The Word of God and the Spirituality of Bonaventure
In trod uction ure for those brothers who saw his administrative attempts at mediating and unifying the various factions of the Franciscan
Order as a renunciation of the primitive ideal of Saint Francis.
Perhaps for this reason, he was not canonized until April 14, 1482 by Pope Sixtus IV.6 Any possible opposition notwithstanding, Bonaventure's enormous influence on the articulation and development of Christian spirituality is testified to by the innumerable copies of his works which were studied, meditated upon, and passed on to succeeding generations of grateful readers, Franciscan and otherwise. Bonaventure's intense desire for union with God, which permeates his writings, impelled Pope Sixtus V to declare him a Doctor of the Church with the title "Doctor Seraphicus" on March 14, 1588.
The Word of God and the Spirituality of Bonaventure As a young friar, Bonaventure was fascinated by the spiritual insights of the Gospel of John into the dynamics of the Christian life.
The reflections found in his early commentary of that work, which focuses on Christ as the Word of God, continued throughout his life. His spiritual treatises, scholarly disputations, theological commentaries, and homilies evidence an abiding interest in the central position of Christ in the life of every Christian and the ever-present call to union with the Word of God.
It is Bonaventure's consuming desire for union with God which marks him as a mystical author. Like so many of the eminent spiritual writers who preceded him in the Christian East and West, Bonaventure displayed a natural reticence when describing what contemporary authors characterize as spiritual experience. The paucity of autobiographical references to his interior life does neither disqualify him from inclusion among the great mystical writers of the Christian tradition nor imply he lacked those experiences characterized as mystical. The medieval world of his day and, in particular, the theological mi6. Andre Vauchez. Ordini mcndieanti e soeieta italiana XIII-XV seeolo.
Trans. Michele Sampaolo (Milano: il Saggiatore, j YYU) L6~-:26Y.
Introduction
lieu in which Bonaventure lived and worked, applied a different set of criteria when reflecting upon and defining the dynamics of spirituality. Perhaps the title of his popular work,
The Journey of the Soul into God, best summarizes the medieval perception of the spiritual life. For Bonaventure, the appeal to personal experience was not nearly as significant as the need to integrate the various dimensions of the Christian tradition into a synthesis of life faithful to the gospel and responsive to the spiritual needs of his contemporaries. He was convinced that this expression of evangelical life, prefigured in Francis of Assisi and lived out in the eternal mystery of God's Word, fostered the transformation of individuals, communities, and, ultimately, the entire cosmos in Christ.
The Professor as Mystic The initial outlines of Bonaventure's spirituality are evident in his exploration into the mystery of Christ found in The Commentary on the Gospel of John. This early text, together with his other university writings, gradually took form as he invited his Parisian students to consider Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity, as the Word of God. In the midst of classroom disputation, mirrored in the queries and responses of The Commentary on the Gospel of John, the question arose as to why the evangelist John chose the title of "Word." The common assumption was that he should have selected instead a seemingly more popular title such as "Son" when speaking of the only begotten of the Father.
Bonaventure's response to this question reflects his own intellectual predisposition. As a convincing writer, teacher, and preacher, the richness of the concept "word" was not lost on him. He notes in The Commentary on the Gospel of John that the title" Son" is of limited use in describing Christ, because it refers exclusively to his relationship with the Father.
7 The title "Word," rooted in the rich etymology of "word," has numer7. Commentary all the Gospel of John, c. I. resp. (VI, 24 7b).
Introduction ous nuances, which illuminate the multiplicity of relationships proper to the Son of God. This is because the term
"word," to a medieval mind such as Bonaventure's, referred to the one who pronounces the word in question, what is said through that word, the sounds that envelop the word, and the effect on another of what is said by the word. According to Bonaventure, the title "Word" is a far more appropriate designation for Christ, because it encompasses his relationship as the Word of God with the Father, the myriad creatures created through the utterance of the Word, the flesh of humanity which clothed the Word in the incarnation, and the eternal truths the Word proclaimed to the world.
With his response to an apparent theoretical question concerning a christological title, Bonaventure proVided his students with a profound insight into the nature of Christ and a firm foundation for a spirituality marked by a desire for, and response to, the Word of God wherever revealed. This unique
Word of God is encountered especially in the contemplative reading of the Book of Creation and the Book of the Scriptures. Books were understood in medieval culture as reminders, in the Platonic sense, of knowledge once possessed. The book metaphqr was used to illuminate the process of learning or re-Iearning. The Book of Creation, which comprises countless creatures throughout the cosmos, was created through Christ, the uncreated Word of God. These creatures, each one a word of God in its own right, narrate the divine mystery by recounting the creative presence of God evident everywhere.
Similar to other books, the Book of Scripture also serves to remind readers of what they once knew. In this case,
Bonaventure holds that the Book of Scripture, which relates the story of salvation in Christ, the incarnate Word of God, was provided through the mercy of God. According to The Disputed Questions on the Trinity, this providential action was necessary as human transgression had obscured the signs of the 8. CommC/lta/JIOII tire Gospel offollll, c. 10, n. 33 (VII, 263b).
Introduction
divine presence originally evident in the Book of Creation.') From Bonaventure's perspective then, right reading, that is, contemplative reading, is the spiritual hallmark of those desiring to know hrist. As The ommentfJIY OJ'llirc ospel of LI/lce suggest ,contemplatiy readin ntails a di rning rumination of the physical w rid as cr ·;\ture . v 1 rwh re pr claim the ternal. un reated Word of God. through whom the cam into being. Likewise, cont mplation T quires th los crutiny of sacred texts, as th even LS of nlvation h isto
I man ifest the presence ofth incarnate Word lhr ugh ",,,honl the 0 mo was r c n iled to th Path r .1O Anoth r university worl , hri t, The One Teacher if All, notes that knowledge of God ' .
Word as unc.rea cd and in arnatc., how vel' arner d, i to b understood in ligh of hJi t as teac.hel·. Marki ng hi installation as ma tel' of theol y, Bonav ntur ~ encourag tho c present to consider th true master of contemplative k.nowledg . Christ the teacher. Alone among masters h'd t liree ' the search f r knowledg , r mov s ob 'lad to it along the pathway, and bring it to Fulfillm nt in Lh bestowal of divine wisdom. This wisdom, the greatest of all spiritual gifts, brings about ultimate transformation and union with Christ.
The Administrator as Mystic Duly lnstalled as rna t r of theol.ogy, Bonav nture could not, however, tal<. ~ on the incumb nt responsibilities. As the newly chosen Min tel' General of th Fran iscan Ord r, his time and energy would be directed elsewhere. On election as Minister
General, the focus of his theological refJectiOI . b gall to shift from the university classroom to the chapter Or community meetings room where the friars considered, d bated codi ried, and enfleshed the principles of Franciscan life. While he was no doubt ever eager to return to the Paris environs, Bonaventure began the arduous work of administration proper to his new office by traveling throughout Europe. On the road he pondered
9. Disputed Questions 011 the Trillity. q. I. a. 2. resp. (V. 54b-55a).
10. COIIIlllC/ltmy 011 the Gospel '!fLuke. c. 18. n. 16 (VlI. 470b-47 la).
Introduction the mystery of Christ, the Word of God, Francis' spiritual experience, and the nature of the spiritual life in the context of the various pastoral needs he encountered.
A strong accent on Christ as the incarnate Word emerged early on in Bonaventure's itinerant ministry. His predilection in meditation for the humanity of Christ appears in a number of sermons and spiritual treatises composed during this period. Perhaps the two best examples of this aspect of Bonaventure's spirituality are The Tree of Life and The Five
Feasts of the Child Jesus. While the theology underlining them is identical with that elaborated earlier in Paris, the tenor of the texts is remarkably different. With their appeal to the devotional affections of the reader, they utilized a genre popularized at least a century earlier by a German Benedictine, Ekbert of Schonau. Both works allowed Bonaventure to promote his insights into the spiritual life beyond the circle of people he met while traveling. They invited contemplation through the thoughtful consideration of the historical revelation of the incarnate Word. Such an attempt proffered, as The Five Feasts of the Child Jesus suggests, wonderful possibilities:
In God's Church there are holy men and women who have been enlightened more profoundly than others by the divine radiance and inflamed more ardently by inspiration from on high. It is their conviction and teaching that through meditation upon Jesus and reverent cant m plation of the incarnate Word, a faithful ul can experi nc a delight far sweeter, a pleasure m re thrilling, and a onsolation wore perfect than from honey and fragrant perfumes.
As he recounts, it was the historical events surrounding the child Jesus which attracted Bonaventure's attention at this time. He extended his contemplative gaze in The Tree of Life to encompass the broad spectrum of events comprising the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. Whereas The Five Feasts of the 11. Five Feasts of the Child Jesus, pro!. (V, 88a),
Introduction
Child Jesus promotes the spiritual conception of the Word in the soul dedicated to God, The Tree oj Life speaks of the union between disciple and the crucified Christ.
Bonaventure returned repeatedly to the question of discipleship and contemplation during his travels as Minister General. Perhaps it was the struggle of many to follow Francis' example of ·'vangeli al livin that eli i ed his ev r-gJ'Qwing in terest in th.· practical expression f c nt(,l1:tplabon . H expliciLly addr s d Lhi fundam nLaldynami in The RIl/cJorNO! ices and 0 11 thl! Peljcction oj Life for Sisters. Although h needs or each group ""ere differ nt, given t heir relative d gre of piritual maturity, the christological m.atrix of >nt · plaUoJl was crucial for both r ligi u ommunitie, Quite conscious that some had abandoned prayer,
Bonaventure was convinced that friars, who promised to walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, needed to place the incarnate Word at the center of their contemplation from their moment of entrance into the Franciscan Order. As novices, it was necessary to learn the first steps along the contemplative path through their devout recitation of the psalms. Learning to bring the sentiments of heart into harmony with the words of scripture, the novices could enter into union with Christ, who suffered the most painful of deaths for love for them. For their part, Isabella and the sisters of Longchamp certainly required no reminder as to the crucial role of the psalms for those wishing to embrace a cloistered, contemplative life. Instead, Bonaventure responded to her request for direction by holding up the crucified Christ as the beloved spouse of the sisters. A relationship with him, when nurtured in silence and prayer, would culminate in the union of mystical betrothal.
Like wax to the flame, the sisters' hearts would melt in ecstasy, embraced in transforming love of the Crucified.
The theme of the incarnate Word as the crucified Christ, ever present during Bonaventure's administrative years, takes on particular prominence in The Journry if the Soul into God. Wearied, no doubt, by the incessant demands of ministry and anxious for consolation, he retreated to the cliffs of Mount La Vema, where Fran-
111 troductioll cis of Assisi was sealed some years earlier with the wounds of Christ. In a rare autobiographical note, Bonaventure recounts his longing for the peace proclaimed by Francis:
Following the example of the most blessed Father Francis, I was seeking this peace with panting spirit-I a sinner, who, completely unworthy, was the seventh
Minister General of the Friars after his death. It happened about thirty-three years after the Saint's death that I, beckoned by the divine, withdrew to Mount La
Vema, a place of quiet where, with loving desire, I might search for peace of spirit. While staying there, I was considering the various ways the soul ascends into God. Among other things, the miracle that had occurred in this same place to blessed Francis came to mind: the vision of a Seraph raised up like the Crucified. As I was considering this, I saw immediately that the vision represented the ecstasy of Father Francis in contemplation and the way which leads to it.
The image of the crucified Christ, together with that of the Seraph, serves as a deftly woven thread running throughout
Bonaventure's reflections on Francis' spiritual experience on Mount La Vema. Before outlining the six ways of contemplation symbolized by the wings of the Seraph, readers are reminded that the path they intend to embark upon is entered through the purifying love of the crucified Christ. There is no other way, as the Crucified alone cleanses any transgressions which might obstruct prayer. Once opened to the outpouring of grace, the perception of the divine presence mirrored in the Book of Creation is possible. As the mind is raised in admiration of the wonders of the world, the image of the Seraph stands in the background as a reminder of the love of the crucified Christ, which lifted Francis into the mystery of God. This dynamic continues throughout, as Bonaventure moves beyond the world to the consideration of two specific attributes of God spoken of in the Book of Scrip12 .follm ry of tlze Soul illto God, prol., n. 2 (V, 295a-b).
Introduction
ture: being and goodness. The culmination of the ascent into God is found, paradoxically, in the crucified Christ, for it is the recognition of these attributes which directs the contemplative gaze to the revelation of the divine in Jesus Christ. Here in The /ournty if the Soul into God, as in several other works, Bonaventure sees the crucified Christ standing at the juncture of cosmic history and personal experience as the way back to the Father. The manifestation of the Father's love in the incarnate Word, the Crucified, thus becomes the enduring symbol of human transformation and union with God.
Questions concerning contemplation, the Word of God, and the significance of Francis of Assisi converged at the University of Paris shortly before Bonaventure's death. At issue among the masters was the proper use of philosophy and the nature of Christian wisdom. The challenge to the traditional relationship between the two provided Bonaventure with the opportunity to develop further a spirituality of God's Word rooted in the theological insights he had cultivated years ago as a young friar. Returning to Paris in 1273 to address a university audience in a series of evening lectures entitled The Collations on the Six Days, he contests the view that philosophy could supplant theology. He reiterates his conviction that the search for wisdom begins and ends in union with Christ, the Word of God. Ever the Parisian master, Bonaventure presents a compelling synthesis of Christian spirituality against the backdrop of salvation history. The contemplation of God's
Word, witnessed in the ecstatic experience of Francis of Assisi on Mount La Verna, is where wisdom is to be found. In language reminiscent of earlier works, yet informed and nuanced by years of reflection and ministry, Bonaventure compares the Poor Man of Assisi to the sixth angel of the Apocalypse; he is a precursor of a new age in human history marked by contemplative wisdom, not speculative philosophy .
. [ The Collations on the Six Days focuses on the threefold Word I of God as the proclamation of the Word of the Father in eternity and time. As the eternal Word, Christ is the divine utterance through whom all of creation comes into being; as the