Memorial of St. Bonaventure

Today is the Memorial of St. Bonaventure. Wikipedia says of him ...

Saint Bonaventura (born Giovanni di Fidanza) (1221 – July 15, 1274), was a Franciscan theologian. He was born at Bagnoregio in Latium, not far from Viterbo. He is said to have received his cognomen of Bonaventura when he was cured from a serious childhood illness through the intercession of St Francis of Assisi. He entered the Franciscan order in 1243, and studied at Paris possibly under Alexander of Hales, and certainly under Alexander's successor, John of Rochelle, to whose chair he succeeded in 1253. Three years earlier his fame had gained for him to Lector on the Sentences, and in 1255 he received the degree of master, the medieval equivalent of doctor. In the year after having successfully defended his order against the reproaches of the anti-mendicant party, he was elected general of his order. It was by his order that Roger Bacon, a Franciscan Friar himself, was interdicted from lecturing at Oxford, and compelled to put himself under the surveillance of the order at Paris. He was instrumental in procuring the election of Gregory X, who rewarded him with the titles of cardinal and bishop of Albano, and insisted on his presence at the great Council of Lyon in the year 1274. There after, his significant contributions led to a union of the Greek and Latin Churches, he died. The only extant relic of the Saint is the arm and hand with which he wrote his great Commentary on the Four Books of Peter Lombard, which arm is now conserved at Bagnoregio, in the parish Church of St. Nicholas.
- Read all of the Wikipedia article, which goes into more detail on Bonaventure's theology/philosophy.

An excellent page on Bonaventure, with many of his writings, from The Franciscan Archive, is The Internet Guide to St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio.


From the above site, here is ... Prayer after Communion, by St. Bonaventure, still in use today, this is an ardent prayer for union with Christ ...

Pierce, O most sweet Lord Jesus, my inmost soul with the
most joyous and healthful wound of Thy love, and with true,
calm and most holy apostolic charity, that my soul may ever
languish and melt with entire love and longing for Thee,
may yearn for Thee and for thy courts, may long to be
dissolved and to be with Thee. Grant that my soul may
hunger after Thee, the Bread of Angels, the refreshment of
holy souls, our daily and supersubstantial bread, having
all sweetness and savor and every delightful taste. May my
heart ever hunger after and feed upon Thee, Whom the angels
desire to look upon, and may my inmost soul be filled with
the sweetness of Thy savor; may it ever thirst for Thee,
the fountain of life, the fountain of widsom and knowledge,
the fountain of eternal light, the torrent of pleasure, the
fulness of the house of God; may it ever compass Thee, seek
Thee, find Thee, run to Thee, come up to Thee, meditate on
Thee, speak of Thee, and do all for the praise and glory of
Thy name, with humility and discretion, with love and
delight, with ease and affection, with perseverence to the
end; and be Thou alone ever my hope, my entire confidence,
my riches, my delight, my pleasure, my joy, my rest and
tranquility, my peace, my sweetness, my food, my
refreshment, my refuge, my help, my wisdom, my portion, my
possession, my treasure; in Whom may my mind and my heart
be ever fixed and firm and rooted immovably. Amen.


And, finally, some art ...


- St Bonaventura Receiving the Banner of St Sepulchre from the Madonna


- St. Bonaventure receives the envoys of the Holy Roman Emperor


- The body of St. Bonaventure in the presence of Pope Gregory X and James I of Aragon