Bonaventure

Bonaventure, a follower of St Francis, theologian and minister general of the Franciscans, is called the “Seraphic Doctor.” He wedded rigorous learning to a tender, affective love of the crucified Christ.

His little meditation The Tree of Life (Lignum Vitae) arranges the whole life of Jesus as a tree: lower branches his birth and ministry, the middle his passion, the top his glory — each scene a fruit to be tasted by the praying imagination.

Bonaventure's aim was never mere knowledge but love: to carry the cross of Christ continually, he wrote, “both in the soul and in the flesh.”