SANCTITY AND LEARNING.
When St. Bonaventure arrived at Paris he was twenty-one years of age
and had spent three years in the Order. In those days Paris was the
great centre of philosophical and theological learning. Universities
devoted to the study of those branches did not exist in Italy until
fully a century later, hence all who were desirous of acquiring
proficiency in these sciences had to journey to France. The
Franciscans founded a monastery at Paris about the year 1216.
[Footnote 5] Only about twenty years later were they thoroughly
established there. By the munificent benefactions of St. Louis and his
saintly mother, Blanche of Castille, they succeeded in erecting a
large church and monastery. The latter was to be the chief house of
studies not only for France but for all the Provinces of the Order.
[Footnote 5: "Wadding," Tom. I, Anno 1219. No. 43.]
A very detailed account of this convent, and of the nature of the
studies, and the manner in which they were pursued, is given by
Wadding. [Footnote 6] There was accommodation for 240 Friars,
including professors. The school comprised four departments, one for
Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic respectively, and one for Theology and
Philosophy. The study {9} rooms and public lecture halls were the
largest and best appointed in the city. They were four in number, each
measuring seventy-six feet by forty-six. Unlike similar structures of
that period, they were built without pillars and were lighted by
eleven large windows. At the end of the Theological hall stood a large
rostrum composed of two stages or compartments, from the higher of
which the Licentiates and Doctors lectured, whilst the lower served
for the Bachelors who under the guidance of the former were sometimes
allowed to lecture on Physics and Theology. Each morning there were
two lectures on Theology, and in the evening two on Scripture. An hour
was devoted every day to the discussion by students and professors of
the matter treated of in class. Once a week the public defence of some
thesis was undertaken. Like the other students of the University the
Friars, when necessary, attended lectures outside their own convent.
They underwent examinations and took their degrees publicly. As early
as the year 1234, we find special ordinations, issuing from the
Minister-General of the Order, determining the number of Friars to be
sent to Paris from each Province and regulating the manner in which
they were to be presented for degrees. Two Fathers from each Province
were generally chosen every year for the degree of Doctor. Having
successfully complied with all the tests, public and private, imposed
by the University, they were {10} formally proclaimed Doctors in the
court of the Archbishop of Paris.
[Footnote 6: Tom. II, Anno 1234. Nos. 17-36.]
To this world-famous centre of theological learning Bonaventure came
in 1242, and for three years followed the ordinary University course
which was based mainly on Scriptural Exegesis and on the Exposition of
the "Book of Sentences". This oft-referred-to work was a compendium of
Dogmatic Theology written about the year 1140 by Peter Lombard. It
takes its name from the fact that its doctrine is based upon the
"Sentences," i.e. the views or opinions of the Fathers of the Church.
Divided into four books, it treats respectively of God and the
Trinity; of Creation and the Fall; of the Incarnation; and finally of
the Sacramental system. For years it constituted the recognized
text-book among scholastic theologians whose labours and lectures upon
it are embodied in the immense commentaries bequeathed to us.
At this time the great Franciscan doctor Alexander of Hales occupied
the chair of Theology at Paris. Born in Gloucestershire, he derived
his name from the monastery in that county at which he was educated.
Before his entrance into the Order (1222) he had studied at Paris and
was already one of the most renowned professors of that University. He
was subsequently styled and is now known as "The Irrefragable Doctor,"
and "The Monarch of Theologians": There is, perhaps, no greater
blessing for a rich and growing {11} mind than to come early and to
remain long under the influence of another mind which, while equally
rich, is yet more highly educated and matured with a wider experience
than itself. During the three years our Saint was following Alexander
through his expositions of Scripture and of "The Sentences of
Lombard"--studying his points of view, his workable materials and his
constructive methods--the magnificence of his master's genius allured
him as with magnetic force; and Bonaventure's emulous efforts to be
worthy of his master's care could not but lead him to undreamt of
heights of knowledge.
We catch a glimpse of their mutually cordial attitude from a few of
their casual expressions. Whereas St. Bonaventure refers to Alexander
as "his master", and "his father" and in his choice of a decision is
drawn almost unconsciously to "that Father's" opinion, Alexander
anticipated in the case of his pupil the verdict of Sixtus IV. That
part of the Bull of canonization serves as so apt a commentary on
Alexander's words that we quote it in full. "Bonaventure was great in
learning, but not less great in humility and holiness. The innocence
and dove-like simplicity of his life were such that the renowned
Doctor Alexander of Hales used to say of him, 'It seemed as though
Adam had never sinned in him'."
In 1245, when twenty-four years of age, Bonaventure received his
degree of Bachelor. Following {12} this came the necessary letters
from the Minister-General, our Saint then fulfilling the office of
Professor to his own brethren and at times teaching publicly in the
University under the guidance of a fully-qualified lector. That same
year Alexander died, and the chair thus vacated was filled by John of
La Rochelle. Three years later, however, he resigned, and then at the
command of the Minister-General, John of Parma, and at the earnest
entreaty of the authorities of the University, Bonaventure succeeded
to the post. This took place in 1248. Bonaventure was now a
Licentiate, i.e. he was "licensed" or allowed to lecture publicly in
view of his qualifications being recognized. It was no doubt a trial
to his humility to follow so eminent a light as the "Monarch of
Theologians," but fortunately personal distrust yielded to obedience.
One of the ancient chroniclers, referring to this event, shows us
Bonaventure as his contemporaries saw him. "This Brother Bonaventure,"
writes Blessed Francis of Fabriano, "was a most eloquent man,
wonderful in his understanding of the Sacred Page and of the whole of
Theology. He was also an excellent lecturer, a very fine preacher and
in his presence every tongue was hushed."
Bonaventure occupied this post from 1245 to 1257, and during that time
acquired those stores of knowledge which he at first communicated to
his pupils in the form of lectures, and then, with after-thoughts,
corrections and additions bequeathed to {13} the world in the four
folio volumes known as "The Commentary on the Sentences of the
Lombard". His love of God growing in proportion, Bonaventure
ultimately reached those sublime heights of contemplation which earned
for him the title of Seraphic Doctor. To the Saint his youthful age
seemed unequal to the fulfilment of such a task. His superiors,
however, in laying on him the burden of obedience, felt assured that
he would more than justify the wisdom of their appointment. And indeed
so exceptional were the natural and supernatural gifts of this
Seraphic Doctor that Sixtus IV. could say of him in his Bull of
Canonization: "Such things he uttered on sacred science that the Holy
Ghost would seem to have spoken through his mouth." And again,
"Enlightened by Him Who is the Light, the Way, the Truth and the Life,
in the space of a few years he attained to incredible knowledge".
The timidity with which his humility undertook the work contrasts
strangely with the universal appreciation it has received at the hands
of others. Thus at the end of the third volume, he writes: "I render
thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ, that taking pity on the poverty of my
knowledge and ability, He has enabled me to come to the end of this
work. I beseech Him to aid me to go forward in my work unto the merit
of obedience and the welfare of my brethren--for which two motives
alone this task was undertaken." And again in the {14} Introduction to
the second volume, "By the help of God's grace I have ended the
Commentary on the first book, and at the instance of the Brethren must
needs begin the second. . . . I do not intend to propound new opinions
but to reproduce those that are generally admitted. Nor should anyone
think that I wish to be the author of a new book; I am sincerely
conscious and acknowledge that I am but a poor and faulty compiler."
This is the language of profound humility which is all the more
striking in view of posterity's verdict on our Saint, and his
writings. Salimbene, [Footnote 7] a contemporary chronicler, writes as
follows of Bonaventure: "He then lectured on the whole Gospel of St.
Luke--a beautiful and excellent treatise: and he wrote four books on
the Sentences which even to this day remain useful and esteemed. It
was then the year 1248 but now the year 1284." Gerson, the learned
chancellor of Paris University, is more unstinting in his praise.
"Were I to be asked," he writes, "who is the most eminent amongst all
the doctors, I should answer, without prejudice, 'Bonaventure'. I know
not that Paris ever possessed another such Doctor." And again, "In
Theology there is nothing more sublime, more divine, more salutary,
nor more sweet than Bonaventure's writings". The following striking
testimony of Pope Sixtus V in the Bull _Triumphantis
Jerusalem_--conferring on St. Bonaventure the title {15} of
"Doctor"--adumbrates his two salient characteristics as embodied in
his title "The Seraphic Doctor". "In his writings," the Pope's words
run, "Bonaventure united to the deepest erudition an equal amount of
the most ardent piety, so that whilst enlightening his readers, he
also moved their hearts, penetrating to the inmost recesses of their
souls."
[Footnote 7: "Chronica," p. 129.]
Numberless other proofs might be adduced of the high esteem in which
Bonaventure's works have always been held, but these will suffice. As
an instance, however, of the widespread popularity they enjoyed it is
curious to note that amongst the depredations of his book-borrowing
friends which Charles Lamb, the genial author of the "Essays of Elia,"
deplores, [Footnote 8] is the abstraction of his "Opera Bonaventurae".
"That foul gap in the bottom of the shelf facing you, like a great
eye-tooth knocked out, with the huge Switzer-like tomes on each side
(like the Guildhall giants in their reformed posture, guardant of
nothing) once held the tallest of my folios, 'Opera Bonaventurae,'
choice and massy divinity, to which its two supporters (school
divinity also, but of a lesser calibre--Bellarmine and Holy Thomas),
showed but as dwarfs--itself an Ascapart!"
[Footnote 8: "The Two Races of Men".]
The fundamental characteristic underlying the fervour and the love of
the Seraphic Doctor's writings, is his ever-conscious realization of
God's {16} presence. This with Bonaventure was not a feature of
passing or variable devotion; it rested upon the basis of
philosophical conviction, and of vivid childlike faith. To
Bonaventure, in his system of thought as in his spiritual ideals, God
is constantly and emphatically the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and
the End, the Source and Centre, by Whom and in Whom and from Whom all
things are. Throughout the whole of his writings God is ever the
central idea round which all converges. As in his writings so in his
life. In this continual and abiding presence of God--the very spirit
as it is also the ideal of monastic solitude--his soul, his entire
being, grew and blossomed, turning ever to the light and warmth of the
Divine Beauty as the sunflower to the sun.
Not only was this the source of his light and unction, it was also the
guiding principle of his spiritual and mental life. Hence sprang that
moderation of tone--the calm balancing of evidence as in the presence
of an impartial Judge. Hence that humility--his simultaneous knowledge
of God and himself--to which all arrogance and pretension are so
alien. Hence, too, that directness of aim--fastening on the essence
of facts, rather than on their accidental surroundings--which ensured
at once a love of truth for truth's sake, and limpid, simple utterance
as its worthiest channel. In God's sight all men are brothers, so it
became our Saint to communicate his lights in the spirit of deference
{17} and self-effacement. Hence, finally, came that unflinching
loyalty to His Lord's revelations which implies aversion to curious
searchings, singular views, and novel innovations--which, when not the
result, are often the occasion of heretical betrayal of the trust
committed to our care.