Today is the feast day of the great Seraphic Doctor of the Church, Saint Bonaventure of Bagnoregio. Born in a small town near Orvieto in Italy, Bonaventure became a leading figure in the medieval Church. His life can be thought of as a synthesis of deep theological insight, saintly piety, and consistent charity. In fact, a contemporary of Thomas Aquinas, the Dominican scholar used to say that the only time he questioned original sin was when he spent time with Brother Bonaventure.
There is a plethora of remarkable insights within Bonaventure’s theological and philosophical texts. His understanding of the Trinity, Christ, love, the Crucifixion, grace, mysticism, and the virtues is simply fascinating. In this brief post, I would just like to highlight Bonaventure’s insight into humility and poverty as highlighted in the work of Zachary Hayes, O.F.M.
However, it is hard to separate any one part of Bonaventure’s theology because his whole theological structure is so interconnected. The consistency found within his writings is beautiful. For-instance, it is essentially impossible to talk about Bonaventure’s concept of poverty without talking about his Christology. Yet, his Christology cannot be looked at without considering his structure of the Trinity. This is so because, for Bonaventure, his theology is radically trinitarian. But precisely because of its trinitarian source for departure, Bonaventure’s theology is deeply Christocentric. This is so because, for Bonaventure, Christ is the center of the Trinity.
