BAGNOREGGIO, Italy, SEPT. 7, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Here is a
translation of Benedict XVI's address Sunday at Bagnoreggio, the
birthplace of St. Bonaventure.
* * *
Dear brothers and sisters:
This morning's solemn Eucharistic celebration in Viterbo opened
my pastoral visit to your diocesan community, and this meeting
here in Bagnoreggio practically closes it. I greet you all with
affection: religious, civil and military authorities, priests,
men and women religious, pastoral agents, young people and
families, and I thank you for your cordial welcome. I renew my
gratitude first of all to your bishop for his affectionate
words, which referred to my link with St. Bonaventure. And I
respectfully greet the mayor of Bagnoreggio, grateful for the
courteous welcome he gave me in the name of the whole city.
Giovanni Fidanza, who later became Friar Bonaventure, joins his
name to that of Bagnoreggio in the well-known presentation that
he makes of himself in the Divine Comedy. On saying: "I am the
soul of Bonaventure of Bagnoreggio, who in exalted tasks put to
one side erroneous endeavors" (Dante, Paradise XII, 127-129),
which underscores how, in the important tasks that he had to
undertake in the Church, he always postponed attention to
temporal realities -- "erroneous endeavors" -- in favor of the
spiritual good of souls. Here, in Bagnoreggio, he spent his
childhood and adolescence; then he followed St. Francis, for
whom he manifested special gratitude because, as he wrote, when
he was a child he "snatched him from the jaws of death" (Legenda
Maior, Prologus, 3,3) and predicted "bona venture," as your
mayor recalled recently. He was able to establish a profound and
lasting bond with the poor man of Assisi, drawing from him
ascetic inspiration and ecclesial genius. You jealously guard
the famous relic of the "holy arm" of this illustrious
fellow-citizen, keep alive his memory and reflect deeply on his
doctrine, especially through the Center of Bonaventure Studies,
founded by Bonaventure Tecchi, which every year promotes special
study conferences dedicated to him.
It is not easy to summarize the extensive philosophical,
theological and mystical doctrine that St. Bonaventure left us.
In this Year for Priests, I would like to invite priests
especially to listen to this great doctor of the Church and to
reflect more profoundly on his teaching of wisdom rooted in
Christ. He directs every step of his speculation and mystical
tension to wisdom that flowers in holiness, passing through the
degrees that range from what he calls "uniform wisdom," which
concerns the essential principles of knowledge, to "multiform
wisdom," which consists of the mysterious language of the Bible,
and then to "omni-form wisdom," which recognizes in the whole of
created reality the reflection of the Creator, to "informed
wisdom," that is, the experience of profound mystical contact
with God, wherewith man's intellect knows the infinite Mystery
in silence (cf. J. Ratzinger, St. Bonaventure and the Theology
of History, Porziuncola publishers, 2006, pp. 92ff). On
remembering this profound researcher and lover of wisdom, I
would also like to express my encouragement and appreciation for
the service that theologians are called to give, in the
ecclesial community, of that faith that seeks understanding,
that faith which is a "friend of intelligence" and which becomes
a new life according to God's plan.
From St. Bonaventure's rich cultural and mystical patrimony I
limit myself, this afternoon, to consider a "path" of reflection
that might be useful for your diocesan community's pastoral
journey. He was, in the first place, a tireless seeker of God,
from the time of his studies in Paris until his death. He
indicates in his writings the path to be followed. "Given that
God is on High," he wrote, "the mind must ascend to him with all
its strength" (De Reductione Artium ad Theologiam, No. 25).
In this way, he traces a committed path of faith, in which it is
not enough "to read without unction, to speculate without
devotion, to do research without admiration, to be circumspect
without joy, to be expert without piety, to know without
charity, to be intelligent without humility, to study without
divine grace, to speak without wisdom inspired by God" (Itinerarium
Mentis in Deum, Prologue 4). This journey of purification
involves the whole person striving, through Christ, to the
transforming love of the Trinity. And, given that Christ,
forever God and man forever, effects in the faithful a new
creation with his grace, the exploration of the divine presence
becomes contemplation of him in the soul "where he dwells with
the gifts of his uncontainable love" (ibid. IV, 4), to be
finally transported in him. Hence, faith is the perfection of
our cognitive capacities and participation in the knowledge that
God has of himself and of the world; we experience hope as
preparation for our encounter with the Lord, who will constitute
the fulfillment of that friendship that already unites us to
him. And charity introduces us to divine life, making us see all
people as brothers, according to the will of our common heavenly
Father.
In addition to being a seeker of God, St. Bonaventure was a
seraphic singer of creation who, following St. Francis, learned
to "praise God in all and through all creatures," in which
"shines the omnipotence, wisdom and goodness of the Creator"
(ibid. I, 10). St. Bonaventure presents a positive vision of the
world, gift of God's love to men: He recognizes in it the
reflection of the highest Goodness and Beauty that, following
St. Augustine and St. Francis, assures us that it is God
himself. God has given it all to us. From him, as original
source, flow truth, goodness and beauty. To God, as on the steps
of a stairway, one ascends until arriving and almost attaining
the highest Good and in him we find our joy and peace. How
useful it would be if also today we rediscovered the beauty and
value of creation in the light of divine goodness and beauty! In
Christ, observed St. Bonaventure, the universe itself can again
be the voice that speaks of God and leads us to explore his
presence; exhorts us to honor and glorify him in everything (Cf.
Ibid. I, 15). Herein we perceive the spirit of St. Francis, with
whom our saint shared love for all creatures.
St. Bonaventure was a messenger of hope. We find a beautiful
image of hope in one of his Advent homilies, where he compares
the movement of hope to the flight of a bird, which spreads its
wings as far as possible, and employs all its energies to move
them. In a certain sense, it make its whole being a movement to
rise and fly. To hope is to fly, says St. Bonaventure. But hope
exacts movement from all our members and our projection to the
authentic stature of our being, to God's promises. He who hopes,
he affirms, "must lift his head, directing his thoughts on high,
to the height of our existence, that is, to God" (Sermo XVI,
Dominica I Adv., Opera Omnia, IX, 40a).
In his address, the Lord Mayor posed a question: "What will
Bagnoreggio be tomorrow?" In truth, we all wonder about our
future and that of the world, and this question has much to do
with hope, for which every human heart is thirsty. In the
encyclical "Spe Salvi," I wrote that not just any hope is
sufficient to address and overcome the difficulties of the
present: a "certain hope" is indispensable which, giving us the
certainty of attaining a "great" goal," justifies the effort of
the journey" (cf. No. 1). Only this "great hope-certainty"
assures us that, despite the failures of our personal life and
the contradictions of history as a whole, we are always
protected by the "indestructible power of Love."
When we are sustained by such hope we never run the risk of
losing the courage to contribute, as the saints did, to the
salvation of humanity, and "we can open ourselves and open the
world so that God will enter, God, who is truth, love and
goodness" (cf. No. 35). May St. Bonaventure help us to "spread
the wings" of hope, which drives us to be, as he was, incessant
seekers of God, singers of the beauties of creation and
witnesses of that Love and Beauty that "moves everything."
Thank you, dear friends, once again, for your hospitality. While
I assure you of my remembrance in prayer, I impart to you,
through the intercession of St. Bonaventure and especially of
Mary, faithful Virgin and Star of Hope, a special apostolic
blessing, which I extend with pleasure to all the inhabitants of
this beautiful land, rich in saints.
[Translation by ZENIT]
Look at the One they
Pierced!
