Today, July 15, is the memorial of Saint Bonaventure.
Doctor of the Church.
Bonaventure was born in 1221. Little is known about his early years, except for the fact that his parents were Giovanni di Fidanza and Maria di Ritella.
He healed from a life-threatening childhood disease, thanks to the intercession of St. Francis of Assisi. This miraculous cure motivated Bonaventure to write the biography of St. Francis.
Bonaventure later joined the Order of Friars Minor at age 22. He took higher studies in Paris and became a respected and popular lecturer. He became Minister General of the Franciscan Order at age 35.
He was a friend of Saint Thomas Aquinas and the king Saint Louis IX.
He is widely known for writing commentaries on the Scriptures, text-books in theology and philosophy. Pope Clement IV chose him to be Archbishop of York, England, but Bonaventure begged off, claiming to be inadequate to the office. He spoke at the Council of Lyons, but died before its close in 1274. He was around 52 to 53 years old.
Pope Sixtus IV canonized Bonaventure in 1482. Pope Sixtus V declared him Doctor of the Church (“Seraphic Doctor”) in 1588.