Notes and Reflections for a
talk on Franciscan Mysticism by Maury Smith, ofm
3 Bon 1 mjs Itin Guide Hayes.doc
INTRODUCTION TO BONAVENTURE
Chances are that
many of you have never heard of the Franciscan Theologian, St. Bonaventure even
though he was a contemporary of St. Thomas Aquinas and a doctor of the
Church. Some years ago I read that for
almost five hundred years Bonaventure was the most popular spiritual
writer. Many highly respected
theologians know Bonaventure. I think you know one of them, Joseph Ratzinger
who wrote The Theology of History in St.
Bonaventure.
Theology of History in St. Bonaventure. By JOSEPH RATZINGER.
In paperback it sales from $855.00 up to $1000.00. I
definitely should not have left my copy in some friary library.
I probably paid ten dollars for it. Imagine a profit of
$990.00!!!
McGinn has a
footnote which tells us that in 1974 Jacques Guy Bougerol’ bibliography of
Bonaventure listed 4,842 items.
(McGinn p. 363 n. 85)
He also notes
that since Ratzinger published his seminal work on Bonaventure that there has
been “extensive literature devoted to Bonaventure’s theology of history.
(McGinn p. 368 n. 140.)
McGinn thinks
that Bernard of Clairvaux and Bonaventure … “may be justly described as the two
premier mystical teachers of the medieval West” and notes that Pope Leo XIII
called Bonaventure “the prince of mystical theology.”
(McGinn Flowering pp.
87-88.)
“But
Bonaventure’s mysticism did more than just summarize and synthesize earlier
Western mystical traditions.
It transformed
them. …
Francis, as the
ideal expression of the crucified Jesus, is the exemplar of our journey, or
reduction, back into God.
(Francis) he is
"the mirror of sanctity and the exemplar of all evangelical
perfection."123 (LM 15.1)
ft note 123 The importance of Francis in Bon’s thought has been investigated by almost all the major writers on the Seraphic Doctor. etc.
(McGinn Flowering pp. 93)
In the Itinerarium
“Bonaventure's treatment of the stages of contemplative ascent … is nothing more
than a laying out of what had taken place in the soul of Francis as a model for
all ecstatic.” (McGinn Flowering pp. 94)
Francis greatly influenced
the theology of Bonaventure.
EWERT H. COUSINS. “Francis of Assist: Christian Mysticism at the
Crossroads”
in Mysticism And Religious Traditions Edited By Steven T. Katz.
If we were to search for a
position within the Middle Ages itself to view Francis as innovator, we could
find no better ground than Bonaventure's mystical writings. Minister General of
the Franciscan Order at a crucial point in its history, he gained the title of
its Second Founder. Along with Thomas Aquinas, he is considered one of the two
major philosopher-theologians of the thirteenth century.
His mystical treatises are
among the classics of the genre.
Writing several decades after
Francis's death, Bonaventure attempted a double task:
(1) to situate Francis's
experience within the mainstream speculative, metaphysical, cosmological
Neoplatonic tradition; and
(2) at the same time to
extend this tradition to encompass the devotional, Christ-centered focus of
Francis, with its mysticism of the historical event.
In his masterpiece, The Soul's Journey into God,
he has written the summa of
medieval Christian mysticism,
for he attempts to give a
typology of the major strands of medieval mystical consciousness
that preceded Francis and
at the same time to integrate
the new Franciscan sensibility into this framework.
His achievement here is not
unlike that of Thomas Aquinas in theology.
What Thomas achieved for
Aristotle in theology,
Bonaventure did for Francis
in mysticism.
The remainder of our
investigation will be a case study of transition in medieval mysticism. We
shall begin with an exploration of Francis's mystical experience, drawn from
historical documents and
Francis of Assist and
Christian Mysticism
analyzed phenomenologically.
We shall then see how Bonaventure integrated Francis's experience into the
mainstream, speculative, Neoplatonic tradition in his treatise The Soul's
Journey into God. Already in this work the image of Christ is central, though
not explored in detail or treated devotionally. Bonaventure's later work, The
Tree of Life, comprises a classical expression of the mysticism of the
historical event in the form of an extended meditation on events in the life of
Jesus. His treatment of Christ the Centre in his Collations on the Hexaemeron
constitutes the final stage of his integrative process: it deals
with Christ speculatively, situating
him within the Neoplatonic metaphysical and
cosmological scheme.
In this way Bonaventure draws
the innovations of Francis's experience into the established tradition, and at
the same time transforms the tradition by these very innovations.
Itinerarium
Introduction by Philotheus Boehner. in Bonaventure. Itinerarium Mentis in Deum:
Works of Bonaventure, Volume II. Introduction and Commentary by Philotheus
Boehner, OFM; New English Translation by Zachary Hayes, OFM.
The Meaning And Place Of The
Itinerarium By Philotheus Boehner
(Boehner Pp. 19-27)
In fact, it is not difficult to place the Itinerarium within the system
of mysticism that we find developed in
De Triplici Via.
Where would be, then, the
proper place of the Itinerarium?
It has been said that its
proper place is in the perfective way,
but we believe that it
belongs rather to the illuminative way,
reaching at the end the
contemplation of the unitive way and merging with it.
For throughout the six chapters of the Itinerarium we are concerned
with six illuminationum suspensiones
(uplifting illuminations), as the Prologue (n. 3) says. (Boehner p. 25)
I take as our
guide for Bonaventure and the Journey of
the Soul into God, Zachary Hayes.
His book, Bonaventure Mystical Writings is a
classis.
Zachary takes the
Itinerarium, as the center piece and
weaves all of the mystical writings of Bonaventure into his text.
Unfortunately the
book is out of print.
However a search
of WorldCat yields 181 libraries that have the book.
And Abebook.com,
Alibris.com and Amazon.com had copies to sell in June of 2008.
Hayes notes four
qualities of Bonaventure’s work.
“1. The Spirit
of
He developed a systematic vision deeply
rooted in the spiritual experience of
St. Francis. …
He developed a powerful theological
interpretation of the person of Francis.
Hayes identifies three insights that
Bonaventure developed from his reflections on St. Francis:
a specific form of Christology,
a distinctive form of Trinitarian
theology and
a form of creation theology.
Hayes p. 22)
Second, Bonaventure’s teaching is deeply rooted in Scripture
as is the spirituality of St. Francis. “Scripture is the first source to which
the theologian must turn.” (p. 23)
Third Bonaventure was a person of deep mystical
orientation. He is influenced by
Augustine, Pseudo-Dionysus, Hugh and Richard of St. Victor. The Dionysian tradition emphasized the
apophatic dimension of mysticism and its threefold way of purgation,
illumination and consummation. In fact
Bonaventure wrote another work, De Triplici Via which uses the threefold way as
its foundation and structure. Next month this Christian Mysticism program will
have a talk on Pseudo-Dionysius.
This can be found in the recent edition by Ed Couglin.
Bonaventure. Writings on the Spiritual Life.
Works of Bonaventure, Volume X. Introduction and Notes by F. Edward Coughlin.
Fourth, Bonaventure is a highly skilled intellectual of the
thirteenth century. He was a theologian and wrote books in theology, scripture
and spirituality. The critical edition of his
Opera Omnia is ten volumes.
And I would add a
fifth quality of Bonaventure, he is a great synthesizer. In the Itinerarium he synthesizes the
mystical theology of his time. In the
Breviloquium he synthesizes theology and in the Tree of Life which is also
considered a mystical work, he synthesis the commentaries on Scripture.
Hayes overview
of the Itinerarium.
Bonaventure is an
intellectual “… reflecting on this own exper8ence in the light of the tradition
of Western wisdom theology, and in the light of the experience of St.
Francis.”
The goal is that true wisdom
which drawn the person ever more deeply into the transforming power of the
divine love in which the human spirit finally finds its light and it s
peace.
(Hayes, p. 41.)
“The goal of the journey is
not be simply a knower. It is, above
all, to become a lover.” (Hayes,
p. 38)
We are to move toward a union
of transforming love in our relationship with the mystery of God. The spiritual
quest will not allow us to rest simply with knowledge but instead we are return
the love God has given us.
“First, therefore I invite
the reader to the groans of prayer through Christ crucified…
so that the reader will not
come to believe that reading is sufficient with unction,
speculation with devotion,
investigation without wonder,
observation without joy,
work without piety,
knowledge without love,
understanding without
humility,
study without divine grace,
the mirror without the divinely inspired wisdom.”
… desire for it ….
At the same
(Hayes Itin. prol. 4 p. 42
Hayes definition of mysticism:
“Over the years, the term
mysticism has been defined in a variety of ways. For our purposes here, we take
it to mean the conviction that it is possible for the human person to have an
experience of union with God far more intense than that of ordinary human
Experience. Such experiences can be
triggered by a wide range of realities, all of which can be thought to have
mystical significance.” page 44
Point of Departure for the
Journey.
1. Search for peace.
As Minister General, Bonaventure has been
dealing with severe conflicts tearing the order apart.
2. A person of desire
Daniel is a person of desire
both by prayer and by speculation (meditation)
Prayer is the mother and
source of every upward striving of the soul.
3. The poor one in the desert.
The one who recognizes what
he or she is before God.
The desert is the place of
encounter with the divine.
A profound contemplative
journey.
The goal is a deep personal
union with God.
Bonaventure explains how this
personal union with God will develop.
Drawing on the Mystical
There are six steps or stages
involved in the ascent to God:
(Hayes, p.55)
Two involved in reflection on
the world outside of ourselves, creation.
Two involved in reflection on
the world within, the soul as an image of God.
Two involved in reflection on
the Mystery of God
The human person is equipped
with the six powers of the soul corresponding to the six levels (Hayes, p. 55)
To be able to ascent to God.
We ascent from the lowest to the highest;
We ascent from
Things external to things internal
We ascent from
Temporal things to eternal things.
These
six powers are (Hayes, p. 56
Sense
Imagination
Reason
intellect
intelligence
synderesis
These grades we have
implanted in us by nature.
The depth of our interiority
is identical with the
The turn inward is
simultaneously the turn upward.
Leading to that inner point
of wholeness and integration which is crucial for the mystical experience.
Cf page 57 JS 1.8 (5:298)
It is a person of faith who
engages in this journey
Cf (Hayes, Outline pp 54-57 summary
Encounter with our world (outside)
The way to that goal will take us through
the mysteries of God’s creation
The world of bodily beings that can be
experienced empirically.
The material world of God’s creation plays
a very positive role in spirituality; Fran & Bon
Recall Francis’ Canticle of Creatures;
reconciliation with all aspects of creation.
All creatures have their origin in God.
Once in union with God (mjs), Francis
could find traces of God in the world of nature.
What is distinctive about Francis is his
feeling of belonging to one and the same family with all of God’s
creation. God is the father of us all.
All creatures are vestiges; all humans are
images of the divine.
(JS 1.2 (5:297) p. 63)
“In this sort of prayer one
is enlightened to know the steps of the ascent to God. For we are created in such a way that the
universe itself is a ladder for ascending to God.
(Hayes, trans p. 47.
Symbol of the book and the window
(stained glass)
Nature mysticism
(See Hayes, p. 69)
“Without doubt, any object in
the world around us can be of significance in our search for the mystery of
God. The first biography by Celano gives a description of St. Francis that
could hardly be surpassed for a description of nature mysticism.” (see FAED I
p. 250.)
All of us have had similar
experiences of creation. Hayes notes:
“What we need is a more
concentrated sense awareness. With that, the beautiful objects of natures or of
human culture can awaken us to levels of reality that we do not attend to in
our everyday experience. This is not yet
the mystical experience that Bonaventure sees as the goals of the journey, but
it is a sense of meditative wonder that may serve to help us on the way. It is already a contact with God, but
‘through a glass darkly.’” (Hayes p. 70)
Coming to one’s senses is a
primary principle of emotional health for Fritz Perl’s Gestalt Therapy. To
explain this in the down to earth terms that Perl’s used: one must lose one’s
mind in order to come to one’s senses. In out world today people can easily
become over intellectualized. At the extreme this is a psychotic state out of
touch with reality. Perl’s point is that we become a fuller person capable of
loving life to the fullest by being aware of our senses and using them to
appreciate reality and ourselves.
state
But so as not to be enmeshed
in created things, we must pass through the outside to enter the inside.
Encounter with ourselves (inside)
“To contemplate that mystery
that lies hidden within ourselves, the human soul with its varied functions.” (Hayes p. 78.)
“There is a point at the
inner core or our experience that can never be touched by any other human
being. … who you are deep inside is really your own most personal secret. …In our culture there is a strong tendency to
block this out. … Because of fear of the
solitariness we will experience within? And yet, despite all our efforts to
silence the voice of that inner silence, it does not go away. …And its inside is where human beings
encounter their solitariness and the possible depth of the relation with God.”
(Hayes,
pp. 79-81
The practice of asceticism becomes
necessary so that we can realize in ourselves the necessary inner, spiritual
freedom.
The world of spiritual reality as we
discover with the human person and the human soul.
We move from the outer court
to the space in front of the tabernacle.
(JS 3, 1)
Bonaventure approaches with
an understanding of two levels:
The first involves reflection
on the nature of the soul precisely as an image of God.
The second looks at the
operation of divine grace within the soul, cleansing it from sin and bringing
it to perfection.
The first is
mind-knowledge-love and
the second is
memory-intelligence-will.
For Bonaventure memory has a
broader meaning. It involves not only
the past but the present and the future also; and in this way it reflects
something of the mystery of God’s eternity.
At this third level, the soul
is a similitude “so present to itself and having God so present that it
actually grasps God and potentially ‘is capable of possessing God and of
becoming a partaker in God.
(JS 3.2 Hayes p. 85.)
Hayes describes how
Bonaventure uses the philosophical theology of his times to show how a person
discovers the God within. He concludes
by noting “in the thought of Bonaventure, it is possible for us to come to some
sense of the mystery of God by reflection on the mystery of the human
soul…” Bonaventure described the human
being as an openness, or as a potential to a yet deeper communication of the
divine. This is what it means to be an image of God and have a deeper
communication with the divine. The soul is close to God. Bonaventure uses an
image of the soul bent over by sin but reformed and made erect by grace. The
human person is called to stand upright, reflecting God as an image of the
divine in the created world. This is the
role of Christ in reforming the soul. As
a result the soul develop its spiritual senses of seeing, tasting, touching and
hearing. Thus grace is the foundation of
the spiritual journey.
The life of grace and the
virtues is a process of radical transformation as the human person is drawn
ever more deeply into the Trinitarian life of God according to Bonaventure.
For Bonaventure the soul
reformed by grace “becomes a daughter, a spouse, and a friend of God; …a member
of Christ, the Head, a sister and co-heir. … a temple of the Holy Spirit, … the
mysteries of God are known by no one but the Spirit of God. Let us, therefore
be rooted and grounded in love. “ (JS 4,8)
Encounter With God (Above)
The mystery of the divine,
which transcends anything at either of these levels.
Cf. JS 1.4 (5:297)
This is the classical
Christian outline of the spiritual way going back at least to Augustine.
Hayes describes what
Bonaventure is doing the fifth and sixth steps as a metaphysical
mysticism. In the scholastic times of
Bonaventure and Thomas, “philosophical thought was commonly used to form
theological terminology and to develop theological thought.” (Hayes p. 100)
The image of the temple is
used once more and so we move deeper into the temple into the Holy of Holies
where the ark of the covenant is kept.
In the fifth step there is a profound metaphysical meditation on God as the
being-one.
And in the sixth step there
is a profound metaphysical meditation on God as the Highest Good.
God is a mystery of primal,
loving communion and relationality. God
as the highest good is supremely self-diffusive which thus includes God’s
loving self-communication.
And at the same time if is
difficult to fathom and to speak of the profound depth of the mystery of God.
And so in the last chapter of
the Itinerarium, the seventh chapter, the Seraphic Doctor will lead us into
silence.
Symbolism in the Itinerarium:
The seraph symbol is
introduced in /tin. prol. 2 and is omnipresent in the text (e.g., prol. 3,
2.11, 4.7, 7.1, 7.3).
The tabernacle symbol enters
in 3.1 and is strongly developed in chapters 5 and 6.
Other important symbols
include the mirror (prol. 4, 1.5, 2.1, 3.1, 3.5, 4.7),
the ladder (prol. 2, 1.3,
1.9, 4.1, 7.1) and
the book (1.14, 2.1, 2.12).
On Bonaventure's use of the symbolism of the
See SYMBOL OR MODEL? ST. BONAVENTURE'S USE OF ST. FRANCIS
in Bonaventuriana Miscellanea in onore di Jacques Guy Bougerol, ofm a
cura di Francisco de Asis Chavero Blanco OFM
Vol. I Edizione Antonianum Roma 1988. PP. 55-62.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Outline of Itinerarium: Journey
of the Soul into God.
Bonaventure would have us think
of this outline as a ladder
Read this outline from the bottom up.
Apex Mentis: intellect
rests, QUIES (mystical rest)
(chapter: 7) desire
plunges into darkness PEACE
love reaches out to union with God
mystical falling asleep with
Christ on the Cross
6. God's
goodness - God's self communication of
love
5. Gaze at God's Being;
"nothing" "darkness"(will) INTIMACY
Above the Soul GOD:
4. dwelling of God:
Similitude, soul present to God & vice versa.
beauty, affections. PROCESS
3. Image,
all humans. Self-knowledge. Process of thinking.
In the Soul
2. Vestiges, all creatures.
"trust the process"
transition step. Imagination.
1. Creation,-the first step. Sense faculties.
Outside the Soul, CREATION
Outline: process, principles
and conditions.
Prologue Preparation:
The poor one in the desert.
Desire for peace through prayer and through speculation.
Remorse of conscience
Start with love of the Crucified
Pilgrimage
Memory
Passover Intellect
Paschal Mystery
Will
Bonaventure would have us think
of this outline as a ladder
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
There
is one part of the Itinerarium’s teaching that is truly needed today.
Bonaventure in explaining how the soul is made in the image of God writes of
the will, intellect and memory. Memory here is not a psychological function but
rather is akin to the structure of liturgical prayer that most often speaks of
what God has done for us in the past, what God is doing for us right now and
what God has promised us for the future: an eternal life of love in union with
the Trinity. Franciscan theology places the emphasis on the will as the seat of
love. This is the Hebrew hesed love of the Old Testament. Hesed meaning
compassion, understanding, patience, kindness, sharing, supportive, faithful
and everlasting. Love in this context is an act of the will, an act of
choosing, an act of commitment. This is
totally different from the excessive emotional understanding of love that
With
this as an introductory overview of the Itinerarium, thus setting the context
for our reading of the text itself. Please turn to the Handouts pages five and
six. Note we have Side One and Side Two.
In
keeping with the goal of tasting the text itself, let us read some of chapter 7
of the Itinerarium.
Side
One, please begin:
St. Bonaventure’s Itinerarium:
CHAPTER SEVEN
THE MYSTICAL TRANSPORT OF THE MIND
IN WHICH REST is GIVEN TO THE INTELLECT AND
THROUGH ECSTASY OUR AFFECTION PASSES OVER
TOTALLY INTO GOD
SIDE ONE 1. We have
covered these six considerations, comparing them to the six steps by which one ascends to the throne of the true Solomon
where the mind finds peace. It is
here that the true person of peace rests in the quiet of the mind as in an
interior
SIDE TWO: They are also
like the first six days during which
the mind needed to be trained so as to finally arrive at the Sabbath of rest. Our mind has contemplated God outside itself through
and in the vestiges; within itself through and in the image; and above itself through the similitude
of the divine light shining on us from above in as far as that is possible in
our pilgrim state and by the exercise of our mind.
SIDE ONE Now finally when the mind has come to the sixth step,
in the first and highest Principle and in the mediator between God and humanity, Jesus Christ, it finds mysteries which have no likeness among
creatures and which surpass the
penetrating power of the human intellect. When we have contemplated all these
things, it remains for the mind to pass
over and transcend not only the sensible
world but the soul itself. And
in this passage, Christ is the way
and the door. Christ is the ladder and the vehicle, like the Mercy
Seat placed above the ark of God and the mystery
that has been hidden from all eternity. [stop]
2. Anyone who turns fully to face this Mercy Seat with faith, hope, and love, devotion, admiration, joy,
appreciation, praise and rejoicing, will behold Christ hanging on the Cross. Such a person celebrates the Pasch, that is, the Passover, with
Christ. So, using the rod of the Cross, this person can pass over the
3. All this was shown also to blessed Francis when, in a rapture
of contemplation on the top of the mountain where I reflected on the things I have written here, a six-winged Seraph fastened to a cross appeared to
him. This I myself and several others have heard about from the companion who
was with him at that very place. Here he was carried out of himself in contemplation
and passed over into God. And he has
been set forth as the example of perfect contemplation just as he had
earlier been known as the example of
action, like another Jacob transformed into
SIDE TWO 4. If this
passing over is to be perfect, all
intellectual activities must be given up,
and our deepest and total affection
must be directed to God and transformed
into God. But this is mystical and
very secret, which no one knows except
one who receives it. And no one receives it except one who desires it. And no one desires it but
one who is penetrated to the very marrow with the fire of the Holy Spirit whom Christ has sent into the world.
Therefore the Apostle says that the
revelation of this mystical wisdom comes through the Holy Spirit. [stop]
5. Therefore since nature is helpless in this matter, and even personal
effort is of little significance, little importance should be given to investigation and much to unction; little to speech but much to interior joy, little
to words or writing and all to the gift of God, namely the Holy Spirit; little
or no importance should be given to the creature but all to the creative
essence, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. So with Dionysius we
cry out to the Triune God: "O Trinity, essence beyond essence and God
beyond all deities, and most excellent Protector of the wisdom of Christians, guide us to that totally hidden but
radiant and most sublime height of mystical knowledge. There new mysteries
— the new, absolute, and unchangeable mysteries of theology - lie hidden in the dazzling darkness of a
silence that teaches secretly in a total obscurity that is super-manifest
and in a super-resplendent darkness in
which all things shine forth;
a darkness which fills invisible
intellects with a full superabundance and splendor of invisible goods that are
above all good." This was said to God. But to the friend to whom this was
written we can say with Dionysius: "In
this matter of mystical visions, my friend, being strengthened for your
journey, leave behind the world of the senses and of intellectual operations,
all visible and all invisible things, and everything that exists or does not
exist, and being unaware even of yourself, allow yourself to he drawn back into
unity with that One who is above all essence and knowledge in as far as that is
possible. Thus, leaving all things and freed from all things, in a total and absolute
ecstasy of a pure mind, transcending your self and all things, you shall rise
up to the super-essential radiance of the divine darkness."
SIDE ONE: 6. Now if you ask how all these things are
to come about,
ask grace, not doctrine; desire, not intellect; the
groaning of prayer and
not studious reading; the Spouse, not the master; God,
not a human being; darkness, not clarity; not light, but the fire that inflames
totally and carries one into God through spiritual fervor and with the most
burning affections. It is God alone who is this fire, and God's furnace is in
SIDE TWO: And it is Christ who starts the fire with
the white flame of his most intense passion. Only that person who says: My soul
chooses hanging, and my bones death can truly embrace this fire. Only one who
loves this death can see God, for it is absolutely true that no one can see me
and live.
SIDE ONE Let us die, then, and enter into this
darkness.
Let us silence all our cares, desires, and imaginings.
Let us pass over with the crucified Christ from this
world to the Father,
so that when the Father has been shown to us, we may
say with Philip:
SIDE TWO: It is enough for us. Let us hear with Paul:
My grace is sufficient for you; and let us exult with
David, saying:
My flesh and my heart waste away; you are the God of
my heart,
and the God that is my portion forever.
Blessed be the Lord forever, and let all the people
say: let it be, let it be. Amen.
Here Ends the Journey
of the Soul into God.
from Bonaventure. Itinerarium
Mentis in Deum: Works of Bonaventure, Volume II. Introduction and
Commentary by Philotheus Boehner, OFM; New English Translation by Zachary
Hayes, OFM.
Notice
how the Itinerarium begins with Christ Crucified and ends at the foot of
the cross in mystical sleep, quies, and in peace.
This
chapter alone demonstrates the power of Bonaventure’s mystical writings.
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