St. Bonaventure (about 1217–1274), the “Seraphic Doctor,” was a Franciscan theologian, mystic and minister general of the Franciscan Order, often called its second founder. A friend of St. Thomas Aquinas, he taught that all learning should lead to the love of God, and his Journey of the Mind into God is a classic of Christian mysticism. His feast is July 15. Below is the traditional Prayer of St. Bonaventure from The Raccolta, prayers to him for wisdom, humility and healing, Scripture and his story.
The Prayer of St. Bonaventure
Indulgenced by Blessed Pius IX in 1874. From The Raccolta (1910):
O holy Lord, almighty Father, eternal God! through thy liberality and that of thy Son, who for me endured suffering and death, through the surpassing holiness of His Mother, and through the merits of blessed Francis, and of all the saints, grant me, a sinner, undeserving of all thy benefits, that I may love Thee alone, and always thirst for thy love; that I may constantly feel in my heart the benefit of thy Passion; that I may acknowledge my misery, and desire to be trampled upon and despised by all men; that nothing but sin may sadden my heart. Amen.
This prayer sums up Bonaventure’s Franciscan spirituality: to love God alone, to keep the Passion of Christ always in the heart, and to fear nothing but sin. St. Bonaventure is also credited with the beautiful prayer after Communion Transfige, dulcissime Domine Iesu, printed among the thanksgiving prayers in the Roman Missal.
A prayer to St. Bonaventure for wisdom
Written for this page:
St. Bonaventure, Seraphic Doctor,
you studied and taught so that your mind might rise to God
and your heart burn with his love.
Pray for students, teachers and theologians,
that their learning may lead them to holiness,
and for me, that I may know God more and love him more. Amen.
O taste, and see that the Lord is sweet: blessed is the man that hopeth in him.
A prayer for humility
When messengers arrived to tell Bonaventure that he had been made a cardinal, the story goes that they found him washing dishes and asked them to hang the cardinal’s hat on a tree until he had finished.
St. Bonaventure, you held great offices with a humble heart.
Teach me to do small tasks faithfully,
to seek no honor for myself,
and to serve God wherever he places me. Amen.
This prayer was written for this page.
A prayer for healing
According to tradition, Bonaventure was healed of a serious illness as a child through the prayers of St. Francis of Assisi.
St. Bonaventure, healed as a child through St. Francis’s prayers,
pray for (name), who is sick.
Ask the Lord to restore him (her) to health,
and give us trust in his loving care. Amen.
This prayer was written for this page. See the Catholic prayer for healing.
The life of St. Bonaventure
Giovanni di Fidanza was born around 1217 in Bagnoregio, near Viterbo, in central Italy. A traditional story says that when he was healed as a boy through St. Francis’s intercession, Francis exclaimed “O buona ventura!” (“O good fortune!”), though the name may simply have been taken when he entered religious life. He joined the Franciscans around 1243 and studied and taught at the University of Paris, where he became a master of theology at the same time as St. Thomas Aquinas.
In 1257 he was elected minister general of the Franciscans, a post he held for seventeen years. He guided the order through bitter disputes about poverty, wrote its constitutions and the official Life of St. Francis, and composed spiritual works such as The Journey of the Mind into God (1259), written on Mount La Verna, where Francis had received the stigmata. In 1273 Pope Gregory X made him cardinal bishop of Albano and asked him to prepare the Second Council of Lyon, which worked for reunion with the Eastern Churches. He died during the council, on July 15, 1274. He was canonized in 1482 and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1588.
Feast day and patronage
- Feast day: July 15 (July 14 in the traditional calendar). A novena can run from July 6 to 14.
- Patron of: Franciscan theologians, students of theology, and those suffering from intestinal illness.
- Symbols: a cardinal’s hat (often hanging on a tree), the Franciscan habit, a book and a ciborium.
Frequently asked questions
Why is St. Bonaventure called the Seraphic Doctor?
Because of his burning love for God, like the seraphim, the angels closest to God’s throne, and because he was a son of St. Francis, the “seraphic” saint who received the stigmata from a seraph.
When is the feast of St. Bonaventure?
July 15.
What did St. Bonaventure write?
The Journey of the Mind into God, the Major Life of St. Francis, commentaries on Scripture and the Sentences, and many spiritual treatises and sermons.
Was St. Bonaventure a friend of St. Thomas Aquinas?
Yes. They taught at the University of Paris at the same time and became masters of theology together in 1257.
More prayers
- Feast of St. Francis
- St. Thomas Aquinas prayer
- St. Clare prayer
- St. Anthony prayer
- Prayers to popular saints
- Saint feast days
Texts and sources
- Prayer of St. Bonaventure: The Raccolta, or Collection of Indulgenced Prayers and Good Works (London: Burns and Oates, 1910), no. 23, public domain (archive.org).
- Scripture: Psalm 33:9 (34:8 in modern Bibles), Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner), public domain.
- The other prayers were written for this page.