CHAPTER I
LIVE OF ST. BONAVENTURE.
CHAPTER I.
First Years of the Saint.
**Przevenisti eum in benedictionibus dulcedinis.''— Pshxx, In the year 1225, at Bagnarea, a town in Tuscany, it happened that a child lay dangerously ill.
All that medicine could do had been done, in vain, and the utmost efforts of affectionate care seemed powerless to arrest the approach of death.
But hard by there lived St.
Francis d'Assisi, the friend of God, whose miracles and virtues were renowned throughout the world, and the mother of this sick child, when all hope had been taken from her, turned in her despair to Heaven, and sought the help of St. Francis.
Grief never failed to touch his tender heart: he prayed, and the child was cured, and became so strong, that until his
death he never again knew what it was to be All.
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This child was four years old when it was thus cured by the prayers of St. Francis, and had received in Baptism the name of John.
Its father was John Fidenza, and its mother Mary Ritellis.
They were both good people, who fervently tried to practise every Christian virtue, and to show her gratitude to Almighty
God for the miraculous recovery of her child, his mother consecrated him by a vow to the Lord.
The rank of these people is a matter of little moment; whatever their position in the world may have been, they are illustrious from the holiness of their lives, and from their faith, which God was pleased to reward by this miracle ; and a great glory is theirs in being the parents of a child who became a Doctor of the Church, and has, by generations, been honoured with the title of ' Seraphic," and held in public veneration by the whole world, and whose writings will, to the end of time, promote the praise of the Divine Master, by Whom they were inspired.
Some time after this miracle of healing, Francis d'Assisi came to Bagnarea, and visited the family of the child whom his prayers had
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saved from death.
At that time this great Saint and Patriarch of the poor was near his end.
From the hour that the Sacred Stigmata of the Passion had been miraculously imprinted on his hands, and feet, and side, his heart had burned with so intense a fire of divine love, that it threatened to burst the bonds of a body already enfeebled by penance.
He would cry out in these transports of love, "Oh! love, why hast thou thus wounded me?
My heart is bursting from my bosom, it burns and consumes away : it finds no home, it cannot fly, because it
is in chains; it melts like wax in the fire, it dies a living death, it languishes away; it longs to take flight, it is in the midst of a fiery furnace!
Alas! what will be the end?
This is rather to - die than to live, so intense is the fire by which Iam consumed. I suffer a torment that cannot be imagined ; its heat is melting my heart.
I cannot explain what I suffer, I die of love, I have no heart left."
Thus death approached this holy man to whom love had-given a mortal wound.
But God would not allow him to mount to Heaven 'in His chariot of fire, without leaving one on
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earth on whom his spirit might rest, to console and cheer the souls whom the Saint had left behind, exposed to the unholy influences of earthly things.
'Oh! if only I could find a _soul that could understand me!" the Saint had cried, and his prayer had not remained unheard; for he did not leave this world until he had held close to his heart such a soul as he had longed for, one who should reveal to future generations the deepest secrets of celestial love.
When St. Francis came to the house of Fidenza, and looked upon the child his prayers had saved, the soul of the Saint thrilled at the angelic expression that illumined the countenance of the boy.
At the sight of him, the Spirit of the Lord revealed to the mind of St.
Francis the secrets of the future, and, like another Zachariah, he predicted the great future of this other John; exclaiming with © enthusiastic fervour, ""O Buona Ventura!"
The Saint rejoiced, for he had found the soul for which he had sighed so long.
This child, like himself, should be called a seraph ; the same fire of devotion should be kindled in this soul, which burned so fiercely in his own.
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order to consecrate the solemn day on which he had met this child, and had pronounced of him the prophetic words inspired by the Spirit of God, St. Francis decided that he should henceforth be no more called " John," but "Bonaventure".
A few months later the saintly penitent of Assisi passed away from the earth, his lips murmuring to the last a canticlé of love divine.
The visit of the Saint to Bagnarea had made a deep impression on Mary, the mother of the child: henceforth, the young Bonaventure was
. looked upon by her as a sacred treasure which she was to guard and prepare, in order to make it worthy of the Lord, to Whom one day she was to restore it.
She therefore applied herself to teach him to know the God Who had given him back his life, to despise the world and its frivolities, to practise the holy virtues of humility, obedience, and abnegation of self; and she rejoiced to see that her pious efforts _ were crowned with success.
The child grew to love the Lord; the more he learned of Him, the more he took delight in acts of virtue ; and, like Tobias, he passed the first
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years of his life without falling into any of the sins of youth.
Bonaventure had been promised to the Order of the Minor Friars, whose principal work was the salvation of souls; therefore Mary sent him to their schools to be prepared to preach the truth, and fulfil all the work which Heaven might have in store for him.
He progressed so rapidly as to fill his teachers with wonder, and his intelligence enabled him quickly to master all the circle of science, which, at that time, it was customary to teach.
In the midst of all this hard study, however, his piety, far from being hindered or impaired, increased from day to day.
Everything he learned he converted into a means of raising himself to God, of praising
Him, and of leading a better life ; and while his aptitude for science astonished those whose duty it was to instruct him, his fervour, his innocence, his modesty, his wisdom, and the virtue, of which he might truly be said to be a model, filled them with admiration, so that they said to one another, like the inhabitants of Judea,
"What will this child be? for the Hand of the Lord is with him ".
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7, Thus, under the care of his good mother, this young flower expanded to the soft breath of the grace of God, and soon its refreshing fragrance spread through all the Church.
Cuapter II, Bonaventure Renounces the World and enters the Religious Life.
'"'Erit tanquam lignum quod plantatum est secus decursus aquarum, quod fructum suum dabit in tempore suo."'—Ps. i, Untit the Saint had nearly reached his twentysecond year, he went on gradually preparing himself for the accomplishment of the sacrifice he had promised to make to Heaven.
To this end he used often to recall the words of the great Lawgiver, 'When thou hast made a vow to the Lord thy God defer not to pay it, because the Lord thy God will take account of it".
It is true that the promise made by his mother did not impose any obligation on her son, but her promise was too much in accordance with his own desires, and with the necessities of his fervent love, not to be the dearest object of his thoughts.
The world had
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no attraction for a soul which had never been exposed to its delusive snares, and as he had already acquired a taste for the sweet ways of piety, the place to which his soul looked to find rest on earth was naturally the Order of the Minor Friars.
Bonaventure never forgot the miracle which, in his infancy, had preserved him from death, and his gratitude would have made him think it a crime to seek any other Order than that of the Saint his benefactor.
Its founder was a man of no great learning, and its first members had partaken of the simple nature of their master, and were for the most
: part even more unlearned than he had been.
Yet Doctors had descended from their Chairs, learned men had abandoned their scientific success, the rich had renounced their treasures, the gay had forsaken their pleasures, the prudent had shut their eyes to earthly advantages, to follow St. Francis and to embrace this new kind of life; people had come from all ranks of society, and from all countries where the sun of faith shone, to place themselves under the discipline of these illiterate men.
The Order now included great preachers, re-
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nowned theologians, missionaries, saints, and martyrs ; it had extended everywhere, and _barriers which appeared to be insuperable gave way before its poverty and humility.
Such a spectacle might well make a deep impression on the soul of the young aspirant.
He said to himself, '""The Finger of God is here; here I shall find that which is the object of my desire— a life estranged from the world, a sanctuary of virtue, the way to eternal bliss".
'This feeling he expressed in the following words: 'I confess before God that which has made me choose the way of life of Blessed Francis is, that it is no work of human prudence, but of Christ ; and as the works of Christ can never fail, we recognise as a divine work, one in which we see wise men condescending to unite themselves in a society with simple ones "'.
The Order was then under the government of Haymon Feversham, an Englishman by birth.
Since he had been elected SuperiorGeneral he had applied himself with the utmost prudence to regulate and govern his Order in conformity with the spirit of its holy founder.
The arrival of Bonaventure therefore rejoiced
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tr his soul, and the fervour of the young novice consoled him in the midst of the many difficulties with which his path was strewn.
When an aspirant for the religious life presented himself to seek admission into the Order of St. Francis, the first condition of admission required by the Saint was, entire renunciation of the things of the world.
He was inexorable on this point, for he feared lest the retaining of any possessions should be a cause of scandal.
The Rule of the Order, however, contains this clause: "If it is not possible to do it (that is, to give up all earthly possessions), a man may be content with the good will to do so"; for such good will implies a readiness to abandon all claims and to despise all wealth.
Historians have not told us whether Bonaventure had any possessions which he could resign, but it is probable that all he had to renounce was that which at some future time might come to him.
We only know that, with all his heart, he willingly gave up all he had, in order that he might be united to Jesus Christ.
The novitiate was for him a school of virtue,
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he entered on its exercises with incredible eagerness, never looking behind him, as from 'day to day he advanced towards that holiness, which was to make him an object of admiration in an age when good men often passed unnoted and unknown.
In his eyes, the family of St. Francis had a sublime destiny.
''This Order," he said, "'has been given to the Church, from among other religious Orders, to edify the faithful in faith and in manners, by teaching doctrines and by giving examples of a good life.
. It has been placed as a torch, whose flame is to dissipate the darkness of the house, and to fill with fresh courage all who labour in it."
The conclusion at which he arrived was easy to understand.
" The first ornament of our brothers," he said, ''is an irreproachable life, for such a life is of sovereign utility to ourselves and edifies our neighbours."
But this irreproachable life involved the strict fulfilment of all the requirements of the Rule: it meant perfection in virtue, perfection in modesty, in silence, in mortification, in obedience, in union with God, and in humility.
To this young novice, therefore, the Rule was
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a sacred law, of which it was necessary for him to know the minutest detail.
He meditated on it day and night, in order to discern its spirit and to conform all his actions to it.
Nothing was small or indifferent to him.
'We must," he would say, "be faithful, with a strictness that knows no bounds, to the things we have heard, that we may not be leaking vessels which spill that which is poured into them.
. We must receive with respect every word of our Rule, and avoid the slightest infraction of it.
This Rule has been given us as our law; and no one can forsake the law without falling into darkness."
Therefore, when it became his duty to explain the Rule to his brothers, he did it as a pleasant and an easy work, for he had only to speak to them of that which had been always the object of his affections, and the source of the sweet joy which filled his soul.
During the year of novitiate, which is appointed for all who aspire to a religious life, the young novice was truly happy. He found himself in an abode of peace, and he profited by it to draw near to God.
In order to render his retirement as thorough as he could, and to
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separate himself strictly from the world, he avoided all useless conversations as obstacles to the end he had in view.
The world was dreaded by him even in the society of his brothers ; for he knew that the contagious and impure air of earth will sometimes make its way into the assembly of the children of God, and that, without unceasing vigilance, the Saints themselves are unable to lead a spotless life here below.
But the more he separated himself from men, the more intimate and ineffable became his union with Christ our Lord.
His heart was always open to the inspirations of grace, his soul was permeated with love, his affections were kindled with celestial fire, and he experienced that change into God of which he speaks in the most fervent of his writings.
He loved to contemplate, in his constant meditations, the life of the Saviour of men, to bow before the Cradle of Bethlehem, to follow the Holy Family into Egypt, to bury himself in the silence of Nazareth, to listen to the sweet words of Jesus.
Above all, the recollection of the bitterness of the Cross attracted his thoughts and filled him with tender
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sorrow.
He often said that to meditate on these things is the most excellent wisdom.
He raised his soul to the heights of Heaven to contemplate the bliss of the Saints, to listen to the songs of the angels, and to wander in those vast mansions where, as he said, '' we shall see
Him Who is blessed for evermore, where we shall love Him and converse with Him and praise Him for all eternity".
It was especially _when night had plunged all nature into profound silence and had hushed all the noises of the earth, that he loved to give himself up to the contemplation of things divine.
But exterior occupations were not permitted to deprive him of the Presence of his God, and his meditations were scarcely interrupted even by the requirements of sleep.
Let us listen to him while he repeats to us, in his counsels to novices, the practices of his early days.
'A truly pious brother," he says, '' never gives himself up entirely to food, or to sleep, or to outside affairs ; but, whether he is eating or doing anything else, he is always keeping some holy thought in his heart, with which to refresh and cheer his spirit.
When he goes to bed, before
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lying down, he commits to memory some pious sentence, he sleeps with this sweet thought, it fills and sanctifies his dreams, it meets him as he wakes, and brings back to him the good intentions of the previous day."
Modesty graced all his actions and preserved him from affectation and extravagance; but the gaiety of his face showed the joy which filled his soul.
He practised in his own life, at this time, that which he would teach hereafter.
Hear his instructions to the novices: '' The sovereign virtue of a religious is humility.
Humility heals him, perfects him, and keeps him; without it he cannot acquire any virtue, or preserve his soul
© in any perfection.
It is the true foundation of all virtues, and if it is wanting, all the others are sure to fail.
But as humiliation is the road to humility, religious must never blush at embracing humiliating work, and they must not make their work an occasion of praise."
We shall see that all his life he remained faithful to the instructions which he gave to others, and, when the envoys of the Sovereign Pontiff came to bring him the insignia of the Cardinalate,
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they found him occupied in these humble tasks, and far more anxious to fulfil them zealously, than to accept the proffered dignity.
The Saint, being devoted to the practice of | virtue, and beloved by God and man, hailed with unspeakable joy the arrival of the moment when he was irrevocably to consummate the sacrifice of himself.
He made his profession to his Superior-General with redoubled fervour, and he pledged himself unreservedly to observe the Rule, and to follow the Saviour in His poverty, having on the earth no other heritage than
God, and a contempt for the opinions of men, and he thus deserved to receive abundantly, the benediction desired by the humble
Francis d'Assisi for the newly professed of his Order.
"The benediction of the father," say the Holy Scriptures, "establishes the house of the children."
CuHAPTER III.
Bonaventure at the University of Paris—fiis Priesthood.
} "' Optavis, et datus est mihi sensus."—WISD. vii.
THE Superiors of his Order knew well what they had to hope from the fervour and intelligence of Bonaventure.
Shortly after his profession they sent him to finish his studies at the University of Paris.
Of all the schools in the Catholic world, this was the most renowned.
For the last century a multitude of doctors, illustrious both for learning and virtue, had attracted to it the eyes of all Europe; it had given to the Church a great number of pontiffs and eminent men, and its glory had so much increased that it had come to be regarded as the mother of discipline and the nurse of literature.
Therefore, an innumerable crowd of young men sought admission there, whether they desired to make a great career either in
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the world, or in the Church.
For many years some of its Chairs had been_ occupied both by the children of St. Dominic and of St. Francis, but soon storms arose against them, as will be seen later on.
The Order of Minor Friars was represented at Paris, in the department of Theology, by Alexander Hales, when St.
Bonaventure came.
Alexander had been born in an English town, and had shown from his youth a lively piety and a superior mind.
The sweet virtues of Mary had tenderly impressed his heart, he loved her with filial _ affection, and.the fervour of his devotion had induced him to promise never to refuse any request that was made to him in the name of the Mother of God.
When he had finished his studies in his own country, he came to Paris to teach the science of theology and canonical law, and he soon became a clever master, whom people everywhere were proud to know.
One day a religious met him and said:
'" Reverend Master, your position in the world is the most beautiful to which a man of letters can attain—men revere you and overwhelm you with praises, but, after all, this glory passes
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away, and it is to Heaven that you should look.
~ Do..you think you have taken the right way to get there?
Are' you sure that you have nothing to fear from the obstacles which surround you on all sides, and have caused you to fail in breaking entirely with the world and the flesh?"
The Doctor was surprised at such language, without, however, being angry at it. "Consider," the brother added, "'your state and mine.
Do you not see the difference between them?
You are in the midst of honours and riches, while I am in abject poverty, and the end cannot be the same for us both.
Judge of it yourself according to the Gospel."
Alexander was deeply moved; and the brother then began to hope that he should bring him to renounce the world.
'If I have chosen the wiser part," he continued, "why should not you take it also?
It will cost you something no doubt, but I ask it of you, in the name of your best interests, and in the name of the Blessed Virgin, to whom you have promised to refuse nothing."
At the name of Mary the soul of the young man yielded.
''Go, brother, go," he said, "and I will follow you soon, and will do as you
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desire."
Some days after, he entered the Order of St. Francis, to whom he offered his talents, and accepted in return a humble and austere life, whose end should be a serene and happy death.
He composed a Summary of Theology, which Pope Alexander IV. called "'a stream flowing from its source in Paradise, a treasure of science and wisdom, filled with invincible sentences, which crush error by the weight of truth; a book useful to all who desire to advance in the knowledge of the divine Law, a book which is the work of God, and whose author has been inspired by the Holy Ghost".
It is said that St. Thomas himself was among the disciples of the illustrious Franciscan: whether this be true or not, it is certain that the Angelic Doctor had
- a great admiration for this great man.
Of all books the one that, according to Gerson, he most loved to meditate on was the Summary of Alexander Hales; and this reading preluded the construction of that gigantic monument, the other Summary, the greatest known effort of the human mind, which cast into the shade the work of his predecessor, without, however, causing it to be forgotten.
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Alexander Hales soon began to distinguish Bonaventure from among all his disciples.
The habitual thoughtfulness and gravity of the new religious, his modesty and candour, filled him with admiration, and he was often heard to say that this young man seemed to have escaped the curse of Adam's sin.
When he saw the surprising facility with which he comprehended the most arduous theological questions, the master rejoiced that the Franciscan Order had gained another great man, and that the Church would one day delight in the student who was now committed to his care.
Bonaventure, indeed, attracted the respect and love of all: in the midst of the multitude of young students, many of whom led a dissipated life, he shone like a star by the virtue which he displayed.
Estranged and separated from all that did not concern the sublime end of his vocation, he lived in Paris as calm and peaceful a life as if he had buried himself in the deepest solitude.
Divine love had for a long time wounded his heart, and he set himself to open it to receive this love, by all the means in his power, as we see in his beautiful Treatise of
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The souls walk with God.
"The more learned a man is," he says in one part of it, "the more he is apt to love."
The Holy Scriptures, on which from the time of his novitiate he habitually meditated, caused him always great delight.
The writings of the Fathers ever increased in him more and more the spirit of devotion.
Exterior works always obtained his aid, and among these works the chief one was the care of the sick and of lepers.
Charity had always led the pious to incline towards those who are afflicted with leprosy.
Two thousand houses had been built in France, only, for lepers, and the people who liked to visit and wait on them were often among those of the highest rank.
The great King St. Louis was one of these, Henry III. of England, St.
Elizabeth of Hungary, and a crowd of other illustrious personages.
The Order of St. Francis, which devoted itself to all the miseries of humanity, was particularly attracted to all who suffered from sickness of every kind.
To wait on the sick and on lepers, and to console them, was for them the most pleasant work, and a true test of devotion.
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They would have regarded the charms of contemplation and holy rapture as illusions, if such like good works had not accompanied them.
"Who will have a horror of lepers or avoid intercourse with the sick," says Bonaventure,
""when he considers Jesus Christ in them, when he sees that, in ministrations to them, he acquires more merits and is more pleasing to God than if he were to render such services to the Saviour
Himself?
I will show you, O Spouse of Christ, Him Whom my soul loves.
You will find Him lying in the house of the sick, a prey to anguish, overwhelmed with pain, torn by sufferings.
It is true, brothers, that we cannot aid all those who suffer, for the number is too large; but at least we can pity all, and see Jesus in them all...
. Let us fear to show ourselves so negligent towards Him.
Let us not say to Him, 'Where dwellest Thou?'
We know where He dwells; we know that among the sick and suffering He is to be found.
It only remains for us to go to Him, and offer our services to Him."
In such a manner both spoke and acted our Saint.
Never did his tenderness cool or his
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pious fervour grow less.
The more repulsive their maladies might be, the greater was his devotion and love in their service; and the greater part of each day was passed among them.
But when he mounted the pulpit to comment on the Holy Scriptures, or to explain the deep mysteries of theology, his lessons had lost nothing of depth and clearness, because of the long hours which he had consecrated to the holy work of wiping away the tears and soothing the bitter hours of the sufferers, his charity seemed to have only brightened his intelli_ gence.
To his works of charity he added all those exercises by which piety is nourished and sustained.
He sought strength in prayer, in meditation, in constant self-examination, in frequent communion, in confession of the lightest failings, in mortification, and in acts of the deepest humility.
It was in this way that he attained to peace and joy of soul, and that even in the middle of the distractions of the world, he continued to taste the heavenly consolations afforded by his novitiate.
Not that his happiness was invariable : it was
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interrupted. by times of bitterness, and, like all the favoured children of the Lord, he had to pay, by suffering, for the divine sweetness which he enjoyed.
Days of trial came to him as they had done to St. Bernard, and as they were afterwards to do to St. Ignatius, St. Francis de
Sales, and to all the souls who have attained to eminence in virtue.
An excessive fear at one time took possession of his soul, and kept him away for several days from the holy Table..
The presence of his God in the Holy Eucharist filled him with alarm.
He had a burning desire to approach It, as his fervent love would have led him to do every day, but the sense of his unworthiness held him back ; and he was languishing with love and fear, when the Saviour Himself, being touched with compassion, put an end to his pain.
On one occasion, when he was assisting at Mass, and was entirely absorbed in meditation on the Passion of Jesus Christ, a part of the Sacred Host consecrated by the priest was miraculously placed between his lips.
He was immediately filled with joy, his fears vanished, his soul recovered its confidence and peace, his communions became more fre-
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quent, and every communion was a new source to him of consolation and peace.
A great sorrow came to sadden his time of study, for the master whom he loved, and who so well appreciated him, was taken from him by death.
In order to receive the degree of Bachelor in Theology, in the time of St. Bonaventure, a religious had to study for three years.
He had afterwards to study a year in the class of a doctor, and, after having passed a public examination, he took the degree of " licentiate,"
which gave him a right to teach as a doctor.
After another year he received from the chancellor the degree of doctor, after which he had a school and a bachelor assistant who taught under him.
St. Bonaventure had to pass through these different stages, and he was the third member of his Order who was made Professor of Theology in Paris.
But before he was called to the highest of all academic honours, he had entered the priesthood.
For this great act he had prepared himself by fasting, by prayer, and by good works.
His faith made him look on it as the
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greatest of 'all dignities, and his humility made him fear that its faithful fulfilment was beyond his power.
On the day of his ordination, his heart burned with fervent love, and his devotion, which had always been so great for the Holy Sacrament of the Altar, was even greater than before.
He afterwards composed two treatises on preparation for the holy Mass.
These works reveal more to us of the state of his soul than all that can be said by others about it.
"When you approach this Sacrament," he says, 'take heed that you are not shaken by any doubt, like a blind man who totters as he walks.
. But submit yourself entirely to God, and keep your soul captive to the yoke of the faith which is supported by such powerful testimony.
What doubt could you entertain about this Sacrament which was given by Jesus Christ to us, in so clear and express a manner; which was taught by the Apostles and all the holy doctors of the Church; which was prefigured during so long a course of years, and was afterwards confirmed by so many ceremonies, miracles, prodigies, and holy observances, all
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of which are palpable evidences of its truth?
Take away from the Church this Sacrament, and what would remain in the world but error and infidelity?
It is for this reason that the Saviour said, 'I am with you to the consummation of the world'.
This bread of Heaven cannot be a source of life to those who are withered and broken from the trunk.
. The Sacrament is received, it is true, by those who are unworthy, but not the benefit of the Sacrament—that is, the grace of Jesus Christ, and loving union with Him.
While the mouth receives Him, the spirit is estranged from Him; while He feeds the body, the heart is not nourished by His love; He does not give life to the soul nor unite Himself to it.
© man of God! let the Lord be the object of your prayers and of your desires, and see with what affection, with what devotion, you will celebrate our Holy Mysteries."
It is easy to judge now, what faith, what ardour, what holy dispositions, filled the soul of Bonaventure every time that he was privileged to offer the august and adorable Sacrifice.
His devotion manifested itself in abundant
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tears, and the humility which marked his every action, was in itself, an eloquent sermon for those of the faithful who were present.
In the works of St. Bonaventure we have many prayers for Holy Communion, and, in reading them, we do not know which to admire the most—the deep humility or the burning love of this angelic soul.
The Church has chosen one of these prayers for the use of her priests, by which to cheer their hearts after the accomplishment of the Sacred Mysteries, and to unite them more closely to the God Whom they have just received.
This beautiful prayer is well known to all: it begins in these words, " Zransjige Zulcissime Domine".
The Saint preserved this pious disposition throughout the day.
He loved to go into the Church to discourse with his Saviour, and he enjoined this practice on his brothers.
As with St. Francis, his beloved father, the sight of good priests pleased him and filled him with joy, because he knew that God was honoured in them, while the thought of the infidelity of a priest inspired him with grief, and caused him to express his indignation like the prophets of old.
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Such were the sentiments of the new priest.
Heaven looked down on him with love, for in him St. Francis was to live again upon the earth, and abundant blessings by his means were to descend upon the Church of God.