Holiness of Life

by Bonaventure

— A Classic — Includes Active Table of Contents — Includes Religious Illustrations

“Blessed is the man whom Thou shalt instruct, O Lord, and shalt teach out of Thy Law” (Ps. xciii, 12.) I hold that only the man taught by the Holy Spirit and imbued with His blessed unction is to be considered wise. The Prophet David lays down the same principle; he alone is really happy and wise whose mind the Lord has made learned in the Law. “The Law of God,” David notes elsewhere (Ps. xviii, 8), is the only law “without fault” and irreproachable. It alone has the secret of “converting souls” to the way of salvation.

Aeterna Press

Genres: Catholic, Philosophy, Religion

142 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2008

About the author

Bonaventure (b. 1221 as John of Fidanza) was an Italian medieval scholastic theologian and philosopher, the eighth Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor. He was a Cardinal Bishop of Albano. He was canonized on 14 April 1482 by Pope Sixtus IV and declared a Doctor of the Church in the year 1588 by Pope Sixtus V. He is known as the "Seraphic Doctor" (Latin: "Doctor Seraphicus"). Many writings believed in the Middle Ages to be his are now collected under the name Pseudo-Bonaventura.

Reviews

[booklady · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! Written for a convent of Poor Clares, it could just as well have been written for Carmelite nuns minus all the references of St. Francis, or maybe minus some of them, because we love him as well though we do not follow him so closely. I love the selections of Sacred Scripture contained at the end and enjoyed listening to them as well. Hope to return to this often and read more of the Seraphic Doctor.

[Elliot Lake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceedingly direct, harsh and also compact. Superb.

It explains all you need for holiness in abstract:
- How to start
- The absolute necessity of constant self reflection
- The art of perfect prayer
- The requisite virtues in order to please God

St Bonaventure's words are often quite biting, especially for somebody of such an ego as my own. However, in acknowledging their truth we may grow unto eternal beatitude.

If there were one improvement (and I suspect this isn't here because of the brevity of this letter) I could suggest, it would be more direct advice on prayer. However, this is amply covered in other works which the Poor Clare this was addressed to would have access to.

[Allie Fleury · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Oh, how dangerous a thing it is for a religious to wish to know much and yet not to know himself! … O my God, whence comes such blindness in a religious? … Put everything else aside and learn well and bear in mind what you are. For such self‑knowledge St. Bernard prayed: ‘God, grant that I may know nothing if I do not know my own self.’”

"“Humility,” says St. Bernard, “is a virtue which prompts a man possessing an exact knowledge of himself to estimate himself and his powers as dross.”"

"Wise today, possibly an idiot tomorrow!"

[Hildeberto Pérez · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brief answer: Bonaventure shouts a burning silence to your soul within every chapter.
This book can be taken as a spiritual read; if so, it should be constant so thou can live the search for wisdom, virtue and God.

[Simon]

Short treatise on humility, silence, virginity...