Today we celebrate the feast of St. Bonaventure (1221 AD - 1274 AD), Cardinal-Bishop of Albano, Minister General of the Franciscans, and Doctor of the Church. For his wise government of the Franciscan order as Minister General, a post St. Bonaventure assumed at the age of 35 and in which he continued until the final year of his life, St. Bonaventure is called the order's "Second Founder." Pope Clement IV offered St. Bonaventure the archbishopric of York in 1265, but the humble saint declined. In 1273, against his will, St. Bonaventure was made Cardinal-Bishop of Albano by Pope Gregory X. In 1557, Pope Sixtus V honored St. Bonaventure for his great achievements in dogmatic, mystical, exegetical and homiletic theology by granting him the title "Doctor of the Church."
St. Bonaventure united in himself the most sublime features of the Middle Ages; tender piety and profound learning. St. Bonaventure possessed a deep respect for traditio, and ever remained a faithful student of St. Augustine. At the same time, St. Bonaventure drew freely from the newly re-discovered teachings of Aristotle. Perhaps because Pope Benedict likewise combines piety and learning, and joins respect for traditio with zeal for authentic renewal, Sandro Magister refers to Benedict as "Bonaventurian."
From St. Bonaventure's "Life of St. Francis:"
"When the Brethren besought [St. Francis] to teach them to pray, he said: “When ye pray, say ‘our Father,’ and:’We adore Thee, O Christ, in all Thy churches that be in the whole world, and we bless Thee for that by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.” Moreover, he taught them to praise God in all things and through all His creatures, to reverence priests with an especial honour, to firmly hold and simply confess the true faith, according as the Holy Roman Church doth both hold and teach it."
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