“Let your love lead your steps to Jesus wounded, to Jesus crowned with thorns … enter with your whole being through the door of his side into Jesus’ heart itself.”
Saint Bonaventure, On the Perfection of Life
Saint Bonaventure, born in 1221, was an Italian theologian and mystic who joined the Franciscan order in 1243. He taught at the University of Paris from 1248 to 1257 until he was made Minister General of the Franciscan Order. In 1273 Pope Gregory X appointed him to be a cardinal. Pope Sixtus IV canonized Bonaventure a saint in 1482 and Pope Sixtus V named him a Doctor of the Church in 1588 with the honorific title of Seraphic Doctor.
St. Bonaventure’s writings are diverse and profound. One of his most famous works, The Soul’s Journey to God (or The Journey of the Mind to God) lays out the path toward spiritual unition through contemplation. He also wrote The Tree of Life, a reflection on the life of Christ, and The Life of Saint Francis, a biography of the founder of his order.
Christ as mediator
In his writings, Saint Bonaventure highlights that Christ is the perfect mediator between God and humankind. It is through Christ’s humanity, and especially through His passion, that we can have a loving relationship with Him.
Like Saint Maximus before him, Bonaventure describes how Christ is not only at the center of the human person (microcosm) but of the universe (macrocosm). Christ is the center of all time; the absolute center – whose humanity mediates between God and all humankind.
Saint Francis as exemplar of Christ
For Bonaventure, Saint Francis is the perfect human example of a life conformed to Christ. Francis’ life foreshadows a post-eschatological universe where humankind and all of creation is conformed to God.
Francis’ famous relationship with animals reveals a world in perfect harmony with creation. In his “Canticle of the Creatures” Francis sees the divine presence in everything.
Saint Francis, through his relationship with Christ, experienced a transformation of consciousness through grace. His awareness of the created world changed. Every aspect of creation spoke to Francis of the love of God revealed in Jesus Christ.
In his radical poverty, Francis is detached from materialism and freely lives a spiritual life in communion with God. His life of service and prayer characterized by love and devotion to God is the model for all Christians who wish to participate in the building of the Kingdom of God.
Bonaventure also tells us of how Francis received the stigmata when he went to the mountain of La Verna and experienced the vision of a six-winged Seraph in the form of the crucified Christ. Bonaventure saw the six wings of the Seraph as the six stages of the soul’s journey to God.
Saint Francis became the perfect exemplar of the Christian mystic. In The Soul’s Journey to God Bonaventure tells us that “we are disposed to reenter the mirror of our mind in which divine realities shine forth.” It is in looking inward, into our interior world, that we can come to truly know ourselves and experience an ordered love for self:
Here the light of truth as from a candelabrum, glows upon the face of our mind, in which the image of the most blessed Trinity shines in splendor. Enter into yourself, then, and see that your soul loves itself most fervently; that it could not love itself unless it knew itself, nor know itself unless it remembered itself, because our intellect grasps only what is present to our memory.
It is through this process that we regain a memory, a knowledge of who we are, and an understanding of our true relationship with God. Bonaventure further revealed truths about the mind:
We hold that the memory has an unchangeable light present to itself in which it remembers immutable truths. And so from the activities of the likeness so present to itself and having God so present that the soul actually grasps him and potentially is capable of possessing him and of being a partaker in him.
Here Bonaventure cited 2 Peter 1:4 where we become “partakers in the divine nature” and showed how this happens through an experience of God in the mind, the interior world. We discover God, the Holy Trinity, and his life-transforming love by “entering” into oneself.
Trinitarian relational love
Bonaventure’s understanding of the Trinity emphasized Greek Christian themes more than Latin ones. Whereas St. Augustine and others in the West focused on the unity of God, the Cappadocian Fathers reflected on God’s triune nature, which emphasized relationality.
The verb “perichoreo” was first used by Saint Gregory of Nazianzus and the noun “perichoresis” was first used by Saint Maximus the Confessor to describe the way the persons of the Trinity have a relationship of “interpenetration.” Saint John Damascene used the term perichoresis to describe how the divine persons were intimately related to each other, taking existence from each other, and pouring self out into the other.
The three divine persons of the Trinity mutually inhere in one another and draw life from one another. Bonaventure picks up this theme in his description of the Holy Trinity and used the Latin word “circumincessio” to describe how the three persons “moved around one another” in a communion of love.
Richard of St. Victor, a 12th century theologian, mystic, and Prior of the Abbey of Saint-Victor in Paris, made the case that the supreme content of the good was in fact charity or love. And that if God is love, then God cannot exist without some form of plurality.
Perfection occurs when the Father is totally gratuitous in love, the Spirit is totally receptive in love, and the Son is both gratuitous and receptive in love. Bonaventure takes this and makes the point that God must communicate Himself if He is good, and He must be personal if He is love. The Trinity reveals the creative unity of “being in love.”
The Father’s “rule” is to be self-gift, not a despot but a humble servant. His nature is self-diffusive goodness which communicates itself to others. The Son shares in this unique likeness.
The Word, according to Bonaventure, is the “art of the Father” because He expresses the ideas of the Father. The Word is the model or archetype of all that exists. The Word, the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, is the point of unity, harmony and order and as mentioned above has a role as mediator between God and creation.
The creation flows out of the relationship between Father and Son. All existence has meaning in relation to the Word. In the incarnation, the Word in becoming Christ, unites with creation through humanity and the Father’s mystery is expressed in time.
The perfection of love involves the Father (the source of love), the Son (the emanation of love), and the Spirit (act of the will). The Spirit is the gift of God’s love and unites us to the Father and to the Son.
The Trinity, therefore, is the perfect expression of relational love, a community of persons in love which is dynamic and expressive, overflowing with goodness and creativity. It is outward moving. Its life is marked by personal gift. God loves freely and desires to share love. Creation is free because love must be free, and creation itself comes from this dynamic self-expression of the love between Father and Son.
The foundation of created life
The very basis of created life is in the community of the love of the Trinity. We are created in the image of the Trinity and so we long to experience profoundly free relational love. In the spirit of Saint Francis and Saint Bonaventure, we are called to multiple dimensions of loving relationality:
- Ordered Love of Self – a recognition that we have an internal community meant to be grounded in love (also meant to reflect the hierarchy of angels – something I’ll explore in the next Bonaventure article). We can marvel at how we are a unity (one human person) in multiplicity (body and soul; intellect, will, and emotions, and a complex self-system).
- Love of Neighbor – we are called to communion with others as the one Body of Christ made up of many members. We can offer ourselves as a self-gift in service to others.
- Love of Creation – we are called to see God’s glory manifest in all of creation. We recognize the order and harmony in the universe, another unity in multiplicity.
- Love of God – we are called to an intimate loving union with God, the source of all love. We can stand in awe at how He is both simple and complex, how God is One and a Trinity. We can participate in God’s work by joining with Christ as a co-mediator of His love. As we love God, we become more and more like Him. We long for an experience of contemplative prayer where we can sit in His presence.
Time for Personal Reflection
I invite you to a moment of recollection. This is a prayerful calling to mind of all your parts, becoming aware of the inmost self, our deep spiritual center, and opening of your heart to God’s presence.
As your parts rest in a kind of gentle internal quiet, notice your body relax, your shoulders drop, and your face soften. As your breathing both deepens and slows, you become more aware of that deep spiritual center, your inmost self. Notice how calm and restful that feels. Notice the presence of Jesus, the Word, who is Himself the perfect icon of the Father. Notice the presence of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, whose love flows from the Father, through the Son, and into your heart.
Allow yourself to rest in that beautiful and perfect love that comes from our God.
There is a famous aphorism: “You cannot know the words of Saint Paul if you do not have the spirit of Saint Paul”
Help us to have the spirit of Saint Bonaventure.
A scholar.
And a man who did theology on his knees.
A prayerful man.
A pious man.
A humble man.
Healed as a child by Saint Francis.
Dedicated his life to the Franciscan charism.
A leader, Minister General, of the order.
A man of balance.
Between scholarship and contemplative prayer.
A mystic, a man of deep contemplation.
The Seraphic Doctor.
The Seraphs contemplate the face of God.
Help us to know the divine glory.
Help us to understand that mystical union with God comes from grace.
Let our hearts cry out to you.
Let us receive you, O God, as a Spouse
As the source of Love
Help me reflect your Love
Trinitarian Love
Help me be a gift of self
Creative
Good
Relational
Dynamic
Joyful
Saint Bonaventure, the Seraphic Doctor, pray for us!
May God bless you on your journey this week!
Resources:
If you’re interested to learn more, here are a few resources you might want to check out:
Ilia Delio is a Franciscan Sister and scholar, and she provides an in-depth overview of Bonaventure in the following work: Simply Bonaventure: An introduction to his life, thought and writing. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press of the Focolare.
A good translation of Bonaventure’s most famous and surprisingly readable works:
Bonaventure (1978). The Soul’s Journey into God. The Tree of Life. The Life of St. Francis. Ewert Cousins (tr.). New Jersey: Paulist Press.
Here are a few videos that might be of interest if you want to learn more about Saint Bonaventure:
- A homily by a Franciscan friar about the life of Saint Bonaventure
- A podcast produced by Tan Books with Conor Gallagher and Father Robert Nixon which focuses on Saint Bonaventure’s life. I love Father Robert’s description of mystical theology as “approach to theology which has its ultimate goal in contemplation”
- Discerning Hearts produced this excellent video about Saint Bonaventure with Dr. Matthew Bunson. Dr. Bunson makes the important point that according to Bonaventure mystical union and contemplation is for everyone not just a select few
Christ is Among us!
Dr. Gerry Crete is the author of Litanies of the Heart: Relieving Post-traumatic Stress and Calming Anxiety Through Healing Our Parts which is published by Sophia Institute Press. He is the founder of Transfiguration Counseling and Coaching, Transfiguration Life, and co-founder of Souls and Hearts.
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The Resilient Catholics Community is open until June 30
Just as God loves Himself in His multiplicity of three Person, we are called to love ourselves. St. Thomas Aquinas makes it clear in the Summa Theologica that the way you love yourself is the “form and root” (“forma et radix”) of the way you will love others [cf. II-II, Q. 25, Art. 4].
To fulfill the two greatest commandments of loving God and neighbor, we must first love ourselves – and that includes all our parts. We will refuse to love the parts of others that resemble the parts of ourselves that we have rejected.
The Resilient Catholics Community focuses on overcoming our natural level impediments to a deep and intimate union with God in the three Persons. The RCC helps us shore up our natural foundation to live out the three loves in the two great commandments – to love God, our neighbor, and ourselves.
For the last four years, the RCC has provided the structure that faithful Catholics need to flourish, to thrive in their human formation. We provide a step-by-step, year-long program to walk you through connecting with your parts in love. The RCC is informed by Internal Family Systems and solidly grounded in a Catholic understanding of the human person.
It all starts with the PartsFinder Pro, which is designed to help you identify 10-15 of your parts, and their interrelationships inside of you – check out these downloadable PDF sample reports for a man and a woman. And we have our 19-minute experiential exercise to help you discern about applying to the RCC.
RCC registration is open just three months each year — and we’re accepting applications for our 10th cohort named after St. Jerome — until June 30. Apply for a scholarship if you need financial assistance; we don’t turn away anyone who is committed to this important work because of money.
Not sure? Hear from Catholics who have experienced the RCC on our RCC landing page to see how it’s helped to change real lives. And reach out to Dr. Peter with any questions at crisis@soulsandhearts.com or on his cell at 317.567.9594.
Three offerings for formators
If you’re a Catholic therapist, priest, spiritual director, coach, or other formator, someone who professionally accompanies others in their personal formation, we know you spend your lives taking care of others. Today, we have three special offerings just for you.
- A special retreat in Bloomington, Indiana, this August with Dr. Peter and Bridget Adams. Join us in person for our “Being At Service” retreat, which will be held at the Mother of the Redeemer Retreat Center August 11-14. We have finalized our sessions and schedule in this newly published PDF brochure. Register here.
- Fall 2025 Foundations Experiential Groups (FEGs). We are now accepting registrations for groups starting in late August or early September 2025. We have limited spots with a team of IFS-trained leaders on a variety of days and times. Check out all this information and officially register here.
- Fall 2025 Advanced Groups. If you have already completed an FEG or Stepping Stones, or are IFS Level One trained, you are eligible for one of our Advanced Groups this fall, including a new group led by Dr. Gerry Crete called The Flourishing Heart. See all details here.
Dr. Gerry on the Interior Integration for Catholics podcast
Check out Episode 168 Restless Hearts and Catholic Parts Work According to St. Augustine (97 minutes) Video Audio
You can think of St. Augustine’s heart as an “open book” titled “Confessions.” In this episode, we go deep into his restless heart, sharing with you how well his clear, detailed, and nuanced descriptions of his inner experience reflect Internal Family Systems and parts work so well. As St. Augustine describes his “divided heart” and “conflicting wills” and the stages of his conversion, Dr. Gerry Crete, Dr. Chrisian Amalu, and Dr. Peter Malinoski show how this translates into IFS terms. To wrap up, Dr. Christian provides an Augustinian experiential exercise. Join us to see how St. Augustine wisdom connects with and informs Catholic parts work.