The Holy Father spoke about St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio, one of his theological 'masters'. To the Polish pilgrims, he paid tribute to Frederic Chopin, born 200 years ago today, as Poland marks a Chopin Year.
Dear brothers and sisters,
Today I wish to talk about St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio. I must confess that in proposing this topic to you, I feel a certain nostalgia thinking back on the research that, as a young scholar, I carried out on this author, who is particularly dear to me. Getting to know him made quite an impact on my formation.
With great joy, a few months ago, I made a pilgrimage to his place of birth, Bagnoregio, a little city in Lazio, which guards his memory with veneration.
Born around 1217, he died in 1274, having lived in that 13th century which was an era when the Christian faith, that had by then penetrated profoundly into the culture and society of Europe, inspired undying works in literature, the visual arts, philosophy and theology.
Among the great Christian figures who contributed to the composition of this harmony between faith and culture, Bonaventure stands out as a man of action and contemplation, of profound piety and prudent governance.
He was born Giovanni da Fidanza. An episode when he was a child profoundly marked his life, as he himself recounted. He was struck by a grave illness and not even his father, who was a physician, hoped to save him from death. His mother then turned to ask the intercession of St. Francis who had just been canonized. Giovanni was healed.
The figure of the Poverello of Assisi became more familiar to him years later when he came to Paris for his studies. He had obtained a Master of Arts diploma, which was like that from a prestigious high school in our time. At that point, like so many young people in his day, as well as today, Giovanni asked himself a crucial question, "What should I do with my life?"
Fascinated by the fervor and evangelical radicalness of the Friars Minor (who had reached Paris in 1219), Giovanni knocked on the door of the Franciscan convent in that city and asked to be admitted into the great family of St. Francis's disciples.
Many years later, he would explain the reason for his choice: that he saw the action of Christ in St. Francis and the movement he started. He wrote in a letter to a fellow friar: "I confess before God that the reason that made me love even more the life of the blessed Francis is that it resembled Christian life at the beginning and during the initial growth of Christianity. The Church began with simple fishermen, and only later enriched herself with illustrious and wise doctors. The religion of St. Francis was not established by the prudence of men but by Christ" (Epistula de tribus quaestionibus ad magistrum innominatum, in Opere di San Bonaventura. Introduzione generale, Roma 1990, p. 29).
Therefore, around 1243, Giovanni took on the Franciscan habit and the name Bonaventure. He was immediately ordered to pursue his studies, and he attended the Faculty of Theology at the University of Paris, following a curriculum of very demanding courses. He earned the various titles required for an academic career - those of
"baccelliere biblico" and "baccelliere sentenziario" [bachelor of Biblical studies and bachleor of theology].
Thus, he studied Sacred Scripture in depth, the 'Sentences' of Pietro Lombardo - which was the manual of theology at the time [and for many centuries after, as the Pope pointed out in his catechesis on Pietro Lombardo], as well as the most important authors of theology. In contact with the teachers and students who came to Paris from all of Europe, he matured his personal reflection and a spiritual sensibility of great value which, in the course of the following years, he would decant into his own works and sermons, becoming one of the most important theologians in the history of the Church.
It is significant to recall the title of the thesis he defended in order to earn his Habilitation to teach theology, the licentia ubique docendi (license to teach everywhere), as it was called at the time.
His dissertation was entitled "Questions about knowing Christ". This showed the central role that Christ always had in the life and teaching of Bonaventure. We can say that all of his thought was profoundly Christocentric.
During those years in Paris, Bonaventure's adopted city, a violent controversy raged between the Friars Minor of St. Francis of Assisi and the Friar Preachers of St. Dominic de Guzman. They disputed the right to teach at the University of Paris, and even called into question the authenticity of their consecrated life as they lived it.
Certainly, the changes introduced by the mendicant orders in the way they understood the religious life - about which I spoke in preceding catecheses - were so innovative that not everyone could understand them. Then, as it often happens even among sincerely religious persons, one must add questions of human weakness like envy and jealousy.
Bonaventure, although he was surrounded by opposition from other teachers at the university, had already started teaching in the theology chair of the Franciscans, and to answer those who questioned the Mendicant Orders, he composed a document called Evangelical perfection.
In it, he demonstrated how the Mendicant Orders, especially the Friars Minor, by practising vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, were following the counsel of the Gospel itself.
Beyond these historical circumstances, the teaching provided by Bonaventure in this work and in his life has always remained relevant: the Church is made more luminous and beautiful by the fidelity to their calling of her sons and daughters who, not only practice the evangelical precepts, but, by the grace of God, are also called to observe Gospel counsel, and tuis, bear witness with their lifestyle of poverty, chastity and obedience, that the Gospel is a spring of joy and perfection.
The conflict died down, at least for a time, and by the personal intervention of Pope Alexander IV, Bonaventure was officially recognized in 1257 as a doctor and master at the University of Paris.
However, he had to renounce that prestigious position because in the same year the Chapter General of the Order elected him Minister General.
He carried out this office for 17 years with wisdom and dedication, visiting the various provinces of the order, writing to his brothers, often intervening severely to eliminate abuses.
When Bonaventure began this service, the Order of Friars Minor had developed prodigiously: There were more than 30,000 Friars Minor all over Western Europe, with a missionary presence in North Africa, the Middle East, and even in Beijing.
It was necessary to consolidate this expansion, and above all, to confer on it, in full fidelity to Francis's charism, a unity of action and spirit.
Indeed, among the followers of the Saint of Assisi, there came to be diverse ways of interpreting his message, and there was a real risk of internal fracture. To avoid this danger, the Order's Chapter General in Narbonne, in 1260, accepted and ratified a text proposed by Bonaventure, which put together and unified the norms regulating the daily life of the Friars Minor.
Bonaventure sensed, nonetheless, that legislative dispositions, no matter how much they were inspired by wisdom and moderation, were not sufficient to assure a communion of spirits and hearts. It was necessary for everyone to share the same ideals and the same motivations.
For this reason, Bonaventure wished to present the authentic charism of Francis in his life and teaching. With great zeal he assembled documents pertaining to St. Francis and listened intently to the recollections of those who had known Francis directly.
This gave rise to a biography of the Saint of Assisi, historically well-founded, entitled Legenda Maior, and edited in a shorter form as the Legenda Minor.
The Latin word 'legenda', unlike its cognate in Italian, does not mean a fruit of fantasy; on the contrary, 'legenda' signified an authoritative text, one that was compulsory reading officially.
And in fact, the Chapter General of the Friars Minor in 1263, meeting in Pisa, acknowledged in the biography written by Bonaventure the most faithful portrait of their Founder, and this therefore became the official biography of St. Francis.
What is the image of St. Francis that emerges from the heart and pen of his devoted son and successor, St. Bonaventure? The essential point was that Francis was an alter Christus, a man who passionately sought Christ. In the love that impelled him to the imitation of Christ, he conformed himself entirely to him.
Bonaventure pointed out this living ideal to all the followers of Francis. This ideal, valid for every Christian, yesterday, today and always, was also indicated as a program for the Church of the Third Millennium by my predecessor, the Venerable John Paul II.
This program, he wrote in the Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio ineunte (At the beginning of the Third Millennium), is centered "on Christ himself, to know, love, and imitate him, in order to live in him the trinitarian life, and to transform history with him until its fulfillment in the heavenly Jerusalem" (No. 29).
In 1273, the life of St. Bonaventure underwent another change. Pope Gregory X consecrated him Bishop and named him a Cardinal. He also asked him to prepare for a most important Church event: the Second Ecumenical Council of Lyons, whose purpose was to re-establish communion between the Latin and Greek Churches.
He dedicated himself diligently to this task, but failed to see the conclusion of that ecumenical assembly because he died during the Council.
An anonymous pontifical notary composed an elegy of Bonaventure which offers us a definitive portrait of this great saint and excellent theologian: "A good man, affable, pious and merciful, full of virtues, loved by God and men... God indeed gave him such grace that all who saw him were pervaded by a love that the heart could not conceal" (cfr J.G. Bougerol, Bonaventura, in A. Vauchez (ed.), Storia dei santi e della santità cristiana. Vol. VI. L’epoca del rinnovamento evangelico, Milano 1991, p. 91).
Let us take up the legacy of this sainted Doctor of the Church who reminds us of the meaning of our life with these words: "On earth... we can contemplate the divine immensity through reasoning and admiration. But in the heavenly fatherland, when we will have become similar to God, through seeing and in ecstasy,... we shall enter into God's joy" (La conoscenza di Cristo, q. 6, conclusione, in Opere di San Bonaventura. Opuscoli Teologici /1, Roma 1993, p. 187).
To the Polish pilgrims, the Pope had this special message:
Although in the audiences, I have been presenting the figures of those who formed the spirit of Christian Europe, I wish to make an exception today to remember the person of Fryderyk Chopin who lived not too long ago.
These days, the second centenary of his birth is being observed with the Year of Chopin underway in Poland. The music of this very famous Polish composer has been a great contribution to the culture of Europe and the world, bringing those who listen to his music closer to God, and helping to uncover the depths of the human spirit.
I bless you all from the heart.