On St. Bonaventure
"All His Thought Was Profoundly Christocentric"
H.H. Benedict XVI
March 3, 2010
www.zenit.org
Dear brothers and
sisters,
Today I would like to speak about St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio. I
confide to you that on proposing this theme I feel a certain nostalgia
because I remember the research that, as a young scholar, I carried out
precisely on this author, whom I particularly esteem. His knowledge has
been of no small influence in my formation. With great joy I went on
pilgrimage a few months ago to his birthplace, Bagnoregio, a small
Italian city, in Latium, which venerates his memory.
Born probably in 1217, he died in 1274; he lived in the 13th century, an
age in which the Christian faith, profoundly permeating the culture and
society of Europe, inspired immortal works in the field of literature,
visual arts, philosophy and theology. Striking among the great Christian
figures who contributed to the composition of this harmony between faith
and culture is, precisely, Bonaventure, man of action and of
contemplation, of profound piety and of prudence in governing.
He was called John of Fidanza. An incident that occurred when he was
still a boy profoundly marked his life, as he himself relates. He had
been affected by a serious illness and not even his father, who was a
doctor, hoped to save him from death. His mother appealed then to the
intercession of St. Francis of Assisi, canonized a short time earlier.
And John was cured. The figure of the Poverello of Assisi became even
more familiar a year later, when he was in Paris, where he had gone for
his studies. He had obtained the diploma of Master of Arts, which we
could compare to that of a prestigious secondary school of our time. At
that point, as so many young people of the past and also of today, John
asked himself a crucial question: "What must I do with my life?"
Fascinated by the witness of fervor and evangelical radicalism of the
Friars Minor, who had arrived in Paris in 1219, John knocked on the
doors of the Franciscan monastery of that city, and asked to be received
in the great family of the disciples of St. Francis.
Many years later, he explained the reasons for his choice: He recognized
the action of Christ in St. Francis and in the movement he initiated. He
wrote thus in a letter addressed to another friar: "I confess before God
that the reason that made me love more the life of Blessed Francis is
that it is similar to the origin and growth of the Church. The Church
began with simple fishermen, and was enriched immediately with very
illustrious and wise doctors; the religion of Blessed Francis was not
established by the prudence of men, but by Christ" (Epistula de tribus
quaestionibus ad magistrum innominatum, in Opere di San Bonaventura.
Intoduzione generale, Rome, 1990, p. 29).
Therefore, around the year 1243 John put on the Franciscan coarse woolen
cloth and took the name Bonaventure. He was immediately directed to
studies and frequented the faculty of theology of the University of
Paris, following a program of very difficult courses. He obtained the
different titles required by the academic career, those of "biblical
bachelor's" and "bachelor's in sentences." Thus Bonaventure studied in
depth sacred Scripture, the Sentences of Peter Lombard, the manual of
theology of that time, and the most important authors of theology and,
in contact with the teachers and students that arrived in Paris from the
whole of Europe, he matured his own personal reflection and a spiritual
sensitivity of great value that, in the course of the following years,
showed in his works and sermons, thus making him one of the most
important theologians of the history of the Church. It is significant to
recall the title of the thesis he defended to be able to qualify in the
teaching of theology, the licentia ubique docendi, as it was then
called. His dissertation was titled "Questions on Knowledge of Christ."
This argument shows the central role that Christ always had in the life
and teaching of Bonaventure. We can say, in fact, that all his thought
was profoundly Christocentric.
In those years in Paris, Bonaventure's adopted city, a violent dispute
broke out against the Friars Minor of St. Francis of Assisi and the
Friars Preachers of St. Dominic Guzmán. Debated was their right to teach
in the university and doubts were even cast on the authenticity of their
consecrated life. Certainly the changes introduced by the Mendicant
Orders in the way of understanding religious life, of which I spoke in
preceding catecheses, were so innovative that not everyone understood
them. Also added, as happens sometimes among sincerely religious
persons, were motives of human weakness, such as envy and jealousy.
Bonaventure, although surrounded by the opposition of the rest of the
university teachers, had already started to teach in the chair of
theology of the Franciscans and, to respond to those who were
criticizing the Mendicant Orders, he composed a writing titled
"Evangelical Perfection." In this writing he showed how the Mendicant
Orders, especially the Friars Minor, practicing the vows of poverty,
chastity and obedience, were following the counsels of the Gospel
itself. Beyond these historical circumstances, the teaching offered by
Bonaventure in this work of his and in his life is always timely: The
Church becomes luminous and beautiful by fidelity to the vocation of
those sons and daughters of hers who not only put into practice the
evangelical precepts, but who, by the grace of God, are called to
observe their advice and thus give witness, with their poor, chaste and
obedient lifestyle, that the Gospel is source of joy and perfection.
The conflict died down, at least for a certain period, and, by the
personal intervention of Pope Alexander IV, in 1257 Bonaventure was
officially recognized as doctor and teacher of the Parisian University.
Despite all this, he had to resign from this prestigious post, because
that same year the General Chapter of the order elected him
minister-general.
He carried out this task for 17 years with wisdom and dedication,
visiting the provinces, writing to brothers, intervening at times with a
certain severity to eliminate abuses. When Bonaventure began this
service, the Order of Friars Minor had developed in a prodigious way:
There were more than 30,000 friars spread over the whole of the West,
with a missionary presence in North Africa, the Middle East and also
Peking. It was necessary to consolidate this expansion and above all to
confer on it, in full fidelity to Francis' charism, unity of action and
spirit. In fact, among the followers of the Saint of Assisi there were
different forms of interpreting his message and the risk really existed
of an internal split. To avoid this danger, in 1260 the General Chapter
of the order in Narbonne accepted and ratified a text proposed by
Bonaventure, which unified the norms that regulated the daily life of
the Friars Minor. Bonaventure intuited, however, that the legislative
dispositions, though inspired in wisdom and moderation, were not
sufficient to ensure communion of spirit and hearts. It was necessary to
share the same ideals and the same motivations. For this reason,
Bonaventure wished to present the authentic charism of Francis, his life
and his teaching. Hence he gathered with great zeal documents related to
the Poverello and listened attentively to the memories of those who had
known Francis directly. From this was born a biography, historically
well founded, of the Saint of Assisi, titled Legenda Maior, written also
in a very succinct manner and called because of this the Legend. The
Latin word, as opposed to the Italian [and English, legend], does not
indicate a fruit of imagination but, on the contrary, Legenda means an
authoritative text, "to be read" officially. In fact, the General
Chapter of the Friars Minor of 1263, which met in Pisa, recognized in
St. Bonaventure's biography the most faithful portrait of the founder
and it thus became the official biography of the saint.
What is the image of St. Francis that arises from the heart and pen of
his devoted son and successor, St. Bonaventure? The essential point:
Francis is an alter Christus, a man who passionately sought Christ. In
the love that drives to imitation, he was entirely conformed to Him.
Bonaventure pointed out this living ideal to all of Francis' followers.
This ideal, valid for every Christian, yesterday, today and always, was
indicated as a program also for the Church of the Third Millennium by my
predecessor, the Venerable John Paul II. This program, he wrote in the
letter "Tertio Millennio Ineunte," is centered "on Christ himself, who
must be known, loved and imitated to live in Him the Trinitarian life,
and, with Him, to transform history to its fulfillment in the heavenly
Jerusalem" (No. 29).
In 1273 St. Bonaventure's life met with another change. Pope Gregory X
wished to consecrate him bishop and name him cardinal. He also asked him
to prepare a very important ecclesial event: the Second Ecumenical
Council of Lyon, whose objective was the re-establishment of communion
between the Latin and the Greek Churches. He dedicated himself to this
task with diligence, but was unable to see the conclusion of that
ecumenical summit, as he died while it was being held. An anonymous
papal notary composed a eulogy of Bonaventure, which offers us a
conclusive portrait of this great saint and excellent theologian: "Good,
affable, pious and merciful man, full of virtues, loved by God and by
men ... God, in fact, had given him such grace, that all those who saw
him were invaded by a love that the heart could not conceal" (cf. J.G.
Bougerol, Bonaventura, in A. Vauchez (vv.aa), Storia dei Santi e della
santita cristiana. Vol. VI. L'epoca del rinnovamento evangelico, Milan,
1991, p. 91).
Let us take up the legacy of this saint, doctor of the Church, who
reminds us of the meaning of our life with these words: "On earth ... we
can contemplate the divine immensity through reasoning and admiration;
in the heavenly homeland, instead, through vision, when we will be made
like to God, and through ecstasy --- we will enter into the joy of God"
(La conoscenza di Cristo, q. 6, conclusione, in Opere di San
Bonaventura. Opuscoli Teologici /1, Rome, 1993, p. 187).
[Translation by ZENIT]
[The Holy Father then greeted the people in several languages. In
English he said:]
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In our catecheses on the Christian culture of the Middle Ages, we now
turn to Saint Bonaventure, an early follower of Saint Francis of Assisi
and a distinguished theologian and teacher in the University of Paris.
There Bonaventure was called upon to defend the new mendicant orders,
the Franciscans and the Dominicans, in the controversies which
questioned the authenticity of their religious charism. The Friars, he
argued, represent a true form of religious life, one which imitates
Christ by practising the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and
obedience. Elected Minister General of the Friars Minor, he served in
this capacity for seventeen years, at a time of immense expansion
accompanied by controversies about the genuine nature of the Franciscan
charism. His wisdom and moderation inspired the adoption of a rule of
life, and his biography of Francis, which presented the Founder as alter
Christus, a passionate follower of Christ, was to prove most influential
in consolidating the charism of the Franciscan Order. Named a Bishop and
Cardinal, Bonaventure died during the Council of Lyons. His writings
still inspire us by their wisdom penetrated by deep love of Christ and
mystical yearning for the vision of God and the joy of our heavenly
homeland.
I welcome the English-speaking pilgrims present at today’s Audience,
including those from Nigeria, Japan and the United States. To the
pilgrims from Sophia University in Tokyo I offer my prayerful good
wishes that the coming centenary of your University will strengthen your
service to the pursuit of truth and your witness to the harmony of faith
and reason. Upon you and your families I invoke God’s abundant
blessings!
©Copyright 2010 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
[He concluded in Italian:]
I greet, finally, youth, the sick and newlyweds. Dear young people,
prepare yourselves to address the important stages of life, basing every
plan of yours on fidelity to God and to your neighbor. Dear sick people,
offer your sufferings to the heavenly Father in union with those of
Christ, to contribute to the building of the Kingdom of God. And you,
dear newlyweds, know how to build daily your family in listening to God,
in faithful and mutual love.
[Translation by ZENIT]
Return to General Audiences...
See Audience on St. Bonaventure and St. Thomas' Approach to Theology...
See Audience on St. Bonaventure's Concept of History...
Return to Lives of the Saints...
