Saint Bonaventure, Bishop, Confessor & Doctor
S. Bonaventurae Episcopi Confessoris et Ecclesiae Doctoris
Saint Bonaventure, a Franciscan friar, cardinal-bishop, and theologian of rare devotion, is honoured as the “Seraphic Doctor” for the warmth and depth of his teaching on the love of God.
Saint Bonaventure was born about the year 1221 at Bagnoregio, in central Italy, and received in baptism the name John. The tradition holds that as a child he was cured of a grave illness, and that his mother attributed his recovery to the prayers of Saint Francis of Assisi. In due time he entered the Order of Friars Minor founded by Saint Francis, and there he gave himself to study and to the pursuit of holiness.
Friar, teacher, and minister general
Sent to the University of Paris, Saint Bonaventure became one of the foremost theologians of his age, teaching alongside his friend Saint Thomas Aquinas and joining to his learning a deep spirit of prayer. His writings unite sound doctrine with fervent devotion, leading the soul not only to know God but to love him; for this his teaching has ever been prized, and he is called the “Seraphic Doctor.”
While still relatively young he was chosen Minister General of the Friars Minor, and he governed the growing Order with wisdom, gentleness, and firmness through a difficult time, labouring to preserve both fidelity to the ideal of Saint Francis and harmony among the brethren. So fully did he embody the spirit of the Order that he has been honoured as, in a sense, its second founder. At the request of his brethren he also wrote a life of Saint Francis, drawn from devotion and from the testimony of those who had known the saint.
Cardinal and Doctor of the Church
Esteemed throughout the Church for his holiness and learning, Saint Bonaventure was made a cardinal and Bishop of Albano. The account of his life relates that, when the messengers came bearing the cardinal’s insignia, they found him humbly washing dishes, and he bade them hang the insignia on a tree until he had finished his task. He took a leading part in the labours of the Church of his day, and he died at Lyons in the year 1274, while the Second Council of Lyons was being held.
For the depth, soundness, and devotion of his writings, Saint Bonaventure is venerated as a Doctor of the Church. The collect of his feast, like that of the great teachers, prays that we who have had him for a teacher of life on earth may deserve to have him for an advocate in heaven. His feast is kept on the fourteenth of July. In him the Church honours a friar who joined the highest learning to the deepest love of God, and who taught that all true wisdom leads at last to charity.
The Collect
O God, who didst give blessed Bonaventure to thy people to be a minister of eternal salvation: grant, we beseech thee; that we who have had him for a teacher of life on earth may deserve to have him for an intercessor in heaven.
Deus, qui pópulo tuo ætérnæ salútis beátum Bonaventúram minístrum tribuísti: præsta, quæsumus; ut, quem Doctórem vitæ habúimus in terris, intercessórem habére mereámur in cælis.
Patronage
He is venerated as the “Seraphic Doctor” and is honoured as a patron of the Franciscan Order and of theologians.
In the Modern Calendar
In the modern calendar his memorial is observed on 15 July, the day of his death.
Common Questions
When is the feast of Saint Bonaventure?
In the calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal his feast is kept on 14 July as a Third Class feast. In the modern calendar his memorial is observed on 15 July, the anniversary of his death.
Who was Saint Bonaventure?
He was a thirteenth-century Franciscan friar, theologian, Minister General of the Friars Minor, and cardinal-bishop, who taught at Paris alongside Saint Thomas Aquinas. Renowned for uniting deep learning with fervent devotion, he is honoured as a Doctor of the Church under the title “the Seraphic Doctor.” He died at Lyons in 1274.
Why is he called the ‘Seraphic Doctor’?
The title reflects the warmth and devotion of his theology, which leads the soul not only to understand God but to love him ardently, in the spirit of Saint Francis and his Order, which is sometimes called the Seraphic Order. His writings are prized for joining sound doctrine to fervent charity.
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