension of Divine Majesty....

   oh, surely then, together with the Blessed Virgin,

          you would most sweetly sing this Holy Canticle...

                 'My Soul magnifies the Lord.'"

BOB & PENNY - We thank you for being with us.  We love you.  God bless you.