St Bonaventure: the Seraphic Doctor, Life and Prayer

St Bonaventure (1221-1274) was a Franciscan friar, master of theology at Paris, minister general of the Friars Minor for seventeen years, cardinal-bishop of Albano and, since 1588, a Doctor of the Church, honoured with the title of the Seraphic Doctor. In the Roman calendar of 1962 his feast is kept on 14 July, a feast of the third class in white vestments. Below are his life according to Butler, what he is known for, how he died at the Council of Lyons, the collect of his feast and his celebrated prayer after Communion, Transfige, in Latin and English.

Who was St Bonaventure?

Of his youth, Butler writes, almost nothing is known except that he was born at Bagnorea (Bagnoregio), near Viterbo, in 1221, the son of John Fidanza and Mary Ritella. Bonaventure himself records, in the prologue of his life of St Francis, that as a child he was rescued from death through a vow his mother made to St Francis. The pretty story that Francis cried over the infant "O buona ventura!", and so gave him his name, is a later legend.

He entered the Order of Friars Minor and studied at the University of Paris under the Englishman Alexander of Hales, then taught theology and Holy Scripture there from 1248 to 1257. Alexander said of him that he "seemed not to have sinned in Adam". At Paris he wrote his great Commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard, of which Pope Sixtus IV said that "he uttered such things on sacred science that the Holy Ghost would seem to have spoken by his mouth". When the secular masters of the university attacked the mendicant friars, he defended evangelical poverty, and in 1257, after the Pope had vindicated the friars, he received the degree of doctor together with St Thomas Aquinas.

Butler tells of the humility that kept him back for a time from Holy Communion, until, according to the acts of his canonization, while he was hearing Mass and meditating on the Passion, a particle of the consecrated Host was brought to his lips by an angel. From that time he received Communion without scruple.

Minister general of the Franciscans

In 1257, not yet thirty-six, Bonaventure was elected minister general of the Friars Minor. The Order was divided between those who wanted to mitigate the Rule and the rigorists called the Spirituals, some of whom had fallen into error. He required a faithful observance of the Rule without the excesses of the Spirituals, and at the general chapter of Narbonne in 1260 he gave the Order a set of constitutions that shaped Franciscan life for centuries. He governed it for seventeen years and has been called its second founder.

At the request of the friars he wrote the life of St Francis, the Legenda maior. Butler records that St Thomas Aquinas, coming to see him while he was at work on it and finding him in contemplation, went away saying: "Let us leave a saint to work for a saint." For the life of the founder himself, see our page on St Francis of Assisi.

Butler also preserves a story that shows the minister general at his best. Visiting the friary of Foligno, Bonaventure was followed down the road by a shy friar who had missed the chance to speak with him. He stopped and talked with him at length by the roadside, and to those who grew impatient he answered: "I am at the same time both prelate and servant, and that poor brother is both my brother and my master."

Cardinal, bishop and the Council of Lyons

In 1265 Pope Clement IV named him archbishop of York, and Bonaventure obtained leave to refuse. In 1273, however, Gregory X made him cardinal-bishop of Albano and ordered him to accept without excuse. The legates who brought him the cardinal's hat found him, it is said, in a friary of the Mugello near Florence, washing the dishes; he asked them to hang the hat on a tree until he had finished.

Gregory X charged him with preparing the Second Council of Lyons, called for the reunion of the Greeks with Rome. St Thomas Aquinas died on his way to it; Bonaventure, Butler writes, was "the outstanding figure in this great assembly". He resigned as minister general during the council, conferred with the Greek delegates, and preached on the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, when the union was celebrated.

How did St Bonaventure die?

He died at Lyons, while the council was still sitting, on the night of 14 to 15 July 1274, at about fifty-three years of age. Peter of Tarentaise, a Dominican who afterwards became Pope Innocent V, preached his funeral panegyric: "No one ever beheld Bonaventure who did not conceive a great regard and affection for him."

He was canonized in 1482 by Pope Sixtus IV and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1588. His body, buried in the Franciscan church at Lyons, was burnt by the Huguenots in 1562, during the wars of religion.

What is St Bonaventure known for?

He is known first as a Doctor of the Church, the "Seraphic Doctor", whose theology unites the understanding and the heart. The great chancellor of Paris, Gerson, wrote that among all the Catholic doctors Bonaventure seemed to him "the best for enlightening the understanding and at the same time warming the heart". His best-known works are the Commentary on the Sentences; the Breviloquium, a concise summary of theology; the Itinerarium mentis in Deum, the Journey of the Mind into God; the mystical treatises On the Threefold Way, the Soliloquy and On the Perfection of Life, written for the Poor Clares of Longchamp; and the Legenda maior of St Francis.

He is known also as the second founder of the Franciscans, and as the friend and colleague of St Thomas Aquinas, received doctor with him at Paris and expected with him at Lyons; the two are the great masters of the thirteenth century. You can read more about his Dominican contemporary in our page on St Thomas Aquinas, the Angelic Doctor.

One of his sayings sums up his teaching on holiness: "The perfection of a religious man is to do common things in a perfect manner. A constant fidelity in small things is a great and heroic virtue."

The collect of St Bonaventure (Missal of 1962)

The Collect of his feast asks that he who was our teacher of life on earth may be our intercessor in heaven.

Collect, 14 July

Deus, qui pópulo tuo ætérnæ salútis beátum Bonaventúram minístrum tribuísti: præsta, quǽsumus; ut, quem Doctórem vitæ habúimus in terris, intercessórem habére mereámur in cœlis. Per Dóminum nostrum Jesum Christum, Fílium tuum: qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti Deus, per ómnia sǽcula sæculórum. Amen.

O God, who didst give blessed Bonaventure to Thy people as a minister of eternal salvation: grant, we beseech Thee, that we who had him for a teacher of life on earth may deserve to have him for our intercessor in heaven. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

The prayer of St Bonaventure after Communion: Transfige

Butler mentions a prayer that Bonaventure composed for his own use after Mass and that "is recommended by the Church to us all". It stands in the Roman Missal among the prayers of thanksgiving after Mass, after the prayer of St Thomas Aquinas Gratias tibi ago; in 1884 Pope Leo XIII granted an indulgence to priests who said these prayers after celebrating. It is one of the most ardent prayers in the Church's treasury, and the faithful use it after Holy Communion. You will find it with the other traditional prayers of thanksgiving in our page on prayers before and after Communion.

Oratio S. Bonaventurae

Transfíge, dulcíssime Dómine Jesu, medúllas et víscera ánimæ meæ suavíssimo ac salubérrimo amóris tui vúlnere, vera serenáque et apostólica sanctíssima caritáte, ut lángueat et liquefíat ánima mea solo semper amóre et desidério tui; te concupíscat et defíciat in átria tua, cúpiat dissólvi et esse tecum. Da, ut ánima mea te esúriat, panem Angelórum, refectiónem animárum sanctárum, panem nostrum cotidiánum, supersubstantiálem, habéntem omnem dulcédinem et sapórem et omne delectaméntum suavitátis. Te, in quem desíderant Angeli prospícere, semper esúriat et comédat cor meum, et dulcédine sapóris tui repleántur víscera ánimæ meæ; te semper sítiat fontem vitæ, fontem sapiéntiæ et sciéntiæ, fontem ætérni lúminis, torréntem voluptátis, ubertátem domus Dei. Te semper ámbiat, te quærat, te invéniat, ad te tendat, ad te pervéniat, te meditétur, te loquátur, et ómnia operétur in laudem et glóriam nóminis tui, cum humilitáte et discretióne, cum dilectióne et delectatióne, cum facilitáte et afféctu, cum perseverántia usque in finem; ut tu sis solus semper spes mea, tota fidúcia mea, divítiæ meæ, delectátio mea, jucúnditas mea, gáudium meum, quies et tranquíllitas mea, pax mea, suávitas mea, odor meus, dulcédo mea, cibus meus, reféctio mea, refúgium meum, auxílium meum, sapiéntia mea, pórtio mea, posséssio mea, thesáurus meus, in quo fixa et firma et immobíliter semper sit radicáta mens mea et cor meum. Amen.

Pierce, O most sweet Lord Jesus, the marrow and the inmost depths of my soul with the most sweet and most healing wound of Thy love, with true, serene, apostolic and most holy charity, that my soul may ever languish and melt with love and longing for Thee alone; that it may yearn for Thee and faint for Thy courts, and long to be dissolved and to be with Thee. Grant that my soul may hunger for Thee, the Bread of Angels, the refreshment of holy souls, our daily and supersubstantial bread, having all sweetness and savour and every delight of sweetness. May my heart ever hunger for Thee and feed upon Thee, on whom the Angels desire to look, and may the inmost depths of my soul be filled with the sweetness of Thy savour. May it ever thirst for Thee, the fountain of life, the fountain of wisdom and knowledge, the fountain of eternal light, the torrent of pleasure, the abundance of the house of God. May it ever seek Thee round about, seek Thee, find Thee, tend towards Thee, come to Thee, meditate on Thee, speak of Thee, and do all things to the praise and glory of Thy name, with humility and discretion, with love and delight, with ease and affection, with perseverance unto the end; that Thou alone mayest ever be my hope, my whole trust, my riches, my delight, my pleasure, my joy, my rest and my tranquillity, my peace, my gentleness, my fragrance, my sweetness, my food, my refreshment, my refuge, my help, my wisdom, my portion, my possession, my treasure, in whom my mind and my heart may ever be fixed and firm and immovably rooted. Amen.

When is the feast day of St Bonaventure?

In the calendar of 1962 the feast of St Bonaventure, Bishop, Confessor and Doctor of the Church, is kept on 14 July, as a feast of the third class, in white vestments; you will find it in our traditional Catholic calendar of 1962. In that calendar 15 July is the feast of the Emperor St Henry.

The reform of the calendar promulgated in 1969 moved his memorial to 15 July, the day following the night of his death, and that is the date found in the newer books. Those who follow the 1962 Missal and Breviary keep 14 July.

For a prayer of nine days, begun on 6 July so that the ninth day falls on his feast, see our novena to St Bonaventure.

What is St Bonaventure the patron saint of?

The Church has never proclaimed a particular patronage for St Bonaventure, and we will not invent one. He is naturally honoured above all by the Franciscan Order, which he governed and reformed, and theologians and students of theology have in him a model of learning joined to prayer. Many churches, parishes and schools bear his name, among them the Franciscan university of St Bonaventure in the state of New York, which explains the many searches for "St Bonaventure" that concern its sports teams rather than the saint. He is one of the great company of Catholic saints whom the Church sets before us as teachers as well as intercessors.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was St Bonaventure?

An Italian Franciscan, born at Bagnoregio in 1221, master of theology at Paris, minister general of the Friars Minor from 1257, cardinal-bishop of Albano from 1273, who died at the Council of Lyons in 1274. He was canonized in 1482 and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1588.

Why is St Bonaventure called the Seraphic Doctor?

Because his teaching burns with love of God, as the Seraphim burn before His throne, and because he belonged to the Order of St Francis, whom tradition calls the Seraphic Father, after the Seraph who appeared to Francis when he received the stigmata. Butler adds that he would deserve the title for his "angelic virtues" even had he not been a Franciscan.

When was St Bonaventure canonized?

In 1482, by Pope Sixtus IV. He was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1588.

Where is St Bonaventure buried?

He was buried in the church of the Friars Minor at Lyons, where he died. His remains were burnt by the Huguenots in 1562.

What did St Bonaventure write?

Among many works: the Commentary on the Sentences, the Breviloquium, the Journey of the Mind into God (Itinerarium mentis in Deum), On the Threefold Way, the Soliloquy, On the Perfection of Life and the Legenda maior, the life of St Francis.

What is the prayer of St Bonaventure?

The best known is Transfige, dulcissime Domine Iesu, given above in Latin and English, which the Roman Missal places among the prayers of thanksgiving after Mass.

The Iter Fidei app carries the calendar of 1962 with every feast, the Roman Missal with the prayers of each day and the thanksgiving after Mass, and the Breviary, in Latin and English. Join early access here.

Sources. Roman Missal (1962), Proper of Saints, 14 July (St Bonaventure, Bishop, Confessor and Doctor of the Church); prayers of thanksgiving after Mass (Oratio S. Bonaventurae). Alban Butler, Lives of the Saints, 14 July (St Bonaventure).