If anyone is interested in reading this book together, and would like for me to begin a thread, please PM me, so I can gauge interest.
The defecit of discussing the Journey of the Soul Into the Mind of God is going to be for those who have not read the life of Francis of Assisi, since Bonaventure is really talking about Francis’ journey. What he is doing is holding it up as the model for all Christians. One has to understand that when Bonaventure wrote this book, his audience was very familiar with Francis of Assisi. Many people knew him personally or knew people who had known him. People knew of his life. It was not necessary for Bonaventure to give too many examples of how this all plays out in daily life, because you had the memories of Francis’ life. For those who wanted more, Bonaventure wrote the biography of St. Francis, which helped give observable expression to the intangible spiritual reality that Bonaventure is describing.If anyone is interested in reading this book together, and would like for me to begin a thread, please PM me, so I can gauge interest.
It’s not an easy book, and I’d prefer if those who have already studied this book could help the thread by giving some insight.
If no one is really interested, I won’t be starting any such thread, although of course anyone is free to do so.
When you finish The Life of Saint Francis of Assisi, you will be crushed. Bereft of all virtue and self worth. The Journey is salve to such wounds. My Jesus, Mercy. My Jesus, Mercy. My Jesus, Mercy.The defecit of discussing the Journey of the Soul Into the Mind of God is going to be for those who have not read the life of Francis of Assisi, since Bonaventure is really talking about Francis’ journey. What he is doing is holding it up as the model for all Christians. One has to understand that when Bonaventure wrote this book, his audience was very familiar with Francis of Assisi. Many people knew him personally or knew people who had known him. People knew of his life. It was not necessary for Bonaventure to give too many examples of how this all plays out in daily life, because you had the memories of Francis’ life. For those who wanted more, Bonaventure wrote the biography of St. Francis, which helped give observable expression to the intangible spiritual reality that Bonaventure is describing.
We can discuss this work, even if one does not know Francis well. Those who don’t know him well, will have to substitute another saint in his place in order to actually see what this journey looks like from day to day. Otherwise, it’s just very abstract spiritual theology. That’s not what Bonaventure was going for. He was trying to go from the visible to invisible.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
You lost me. Pleas help.
St. Seraphim is speaking about the hardness of heart of which Jesus so often spoke about to the Jews and his disciples. It is very tempting to walk away because one’s sensibilities have been offended. Seraphim was an incredible man. He realized that very often what we claim to be righteous indignation is really pride. What he proposes is that one avoid even the slightest possibility of pride, which always leads to the violation of charity. The best way do this was to stifle one’s sense of self-importance and act with great kindness, even to the person who has hurt us or has distressed us.
It is extremely important to note here how Seraphim actually practiced this with sinners. He never stoned a sinner. By that, we mean that he never turned his back on a sinner who was remorseful or one who felt hopeless. On the contrary, he woiuld inspire the person to become more aware of God’s presence. Seraphim had a very interesting habit. When a person was prone to feel down, because of his sins or some other circumstance of life, Seraphim actually had a wonderful sense of humor. Someone once said that laughter is medicine for the soul. I have no idea if Seraphim ever heard this, but he certainly practiced it. He never laughed at the person who was experiences distress, but he caused them to laugh at themselves. He had an uncanny ability to love intensely in a very lite manner, if that makes any sense.
Here again, he’s acknowledging that there is no such thing as a lone sinner. We have a tendency to look at those who have committed grave sins with condescension. Seraphim comes at the sinner with brotherhood. He covers the sinner with forgiveness and encouragement to seek God’s love and mercy.
What we see him do here is pull together charity and chastity. Most of us don’t realize that chastity is charity. Therein lies the difference between chastity and celibacy. While celibacy is not to marry, chastity is to love as God loves. Everyone is called to love as God loves. Married people and religious vow to get it right. They take on the universal vocation to love and they add to it a solemn vow to love.
Again, Seraphim is pointing out to the necessity of wisdom if one is to love appropriately. I’ve always told those laypeople who are involved in ministries and who volunteer for different things that they must remember that it’s their apostolate and their charitable work, not that of their spouses and their children. Therefore, if anyone is to be inconvenienced, it’s you, not your family.
You lost me. Pleas help.
In reading the Life of Saint Francis, the Great Saints virtue is so heroic compared to my own that i felt i did not possess a scintilla of virtue. Unworthy to even pursue God. O God what is man that thou art mindful of him? Psalm 8:4 Bonaventure in the Journey, lifted me from the ashes of worthlessness in a “medicinal” way.
for example
Chapter 1
"Blessèd is the man to whom you offer help. He has placed a flight of steps in his
heart in the vale of tears, in the place where he put them . Since beatitude is nothing
other than the fruit of the highest good, and since the highest good is superior to us,
no-one can achieve this state of beatitude unless they rise beyond themselves - and
that not with the body, but with the heart…
i can be more specific if you need.
peace
JReducation;8314499:
That was perfect. Now I can see how the dots are connected. Thanks.You lost me. Pleas help.
In reading the Life of Saint Francis, the Great Saints virtue is so heroic compared to my own that i felt i did not possess a scintilla of virtue. Unworthy to even pursue God. O God what is man that thou art mindful of him? Psalm 8:4 Bonaventure in the Journey, lifted me from the ashes of worthlessness in a “medicinal” way.
for example
Chapter 1
"Blessèd is the man to whom you offer help. He has placed a flight of steps in his
heart in the vale of tears, in the place where he put them . Since beatitude is nothing
other than the fruit of the highest good, and since the highest good is superior to us,
no-one can achieve this state of beatitude unless they rise beyond themselves - and
that not with the body, but with the heart…
i can be more specific if you need.
peace
I don’t know if he will go over too well in a Traditionalist forum. One of the pet peeves of St. Anthony was going out to convert heretics. He did not agree with it and never did it. He focussed on converting Catholics. Francis never demanded it of him. He respected him and his opinion on this matter. If non-Catholics were to be converted, it was to be through kindness and presence. They were very wise men. They understood that you cannot force someone to believe nor can you force someone to understand. These come when they come. In the meantime, you preach without saying anything, just by your presence. However, your presence must radiate Catholicism.
Anthony was rather interesting, because he really focussed on helping Catholics avoid the errors of heresy. He was more a protector of Catholics. He left fighting with the heretics to someone else. The man knew how to pick his battles.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
hazcompat;8315609:
Saint Anthony is a wonderful intercessor. I was thinking of him always carrying the child Jesus.That was perfect. Now I can see how the dots are connected. Thanks.
I don’t know if he will go over too well in a Traditionalist forum. One of the pet peeves of St. Anthony was going out to convert heretics. He did not agree with it and never did it. He focussed on converting Catholics. Francis never demanded it of him. He respected him and his opinion on this matter. If non-Catholics were to be converted, it was to be through kindness and presence. They were very wise men. They understood that you cannot force someone to believe nor can you force someone to understand. These come when they come. In the meantime, you preach without saying anything, just by your presence. However, your presence must radiate Catholicism.
Anthony was rather interesting, because he really focussed on helping Catholics avoid the errors of heresy. He was more a protector of Catholics. He left fighting with the heretics to someone else. The man knew how to pick his battles.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
peace
Thanks for posting this. I can’t even imagine what this life would be like if we didn’t know anything about evil and lived in simple, beautiful purity! One of my favorite scripture verses is Philippians 4:8, “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is grcious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
Anthony of Padua has a rather interesting history. Franciscan historians are not sure whether Anthony ever saw the infant Jesus or not. What history does tell us is that he had the genius of a giant and the simplicity of a child.
Where is the rest of the story?Anthony of Padua has a rather interesting history. Franciscan historians are not sure whether Anthony ever saw the infant Jesus or not. What history does tell us is that he had the genius of a giant and the simplicity of a child.
Unfortunately, there is little known about the early life of Fernando Bolhom. We know that he was born in Lisbon. At that time Lisbon was still part of Spain. Anthony would be considered a Spaniard, though the Portuguese patriots would holler if we say this too loudly.
He entered the Augustinians. For a few years, he was attached to a house in Lisbon; but this did not work for Fernando, because he could not find the quiet and solitude that he needed to study and pray. The Augustinians reassigned him to a monastery outside of the city, where he remained for nine years studying Sacred Scripture. He became so proficient at Scripture that it was said that if the bible were ever lost, he could reconstruct it from memory. Not only did he memorize it, but he was adept at the technical aspects of Scripture. Much of what we know about how Scripture was written and why we owe to him. He also mastered the ancient languages: Hebrew and Greek, which allowed him to read the Scripture in their original languages and interpret them correctly. Needless to say that he had a passion for Scripture.
Here is where his childhood simplicity surfaces. While he was an Augustinian, he witnessed the funeral procession of the first Franciscan martyrs. The young Augustinian monk was so impressed that he approached the superior of the local Franciscan house and said, “I will join your order if you allow me to go to the missions.”
This is very interesting. Franciscans did not make it a policy to negotiate assignments. Poverty and obedience were clear. You owned nothing, not place, not object nor your own will. Therefore, you obeyed and you went where you were sent. Fernando knew this. So, he proceeds to negotiate, before he becomes a friar. The superior agreed.
Fernando asked for the necessary dispensation transfer from one order to another. No one really knows when Fernando was ordained. Some believe that he came to the Franciscans already ordained, but the history seems to suggest that this is not the case, that he was ordained about six-years before he died. This seems more likely, since no one knew that he could preach or that he was a scholar. It would suggest that he never celebrated mass until much later in his religious life.
We do know that he joined the Franciscans. On the day of his profession of vow he was asked to pick a new name. He picked the name of the patron of hat house, Antony the great desert father. Then he set off for the missions. He became very ill and never got there. He had to return to Italy. He returned in time for the Chapter of Mats, which was a convocation of the entire order. At that time there were only about 5,000 Franciscans. Today there are about 1.7 million, men and women Franciscans.
He dearly loved the Franciscan way of life and wanted very much to meet Brother Francis. They had never met. When some Italian friars invited him to travel with them to Assisi, he was like a kid on his way to the mall to see Santa. He was finally going to meet his hero, Holy Father Francis.
Francis, on the other hand, was not too keen on meeting Brother Anthony. He had a strong aversion for the middle class and Anthony was from the middle class. The middle class stood for everything contrary to the Gospel: ambition to become rich, aloofness toward the poor and beggars, suspicious of panhandlers, lukewarm in their faith, more faithful to the state than to the Church, easily swayed by politics that were in its best interest and not in the interest of the Church and the poor, and always aspiring to move upward rather than downward. Some things have not changed much in 800 years.
A friar never asks for favors from those who are better than him. Therefore, it was inappropriate for Anthony to ask to be introduced to the Holy Father. He had to wait until someone introduced him to Francis or Francis approached him. The story goes that some friars did ask Francis to meet the young brother from Portugal, but Francis, being very sharp decided that it was not in the best interest of Brother Anthony. Brother Anthony needed to be brought down a few pegs. He appeared to ignore him. In fact, he was observing him the whole time. When the chapter ended, everyone had an assignment, except Anthony. He had no place to go and he had been snubbed by Brother Francis. He was heartbroken.
However, he knew that he was a nobody. He had no right to claim respect and no right to claim to be presented to the Holy Father of the order. He also knew that he had no right to be noticed and that it was understandable that he would be passed up when assignments were given. You have to understand that Franciscans deliberately choose to live the life of a bum. We do not claim to be sophisticated. We don’t have monasteries or priories. We move from place to place. Except that the brothers usually received an assignment. Here was poor Anthony sitting on a log wondering where to go, now that the Minister General, Brother Francis, has not seen fit to give him an assignment or even a place to live.
A few brothers were headed south, took pity on him and invited him to go along. Some believe that Francis may have set up this whole scenario. We will never know. As we can see, this was a man of great simplicity, even though he was a genius. We’ll see more of this genius and charity if this thread progresses. But more importantly, he was as gentle and as simple as the Child Jesus.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
Inquiring minds want to know!TL…i know how you are feeling…I am sitting on the edge of my chair…
Let us not forget forget this post.I teach our novices a very simple formula. We require that you be a contemplative to make vows in our community. If you’re not a contemplative, you don’t have a Franciscan vocation. The formula is very simple. Begin with the Liturgy, both the Liturgy of the Eucharist and the Liturgy of the Hours. Liturgy is the highest and most perfect form of prayer. It is the only form of prayer of the Church. All other forms of prayer are private devotions. But liturgy is you, prayiing as one organ in the Mystical Body. You can’t get better than that.
The second part of that formula is to listen to the Psalms as you pray them. You’re praising God using his words. His words were meant to speak to you. When necessary, stop and reflect. Then continue. Stop as often as necessary, to hear the voice of Christ.
The third part of this formula is Lectio Divina. You cannot pray with any better source than Sacred Scripture. Read, reflect, listen, talk to the Lord about what you read and what you understand. Ask the Lord to help you understand the scripture as the Church understands it.
Fourth, pray the rosary every day, even if you don’t feel like it. Meditating on the mysteries in the life of Christ while using the words of the scripture, which is what the Ave Maria is, you’re engaging in a powerful dialogue with God.
Fifth, I tell them to be quiet. Once you have prayed the Liturgy of the Mass and Hours, done Lectio, prayed the Rosary, done your spiritual reading, just be quiet. **Walk with the Lord. ** I mean literally. Go for a walk and let God speak. If you are ill or can’t walk for whatever reason, then sit and say only one setence. “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.” If you do this every day for 15 to 30 minutes, you’ll find that you’re periods of silent time with the Lord get longer without you realizing it.
I know that for a lay person this may be too much in one day, because your schedules often require that you work 40 hrs and care for your families,something which religious don’t do. We don’t work 40 hrs and our families are our religious communities. We have the luxury of time. If you don’t have that, then go slow. Begin with daily mass and silence before the Blessed Sacrament, either before or after mass. Let God do the guiding. But always read the masters, even if it’s just a few minutes a day.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
Thanks for reposting it.