CHAPTER V
CHAPTER V.
Preaching of St. Bonaventure—His Zeal for the Salvation of Souls.
'"Fratres ex sua professione habent predicare, in quorum regula specialis tractatus de pradicationis officio continetur."'
FRANCIS OF Assisi, in his solitude, had regarded the world with careful scrutiny, and he had discovered its needs and probed its wounds.
'Go," he said to' his companions— '"'go and preach peace to men.
Preach penitence to them, that they may obtain forgiveness of their sins."
Since his day, the Order had not failed to fulfil its mission, and the prayers of the poor penitent of Assisi were answered beyond his greatest hopes, for the Minor Friars had penetrated to the farthest nations of the earth.
Italy, Spain, France, England, Germany, Sweden, Poland, Greece, Judea, the heathen coun-
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tries of Asia, the countries inhabited by the followers of Mahomet, had all heard their voices.
The crown of martyrdom had been the reward of many among them, others had seen their efforts seconded by Heaven itself, by means of striking miracles, all had gathered in consoling fruits of salvation.
Thus preaching was held in honour in the Seraphic Order, and to be a member of it was not only to be vowed to the practice of penitence, but also to the preaching of it.
From the time.of his entrance into religion, Bonaventure had been preparing himself to announce to the people the message of the \ Lord.
He continually read the Holy Books, meditating on them as the source of all truth, of all virtue, of all science; he probed the difficulties of them, and considered their different meanings, and at last the text was so familiar to him, that he was supposed to know the whole Scriptures by heart.
As in his writings, so also in his discourses, he liked always to invoke the authority of the Holy
Scriptures, and they lent suavity and unction to his words.
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The works of the Fathers, also, were no less familiar to him.
Those who read his meditations on the Life of Jesus Christ would say that he had spent his life in studying St. Bernard, he quotes his words so often and so much to the point; but his other books plainly show that his knowledge was by no means confined to a single author.
He had read everything, and those who read his writings ask with astonishment how this religious, who was so devoted to contemplation and to the practice of good works, so occupied with the teaching of theology, could find time for such extensive reading?
As with St. Augustine, St. Bernard, St. Thomas of Aquin, and, later, with St. Charles
Borromeo, love had taught him to become insensible to fatigue, or rather, as he said himself, he considered that he had only two possessions— his body and his soul; and he offered them so incessantly for the love of the Saviour, that his body was entirely sacrificed by mortification and charitable works, and his soul by contemplation, prayer, study, and meditation on the Divine Mysteries.
In his study of the Doctors of the Church,
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in his meditation on the Holy Scriptures, this son of St. Francis had conceived the most sublime idea of the ministry of preaching.
More than once in his discourses he speaks enthusiastically on this subject.
"Preaching," he says, 'illuminates the soul by teaching it what it ought to do, what it ought to avoid, what it ought to renounce, to love, or to hate.
What would become of the soul if deprived of such light?
What would be the state of a soul that was a prey to blindness and deprived of knowledge?
It would be 'as a canvas on which the painter had not made any mark.
"Preaching inflames the will.
What is the state of a soul that has no fire?
It is like coal in which the fire has been put out.
"The Divine Word confirms men in a good life in a truly admirable way.
Why is it astonishing that it should be so?
Why should it be surprising that the faithful should be strengthened by the Words of God, when mere human speech is able to effect so much?
Are athletes insensible to the applause of the multitude?
Are not soldiers more courageous in the
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fight when they hear the voice of the prince?
And what is still more astonishing, even a horse plunges bravely into danger if it hears the trumpet call, while the song of the labourer makes the oxen's yoke seem light."
The sermons of St. Bonaventure which we still possess are but sketches, his many labours did not allow him to make a longer preparation, and the habit of speaking made preaching always easy to him.
But what admirable things are there to be found in these sketches!
'There, as in everything he wrote, the preacher is full of tender feeling; he speaks to men of all ranks, of his God and his Saviour, with as much unction as when he was addressing only members of the Seraphic Family.
His only End, on Whom his eyes were always fixed, was the Lord Jesus Christ : he knew what paths would lead to Him, and he longed to draw the whole universe close to His adorable Heart.
It is only possible here to give some few treasures from the full storehouse of his thoughts, which are offered to our readers as a faint image only of the beauty of the whole.
The heart of him who loves is the furnace
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— of God, and is kindled by God Himself.
Such a heart is the mirror of God, the sacred ark of God, the field of God.
But, if it # a mirror, it must be. pure and spotless; if it is the ark of God, it should be full of treasure; if it is a furnace, it ought to be burning; and if it is a field, it ought to bring forth much fruit; it should be pure in its innocence, rich in the brightness of its virtues, burning from the vehemence of its love, and covered with fruits from the multitude of good works...
"A holy man is the mirror of God and of men.
He is the mirror of God in his soul by the purity of his conscience; he is the mirror of men by the regularity of his life...
"When the soul acquires the beauty of the . purity which exists in the unity of grace, and the trinity of the theological virtues, faith, hope, and charity, this soul becomes dear to God, desirable to the angels, terrible to demons.
Divine wisdom loves, with so great affection, souls that are adorned with this spotless purity, that it appropriates all their works, and calls them fruits divine...
"The garden of the well-beloved, the garden
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of Jesus Christ, is the pure heart, the devout heart, the heart in which abound the most varied plants, flowers, and fruits of virtue and of merit.
The spouse loves to come into such a garden as this.
"O faithful soul! you are not only the spouse of Jesus Christ, you are formed of His flesh.
If, then, you desire to love Him Whose flesh has given you life, love Jesus Christ; the Son of God has taken a Body similar to your own, in order that, by His flesh, He may give you spiritual life...
"The holy temple of God is a pure body in which the soul adores the Lord, and celebrates
His name.
"OQ precious soul, redeemed by the blood of the Immaculate Lamb, consider how great is thy value, think what a price has been paid for thy redemption! The members of the Lamb have been extended on the Cross.
'All My bones,' He says, 'are out of joint,' they have been placed on the wood of the Cross, and fire has not been wanting for the sacrifice; love constrained the Saviour to endure death, in order that He might reconcile us to His
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SI Father, by offering to Him the sweet fragrance of His Passion. ..
"The sun cannot hide the brightness of its rays; the rose cannot restrain her sweet perfume; the stream cannot cease to water the earth which forms its brink; so also the heart that is fully devoted to God is powerless to hide its love.
It will reveal itself by its words, when necessity or charity shall call them forth.
A living root cannot remain buried in the earth, it germinates and soon produces a blade...
"There is an interior piece of land which we carry within ourselves: it is our conscience.
This piece of land we have to cultivate with extreme care, if we do not wish it to bear the thorns and weeds of sin.
If it is not well hedged in, if it is not broken up by the ploughshare, if it is not watered by abundant rain and warmed by the rays of the sun, it will remain perfectly sterile.
Yes, if during life you leave your conscience untrained, if you do not often break it by the iron of discernment, if you do not bathe it in tears, if you do not burn it with the heat of divine love, it will produce no good, it will only be fruitful in evil...
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"Tf you are a Christian, show that you are such, not only in words, but by your works, and in truth.
. Fix your eyes on the Face of the Saviour; consider the crown of thorns; the blows which bruised Him ; the rod which struck
Him; the shameful spitting; the cruel lance which pierced His Side ; the sponge, filled with gall, which touched His Lips; the blaspheming that a vile populace shouted in His Ears; the ignominy ofthe Cross.
To it all He only replied in the words, ' Father, forgive them'...
'No one ought to be praised, no one ought to be crowned, before his victory is won.
While the ship has not touched the shore, while she is not yet enjoying the safe shelter of the port, it is impossible to call the navigator happy.
Will he arrive at the end of his voyage when the sea is tossed by the violence of the wind and he has to pass over the raging waters? Who knows? The soldier is not applauded till the war is ended ; for if it is possible that he may win a victory, it is also possible that he may encounter defeat.
" The soul which shall have gloriously trodden the way of life shall reign gloriously in the heavenly country.
This is only just and reason-
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able.
The soul which on earth is purified by grace will be for ever blessed in Heaven.
Such a soul will have for a friend, not merely a king, but the King of all knowledge, the King
Almighty, the King Who governs the universe.
"Oh! when will the day come that, full of joy, we shall enter into the kingdom, into that kingdom where we shall contemplate the supreme light of His Being, where we shall love, with all our heart, the Supreme Good, where we shall for ever be closely bound to Him.
There our desires are satisfied so that there is nothing left _ to desire; there our sight is not obstructed by any cloud; there our taste is satiated with sweetness, Our peace is established and cannot be moved, our rest has no bounds to its completeness, our joy is eternal and unmixed with any allies..."
In the thirteenth century, as in our day, the spirit of man was apt to look too much to himself, and to idolise his own learning.
In every age a conflict has been going on between terrestrial knowledge, and the knowledge that is from above.
This is how the Saint cautioned the world against mere earthly learning.
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"All knowledge is good," he says, '' because it comes of God, but knowledge, when it is misused, becomes food for the passions.
It is called worldly, because it is, for those who are weak and incapable, an occasion of much error; it is earthly, because it engenders cupidity which destroys their manhood ; it is animal, it produces voluptuousness which lowers them ; it is diabolical, because of the pride which it inspires.
The slaves of this knowledge will not believe or acquiesce in the truth, who invites them to come to her, like a mother full of tenderness, and hence they are justly punished when they add faith in an infamous stepmother to philosophic reason.
"Jesus Christ has been in our midst as a Doctor full of wisdom, that He might teach by His doctrine men who were plunged in ignorance.
On the last day of a great Feast He cried with the voice of a trumpet, 'Let him that is athirst come to Me'; let him drink the sweet water of life, which I will draw for him from the well of My knowledge.
"The Son of God is come as a Mediator full of grace, to offer us the remedies of peace and
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concord; and thus He merits our love.
He has come as an incontrovertible Teacher, to give us lessons in mercy and justice, and under this title He is worthy of all our veneration.
He has come as a King in infinite humility, that He may give us an example of humility and poverty, and to call us to follow in His steps.
"He has come to take our nature, to heal us by His grace, to reconcile us by His penance, to reward us by His glory...
"He has come in the Name of God the Father, and His authority has no bounds; He has come in His own Name, and His coming was humble ; He did not appear as our Master, but as our servant, and He did not take the form only of an ordinary servant, but of a despised servant, so that He might be subjected to bad treatment ; a servant of sin, that He might be constrained, in spite of His innocence, to pay the debt of sin.
He has come in the Name of the Holy Spirit, and He has been like a river, for by His doctrine, by His grace, and by His Blood
He has purified, and nourished, and watered the world.
The more a river is restrained in its course, the more violent and impetuous it
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becomes; so it was with the Son of God while occupying the narrow dwelling of His Body.
The Spirit of the Lord governed Him Who is Love, Goodness, Charity. The south wind causeth the clouds to give us gentle rain, and the charity of the Holy Spirit caused Jesus Christ to come down to us with the sweet rain of His graces.
Hence it is written of Him: 'God will come from the way of the south'.
"'He came to enlighten us by the knowledge of the truth; He came to enkindle in us the purity of love; He came to revive us by the abundance of joy. ...
" He came to confirm us by the grace of the Holy Spirit, and to prevent us from falling away. ... He came to console us by the tenderness of His mercy, and to give us refreshment in the burning fire of tribulation. ..
In Jesus all good is to be found, as it is written, "Seek and you shall find".
It is Him Whom we must seek ; and the Saint teaches us how to set about this search after the Supreme
Good.
""We ought to seek Jesus Christ as beggars seek their food, wandering through the streets of the
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town, and going from house to house.
We too must go through the places where the Apostles live, and the martyrs dwell, and the virgins, and the confessors; we must knock at the door of each, sometimes at Mary's door, and sometimes at that of Peter, sometimes at that of Francis; we must pass along the streets where the Orders of Angels reside, and stop at the door of Michael, and then at that of Gabriel, seeking while we meditate, and in our meditation ceasing not to beg and to pray.
. ."
After Jesus Christ, or rather with Jesus Christ, _ Holy Church has been in all ages an object of unspeakable love to the servants of God.
Indeed, what would become of the world without the Church?
What would become of the treasures of the teaching, the tribulation, and the Cross, of God made man?
The Saint distinguished himself by his tender veneration for the Church; he loved to praise her in his sermons, and to declare the superabundance of her wealth.
He calls her "the Mother of Jesus Christ, because without her the Saviour is dead for us, and by her He is born in our hearts".
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As he was called to preach the Word of God to all men without distinction, He would exhort, encourage, reprove, and correct, without giving way to any human fear.
All ranks came to his tribunal, and if he had praises for virtue, and loving words to bestow on good examples, he had also rods and censures for vice and for forgetfulness of duty.
None respected the ministers of the Church more than he did; but when he found them unworthy of their heavenly calling, his soul was filled with sorrow.
"Bad superiors deserve as many deaths as they have given bad examples.
""When did the enemy sow tares?
When men who are the heads of families, when prelates, and all those to whom the care of souls is confided, were sleeping in their torpor, negligence, and idleness.
O ye idle, how long will you sleep? What power would the demon have against you, if you had not given yourselves overto)sleeprn..) "Unhappy are the sheep whose shepherd is blind ! They are without defence against savage beasts, and those beasts are demons.
. ."
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France and Italy in turn heard the words of the seraphic preacher, and everywhere he conciliated the love and the veneration of men.
His success in the pulpit surpassed that of his theological teaching; the most distinguished personages gave him their confidence, and many sinners broke the yoke of crime, and embraced a life more in conformity with the dignity of the name of Christian.
Such zeal, indeed, consumed the soul of Bonaventure, as made of it an altar where the celestial fire burned by day and by night.
The _ exterior man was nothing in his eyes but a "'mass of mire," but the interior man, "created in the image of God, redeemed by the Blood of Jesus
Christ, made the Temple of the Holy Spirit, the habitation of the Saviour, the seat of wisdom and of the virtue of God, the interior man capable of eternal beatitude," attracted all his attention and carried him beyond himself.
Thirsting as he did for the honour of God, he wept when he saw that image of God dishonoured.
" Who will make me," he cried, " to be clothed like Mordecai in sackcloth, not to mourn over the threatened death of my people, but to weep
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over a death already consummated, and to lament incessantly before the gates of the palace?"
If the abundant charity of this illustrious man brought him to pour out his lamentations in public for the temporal ruin of his people, how, unhappy ones, shall I cease to shed bitter tears when I see an infinite multitude of souls delivered over to carnage, and my
God regarded as nought? ... How can he flatter himself that he loves God, who will see
His image dragged through the mire, without troubling himself?
If he remembers that the Son of God died for the salvation of souls, will he not desire to give his life for these same souls?
And when he sees the Blood of Jesus Christ trodden under foot, how, I ask, can he endure such an outrage on his Lord?
Will he not every day spend himself in prayer, and make his voice heard in preaching ; will he not instruct his neighbour in every way, by reading, by hearing confessions, so as to gather up the Blood of his Lord, by gathering up, and converting, souls? ...
After his zealous efforts of apostolic preaching Bonaventure always found Him Whom he
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6r loved so well ready to lavish on him ineffable consolations.
Never has any man had his days besieged by more absorbing cares, and yet never was man more united to his God.
If you desire to know by what secret he managed thus to reconcile his external occupations with interior contemplation, and how his intercourse with men left him free at all times to rise to celestial heights, you must ask of the love of the Saviour.
The ministry of preaching held a very special place, as we have said, among the labours of the Seraphic family, and St. Bonaventure continued to practise it to the end of his life.
Only a few days before his death, he spoke at the Council of Lyons, in that assembly of the Princes of the Church, and he ended his mission by glorifying that Church which he had always loved as a mother, and whose triumph had been the one desire of his life.