Our saint for today, St. Bonaventure, is known as the “Seraphic Saint,” because he was like an angel, in his burning love for God and in his great desire to do the works of God, and did nothing in life but follow the will of God. Bonaventure was an Italian Franciscan, dogmatic theologian, scholastic philosopher, writer, mystic, and the 7th Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor. Having traced the footsteps of St. Francis of Assisi, and having given significant contribution to the spirituality of the Franciscan Friars Minor, he was considered the second founder of the Order. He was born in 1221 in Bagnoregio, near Viterbo, Italy, just five years before the death of St. Francis. At Baptism he was named John and when he entered the Franciscan Order he received the name Bonaventure. Almost nothing is known of his infancy and childhood, except that his father was Giovanni Fidanza and his mother was Maria Ritell. When he was about four years old he got very sick and his mother brought him to Francis of Assisi to be healed. Francis prayed for him and he was saved from an untimely death. In 1243, he joined the Friars Minor and studied at the University of Paris. In 1255 he received the degree of master, a title equivalent to doctor. In 1257 until 1274, he held the office of Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor. Those were difficult times as the Order was divided on the issue of the observance of poverty. He addressed the problem, held several Chapters and proposed corrective rules. He led the Franciscans on an intellectual course that made them the most prominent Order in the Catholic Church until the coming of the Jesuits. His theology was aimed at integrating faith and reason. Bonaventure lived a life of holiness. His work and administration were guided by prayer and reflection. A true follower of St. Francis and a faithful disciple of Jesus, he remained centered in the teachings of the Church and in the centrality of the Blessed Trinity. His voluminous writings are treasures, not only for the Church, but for the whole humanity. According to him, in order for a person to be enlightened about divine truths, he needs prayer, the exercise of virtues, reflection and meditation which leads to union with God. In 1274, Bonaventure became Cardinal Bishop of Albano. He helped Pope Gregory X prepare for the Second Council of Lyon, where he was also a participant. His significant contribution in that Council led to a union of the Greek and Latin Churches in some important beliefs. While attending that Council, Bonaventure died suddenly under suspicious circumstances on July 15, 1274. The 1913, first edition of the Catholic Encyclopedia had citations that he was poisoned. The second edition however, the New Catholic Encyclopedia - 2003, said nothing about it. Bonaventure was canonized on April 13, 1482. He was declared Doctor of the Universal Church in 1588 by Pope Sixtus V. On this occasion he was given the title “Seraphic Doctor.” A seraph is one of the highest-ranking angels as well as “one of the six-winged angels always standing in the presence of God.” When Christ appeared to St. Francis to give him the gift of stigmata, He appeared as a seraph. This title justifies the soaring mystic life of St. Bonaventure. In 1587, he was declared one of the greatest philosophers of the Middle Ages.
