St. Bonaventure

Hi everyone! I hope everyone's summer has been relaxing and fun! Today's feast day is the Feast of Saint Bonaventure. Perhaps some of you many have heard of him before, but since I had no previous knowledge with this Saint this was quite an exciting article for me to research and write! 

St. Bonaventure was born in North of Rome in the year of 1217 and was baptized with the name Giovanni de Fidanza. His parents names were Giovanni de Fidanza and Maria Ritell. When he was still a child St. Bonaventure became very ill, but through the prayers of St Francis he was cured and received the name St. Bonaventure. Bona meaning "Good" and Venture meaning "event". In 1248 he became a teacher and taught in the Franciscan School in the University of Paris. His students loved his teachings because of how insightful he was. Students also loved him because of how his life was centered around his love for Jesus and the Church. His life revolved so much around Jesus that he was eventually given the title "The Seraphic Doctor". However in 1248, he was elected as the Minister General for a Franciscan order that was growing increasingly separated from each other due to differences in beliefs. St. Bonaventure successfully calmed the turmoil by enforcing rules and belief systems.St. Bonaventure also tried to explain the church doctrine through more practical language. St. Bonaventure was made into a bishop in 1273. He died in 1274. His greatest legacy however is as a spiritual teacher. His feast day is July 15.

St. Bonaventure is a great example of how we can strive to be saints. We all have talents and skills that we can use to help others. I think he is also a great reminder that we have the potential to become saints too because sometimes I feel like we underestimate ourselves because we don't feel like we are special or huge but St. Bonaventure shows us that we can do some amazing things on a small scale and that is part of what makes us saints. I also got some ideas about how to solve problems in a way that no one will get upset. And last but not least as I was researching St. Bonaventure I found two quotes that really inspired me. The first one "Just as you see a ray of light entering through a stained glass window is colored in different ways according to the different colors and the various parts, so the divine rays shine forth in every creature in different ways and different properties." And the second one: "Creatures are shadows,echoes and pictures of that first most perfect Principle...they are vestiges

I think the reason why these quotes inspire me is because it shows that everyone has a purpose in life even nature like plants and animals. It also reminds me that while there are always going to be questions and doubts in life that we can't answer that it sometimes doesn't really matter because in the end the picture is perfect. 

Well I hope you enjoyed this post and and maybe even learned something new! But most importantly I hope you are inspired to make a wonderful difference in the world because I believe in you all! Remember saints are ordinary people who lived extraordinary lives!


In Faith,

Anjalee Inabinette