Francis and his spiritual companion Clare are lights in the world, illuminating not only Bonaventure’s path, but also showing the way to wholeness for us. Clare and Francis ground our daily life in God’s incarnational presence, the beauty of creation, and the call to simplicity of life in a time of climate change. Although Clare saw herself as Francis’s “little plant,” she was a spiritual leader in a time when women were seen as inferior to men. Clare established a spiritual order for women monastics, wrote its Rule or constitution, and provided spiritual guidance to persons of all economic classes.
Although Francis was her spiritual mentor, Francis asked for Clare’s spiritual counsel in determining the shape of his own ministry and the life of his order. We can be grateful that Bonaventure’s writing highlighted the spirit of his master and his God, giving honor to Francis and Christ instead of claiming glory for himself. Francis’s compassionate, sacrificial, and earth-centered spirituality shaped Bonaventure as a theologian and priest committed to God’s incarnation in our world and our spiritual lives. More importantly, Francis’s spiritual life shaped Bonaventure as a person who sought to honor the earth, seek peace, and create a theological vision in which all things flow from the Divine Fountain.
—from the book Head, Heart, and Hands: An Introduction to Saint Bonaventure
by Bruce Epperly
