The Feast Day of St. Bonaventure

St. Bonaventure

Each year on July 15^th we celebrate the feast day of the great Franciscan Friar St. Bonaventure. Bonaventure was born in the Italian town of Bagnoregio in 1221 and given the baptismal name of John.  He came into contact with the Franciscans as a child when during an illness his family brought him to St. Francis of Assisi. Francis prayed for Bonaventure who eventually returned to health.

Bonaventure was an intellectual by nature and studied at the University of Paris – one of Europe’s oldest and most prestigious institutions of higher learning. He completed at the university a Master of Arts degree in logic and rhetoric. As a student he also found his vocation as a Franciscan Friar.

For many years Bonaventure lectured at the University of Paris and wrote many theological works. Countless students flocked to his stimulating classes. Life, however, changed in 1256 when all classes were cancelled due to a protest by the university’s lay professors.

A year later, Bonaventure’s fellow Franciscans elected him Minister General of their Order. In this ministry, Bonaventure worked to unite the friars over the idea of intellectual development. He even wrote a new constitution for the Franciscans.

In 1274, St. Bonaventure died.  He was a Cardinal at the time. Pope Sixtus IV canonized him in 1482.

(Source of all related images on webpage and homepage: www.wikipedia.org.)