It is this Office’s duty to study and present to the diocesan curia and the Holy See for beatification and canonisation the cases of persons (mainly Franciscans from all the Franciscan Family) who have shown concrete signs of holiness in the heroic exercise of all virtues.
He is one of the most popular Saints in the whole Catholic Church, venerated not only in Padua but also throughout the world. Dear to the faithful are the images and statues that portray him with the lily a symbol of his purity or with the Child Jesus in his arms, in memory of a miraculous apparition mentioned in several literary sources.
St Bonaventure, in all likelihood born in 1217, died in 1274. Thus he lived in the 13th century, an epoch in which the Christian faith which had deeply penetrated the culture and society of Europe inspired imperishable works in the fields of literature, the visual arts, philosophy and theology.
One of the best loved Saints is without a doubt St Clare of Assisi who lived in the 13th century and was a contemporary of St Francis. Her testimony shows us how indebted the Church is to courageous women, full of faith like her, who can give a crucial impetus to the Church’s renewal.
