St. Bonaventure

              

                                                                                    St. Bonaventure

Saint Bonaventure was born Giovanni Di Fidanza on 1217 in Bagnoregio, Papal Stateanddied on July 15, 1274, Lyon; canonized April 14, 1482; feast day July 15. He is leading medieval theologian, minister general of the Franciscan order, and cardinal bishop of Albano. He wrote several works on the spiritual life and recodified the constitution of his order (1260). He was declared a doctor  of the church in 1587.

He was a son of Giovanni of Fidanza, a physician, and Maria of Ritella. He fell ill while a boy and, according to his own words, was saved from death by the intercession of St. Francis of Assisi. Bonaventure also known as the ‘Seraphic Doctor’,was the son of a fairly prosperous doctor. He received his early education in his birthplace, Bagnoregio, near Lake Bolsena in central Italy. In 1234 he went to Paris to study and became a master of arts. Bonaventure continued his studies in theology at the University of Paris and wrote commentaries on the Scriptures  and on the Sentences of Peter Lombard. He received a license to teach in 1253.

When he was at the age of twenty-two, St.Bonaventure entered the Franciscan Order. Having made his vows, he was sent to Paris to complete his studies under the celebrated doctor Alexander of Hales,an Englishman and aFranciscan. After the latter's death he continued his course under his successor, John of Rochelle. When he was in Paris he became the intimate friend of the great St. Thomas Aquinas. He received the degree of Doctor, together with St. Thomas Aquinas, ceding to his friend against the latter's inclination, the honor of having it first conferred upon him. Like St. Thomas Aquinas, he enjoyed the friendship of the holy King, St. Louis.

At the age of thirty-five he was chosen General of his Order and restored a perfect calm where peace had been disturbed by internal dissensions. By the middle of the 13th century the Franciscan order was becoming divided between those who wished to alter the rule and program of St. Francis in favor of the corporate possession of private property and activity in university education and political life, and those who wished to remain as faithful as possible to St. Francis's original ideal of poverty and missionary activity among the common people. By training and probably by inclination, Bonaventure was committed to the aims of the former group; that is, he advocated Franciscan participation in education and ecclesiastical affairs for which it was necessary to have the financial support provided by the corporate possession of property. But he made sincere attempts to heal the division in the Franciscan order.                                                                                             

During his time, he is one of the best theologians of medieval age. He is numbered with Albertus Magnus, St. Thomas Aquinas, and John Duns Scotus. Every word of philosophy Bonaventure ever wrote is contained in works explicitly religious in sermons, works of spiritual direction, and theology. He never wrote the kind of introductions to the principles of metaphysics and natural philosophy. Bonaventure’s greatest works are commentaries on the Bible and the Sentences (a textbook that was written by Peter Lombard in the 12th century), followed by Breviloquium (“Summary”) and De Reductione Artium Ad Theologiam (“On the Reduction of the Arts to to Theology”) which reveal both his theological and philosophical views. These as well as later works such as Itinerarium Mentis in Deum (“Journey of the Mind to God”). His teachings revealed that he followed the teachings of St. Augustine but it also revealed some influenced of ancient philosopher, most notably Aristotle.

     I haven’t found any law of his philosophy. But his works are notable for man finding the love of God. His famous “Journey of the Mind to God” (1259) was a masterpiece showing the way by which man as a creature ought to love and contemplate God through Christ. I would be a supporter of him, based on his works and philosophies. As a man we should seek the presence of our God always, that we can feel His divine love. This works and philosophies of St. Bonaventure was solidify by his faith. He was a great influenced in his era. It reflects when he died in 1274. His death bring sadness to the whole even with the king. The caused of death was unknown, but according to some chronicles, he was poisoned.