Saint Bonaventure

Bonaventure was born about 1221 in Italy, not far from Naples. He was baptized John. The story is told that when he was about four years old, he was deathly ill. His mother begged Francis of Assisi to come and cure him. Francis touched the boy, and he was cured instantly. As an adult, Bonaventure entered the Franciscan order. He went to Paris, where he met Thomas Aquinas. They both studied at the University of Paris. Bonaventure became the head of the Franciscan order. He was appointed a cardinal shortly before his death in 1274. After Bonaventure’s death, it was reported, “At the funeral there was much sorrow and tears; for the Lord had given him this grace, that all who saw him were filled with an immense love for him.”

Suggestions

• Bonaventure practiced poverty. Have the students give examples of teens who are living these aspects of the virtue of poverty: spending money wisely, not bragging about what they own, depending on God for help, and living inexpensively.

Excerpted from Christ Our Life, by Sisters of Notre Dame of Chardon, Ohio

Image credit: Saint Bonavenutre by Francisco de Zurbaran, 1650. Public Domain via Wikimedia.