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The stigmatized Francis became for Bonaventure someone whose life provided a road map of perfection, one that could be followed not only because of internal evidence, but, more so, because of these external signs of God's approbation.
The Major Legend
Even a cursory glance at the Major Legend reveals how faithful Bonaventure was to his mandate to compile one good legend from all the existing ones.22 The largest number of episodes contained in the first fifteen chapters of the Major Legend come from Thomas of Celano's Life of Saint Francis, refined by the writings of Julian of Speyer, and The Remembrance of the Desire of a Soul. The influence of the Legend of the Three Companions and the Assisi Compilation are certainly evident, although it is difficult to determine whether or not these influences were transmitted by way of Thomas's Remembrance. For the most part, Bonaventure contributes little to the biographical data provided by his predecessors. In fact, in the second section of the Major Legend, the consideration of Francis's miracles, the texts come almost entirely from Thomas's Treatise on the Miracles.23
Bonaventure's contribution consists in setting these earlier materials in a new framework. "From the visible to the invisible," he teaches in his Commentary on John's Gospel. Thus, the historical, observable events of Francis's life led Bonaventure to understand more concretely the mysterious, hidden designs of God. The opening lines of the Prologue reveal immediately this appreciation of Francis's life. "The grace of God our Savior," Bonaventure declares at the outset, "has appeared in his servant Francis . . ." The sanctity of Francis, as that of every Christian, consists in the unfolding of grace, that gift of the Holy Spirit that, according to the Breviloquium,purifies, illumines, and perfects.24 In a rich mosaic of biblical passages, Bonaventure elegantly outlines his portrait of the "hierarchic man" in a framework that resonates with the threefold approach found throughout his writings.25
Undoubtedly Bonaventure was influenced in this approach by the writings of the Pseudo-Dionysius and Thomas Gallus (+1246), both of whom described growth in the spiritual life as growth through the successive stages of purgation, illumination, and unification.26 For Francis's disciple, Bonaventure, however, growth in virtue consisted in more than this hierarchical progress. Francis's Canticle of Brother Sun opened a new horizon and showed that the saint had discovered God in the most simple gifts of creation. This dimension of the mystic Francis challenged Bonaventure, his follower, to re-think the hierarchical vision. The ordo amoris [the ordering of love], as he described virtue in the first of the Disputed Questions on Evangelical Perfection, demands a clear sense of direction. His view of creation sees a "twofold order of things, one within the universe, and another with regard to their end."27 By the time of his compilation of Thomas and Julian, Bonaventure had produced a well-developed theology in which he envisioned God having written for humanity three books: the Book of Creation, the Book of Scripture, and the Book
- As noted in the text, the source of this mandate is obscure. It cannot be found in either the Constitutions of Narbonne nor in its Definitiones. Golubovich notes that the Ceremoniale ordinis minorum vetutissimum or Ordinationes divini officii issued in 1254 during the generalate of John of Parma contains this phrase: Item ordinetur de legenda beati Francisci, ut de omnibus una bona compiletur [Likewise it is ordained concerning the legend of blessed Francis, that one good one be compiled from all the others]. Golubovich and, later, Desbonnets maintained that the decision referred to the composition of LMn because of difficulties in reconciling the liturgical texts with the data provided by later texts. Michael Bihl, on the other hand, was convinced that the decree was appended to the Ceremoniale at a later date and, in reality, was directed at the composition of LMj. Cf. Ceremoniale ordinis minorum vetutissimum seu "Ordinationes divini officii" sub Ioanne de Parma ministro generali emanatae an. 1254, a cura di G. Golubovich, in AFH 3 (1910): 76.
- In LMj Bonaventure intersperses thirty-five of the miracles described in 3C. Bonaventure adds five new episodes to his own Treatise on the Miracles, the second part of LMj.
- Bonaventure, Breviloquium V 1:1 (V 222): "Grace is a gift that cleanses, enlightens, and perfects the soul; that vivifies, reforms, and strengthens it; that lifts it up, makes it like to God, and unites it with Him, thus rendering it acceptable to Him."
- Bonaventure, Commentary of Luke’s Gospel XIII 21: 47 (VII 349). Bonaventure develops this concept of the "hierarchical man" in his Prologue of his De Triplici Via: "This threefold understanding, moreover, corresponds to a threefold hierarchical activity, which is purgative, illuminative, and perfective. Purgation, in fact, leads to peace, illumination to truth, perfection to love. Once it has perfectly mastered these [activities], the soul becomes blessed and, as it behaves in these ways, grows in merit. The entire knowledge of Sacred Scripture as well, the reward of eternal life depends upon knowing these three activities." Cf. Also, Itinrarium IV 4-8; Collationes in Hexaëmeron XXII.
- Cf. McGinn, Flowering 78-87.
- Cf. Questiones Disputatae de Perfectione Evangelica, q. I, concl. (V 123); Commentarius in Libros Sententiarum I., dist. XLIV, a.1, q.3, ad 2 (I, 786).