Bonaventure walks in the footsteps of Francis just as Francis walked in the footsteps of Jesus. Francis does not replace Jesus Christ as the object of Bonaventure’s faith, however. In fact, for the Seraphic Doctor, Christ is the center of creation as well as the humble Galilean of history whose incarnation, ministry, and with compassion and power.
Bonaventure’s biography describes Francis as the one who, like Jesus, shows us the shape and meaning of a Christ-like life and gives direction to the mystic’s journey to God, whether in the thirteenth century or the twenty-first. Bonaventure saw the providence of God and the love of Christ shining through every moment of Francis’s life, from his hedonistic youth to his mystical experience of the stigmata near the end of his life. Bonaventure saw Francis as the embodiment of what we call today “holistic” spirituality, which integrates every aspect of life—head, heart, and hands—and the eternal and temporal meet in each moment.
—from the book Head, Heart, and Hands: An Introduction to Saint Bonaventure
by Bruce Epperly
