Saint Bonaventure was born in Bagnoregio, Italy, around 1221 and entered the Franciscan Order, where his holiness and learning led to his election as its Minister General. A friend of Saint Thomas Aquinas, he taught in Paris, wrote deeply on the love of God, and was later made a cardinal. He died in 1274 during the Second Council of Lyon and is honored as a Doctor of the Church, called the Seraphic Doctor.
Bonaventure shows us that great learning and deep tenderness can live in one heart — he believed the goal of all knowledge is love, and that every created thing can lead us back to God. In seasons of sorrow, his example invites us to let our questions become prayer, trusting that the road of the mind ends in the embrace of the Father.
Saint Bonaventure, gentle teacher of God's love, pray for us — that our hearts may find their way through all things, even grief, into the light and peace of Christ. Amen.Enter today’s Mass → All saints →