Saint Bonaventure Part 7

It is somewhat strange to observe that this pet.i.tion was not presented earlier. It was now some one hundred and eighty years since Bonaventure's death. But, as the Pontiff declared, the delay only added to the glory of the event. It is a prerogative of the greatness of the Saints that it appeals so powerfully to the minds of men long after their death. Herein it contrasts strikingly with worldly greatness which vanishes so quickly as scarcely to survive the death of those who possessed it.

When our Saint's canonization was mooted Sixtus IV. occupied the Papal Chair. He had been a Franciscan, and this circ.u.mstance operated in favour of the undertaking. To the Pontiff the enrolment of a brother Friar in the Calendar of the Saints was peculiarly agreeable. He refers to the fact in the Bull of canonization, and he is careful at the same time to guard against the impression that his judgment might be influenced by undue partiality. "We have read most diligently," he writes, "the divine writings of the aforesaid holy man, and from the time we were capable of understanding them they have been our chief delight. From the older and more trustworthy Brethren of the Order, who in {118} their youth had learnt it from their elders, we have heard of the fame of his sanct.i.ty and miracles, and we felt that whilst he triumphed in Heaven he ought to be venerated on earth.

Moreover, we remembered that, by choice, we had embraced the same Order and therein by the Divine a.s.sistance made some progress in learning and in the spiritual life--that we had fulfilled the same ministerial office and had been raised to the dignity of the Cardinalate and finally to the summit of the Pontificate. So that we feel we have been raised to those eminences in the Church Militant through which Bonaventure attained to the glory of the Church Triumphant. But lest we should appear to be influenced by any personal motive in this process we have been careful to employ all the diligence and caution which the importance of the matter demands."

He points out the measures taken to accomplish this. A Commission of Cardinals was appointed to examine the life and miracles of the Saint.

Their report in the first instance did not satisfy the Pope. It was not drawn up with sufficient solemnity and it had to be repeated. A fuller investigation was made, additional witnesses were examined and new miracles investigated. The result this time was satisfactory, and the Pontiff felt himself bound to proceed with the canonization.

"Lest," he says, "we should appear to resist the Holy Ghost, who through the mouth of His Prophet commands us to praise G.o.d in His Saints, we have taken counsel {119} with our venerable Brethren the Cardinals concerning this canonization and they have approved of it unanimously." A public Consistory was then held and the Pope enjoined upon the clergy and Faithful of Rome the observance of three days prayer and fasting--"so that G.o.d might enlighten us as to the correct course to pursue, and preserve His Church from falling into error".

After this the opinion of the Cardinals was sought once more--it was entirely favourable.

Thus a.s.sured, the Pope proceeded to the canonization. The solemn act took place in the Basilica of the Holy Apostles on 14 April, 1482. In the course of the ceremony a very remarkable oration on the Saint was delivered by the great ecclesiastical orator, Octavia.n.u.s de Martinis.

[Footnote 49] He insisted particularly on the miracles attributed to the Saint, of which he enumerated something like twenty-one different species. In the following singularly eloquent pa.s.sage he summarizes the Saint's claims to canonization:--

[Footnote 49: Cf. Wadding, "Annals," Tom. XIV, Anno 1482. No 3.]

"If, therefore, it appear that the Blessed Bonaventure was miraculous in his works; if his Divine Commentaries show that he possessed the gift of infused knowledge; if the a.s.siduous fulfilment of the humblest offices prove that he despised worldly honours, and shook off all earthly affections; if it appear that he was patient in trials, steadfast in persecution, that he was profitable to the Order of {120} St. Francis and that, like St. Paul, he was miraculously called to the service of religion; if it appear that his future sanct.i.ty was foretold by St. Francis and affirmed by Alexander of Hales, the Irrefragable Doctor; if it appear that the Sons of St. Francis, themselves remarkable for holiness but considering him holier still, made him their chief Superior, and that the Holy See on account of his renowned merits called him to the administration of the Universal Church; if, finally, it appear that by the common consent of the Faithful he is regarded, invoked and worshipped as a Saint and that he daily succours those who have recourse to him, then your Holiness without further request might decree him those public honours which alone he lacks. How much more readily ought you not to do this at the earnest prayer of so many powerful princes."

At the conclusion of this discourse Peter Rodulph, the Procurator-General of the Franciscan Order, arose, and addressing the Sovereign Pontiff, formally besought [Footnote 50] him in the name of the Most Holy Trinity to enrol Bonaventure in the Calendar of the Saints. The Pope's reply is embodied in the Bull already mentioned, from which we quote the following important pa.s.sage:--

[Footnote 50: Cf. Wadding, "Annals," Tom. XIV, Anno 1482. No.4.]

"Confident that G.o.d will not allow us to fall into error in the canonization of this Saint, by His Divine Authority and that of His Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, we decree that Bonaventure of {121} Balneumregis, of blessed memory, Professor of Theology, of the Order of Friars Minor, who was raised from the office of Minister-General to that of Bishop and Cardinal, is a Saint, and is to be inscribed in the Catalogue of the Saints and joined and a.s.sociated with them. By these letters present we insert him amongst the number of those who are to be venerated by the Church."

Thus was Bonaventure glorified. But further honours were in store for him. A hundred years later 14 March, 1582, he was declared a Doctor of the Universal Church by Sixtus V. This was an authoritative p.r.o.nouncement that our Saint was to be regarded as one of the foremost expounders of the Catholic Faith. He was placed on a level with Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, and Gregory. These are the words of the Pontiff: [Footnote 51] "After mature deliberation with our venerable Brothers the Cardinals, with their counsel and unanimous consent, and by our own certain knowledge . . . we inscribe by right the aforesaid St. Bonaventure amongst the number of Holy Doctors, and we declare and decree that he is to be regarded and venerated as amongst the chief and foremost of those who have excelled in the Sacred Science of Theology."

[Footnote 51: Bull "Triumphantis Jerusalem".]

After more than seven hundred years Bonaventure's greatness is undiminished and his glory is undimmed. His memory is fragrant in the Church of G.o.d, and those "Divine Commentaries" {122} and other treasures of Christian thought which he left behind him are still with us. In the depth and clearness of his dogmatic teaching, but especially in the ardent outpourings of his seraphic soul in his devotional works, we are brought into intimate contact with his marvellous life. From these, rather than from the records of biographers, we learn its true beauty and holiness. The latter offer us a portrait of the exterior man, but the former reveal to us the secret workings of the soul. From his writings we gather what Bonaventure really was--what he thought, what he aspired to, what he sought to accomplish. It is in them we may hope to discover the real man, and to obtain a clearer grasp of that particular development of the Franciscan spirit with which he is so intimately a.s.sociated.

ABERDEEN: THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.