The celebrations for St. Bonaventure in Bagnoregio (Italy)

On the occasion of the 750th anniversary of the death of St. Bonaventure, the Minister General, OFM, Br. Massimo Fusarelli, on the 15th July 2024 participated in the events in honour of the Franciscan saint celebrated in his hometown, Bagnoregio (VT, Italy).

In the conference dedicated to the Seraphic Doctor, Br. Massimo presented a report entitled "Wisdom for the following of Christ according to Bonaventure of Bagnoregio". Quoting the Letter of the Ministers General "St. Bonaventure. A voice that is still relevant", Br. Massimo recalled how St. Bonaventure was  a teacher of theology, a minister of the Order and a mystic, leaving a doctrinal and formative legacy "not only to the friars who belong to the Order founded by St. Francis of Assisi, but also to the Church, to the world of university culture, to many scholars and researchers committed to enhancing and updating the cultural heritage of the Middle Ages". In this regard, he mentioned the Centre for Bonaventurian Studies founded over 70 years ago, in 1953, in Bagnoregio, which promotes and disseminates the thought of the Franciscan master through annual conferences and the bulletin Doctor Seraphicus.

The Minister General OFM then examined some essential coordinates of the teaching that the Saint of Bagnoregio proposes on the gift and exercise of wisdom.

The Christian is called to live a "journey that aims at union with God, in the following of Christ the Lord – the Incarnate Word, Crucified and Inspired under the guidance of the Holy Spirit – at the heart of the evangelical wisdom of Saint Francis"; he is also called to make a journey sustained by prayer, charity, humility, divine grace; in his writings, the term wisdom it indicates something more than science or intellectual knowledge, and always refers "to the dimension of today, attentive to the centrality of the subject, to giving meaning to everyday things for a new quality of life, between the crisis of strong ideologies and long-term projects and the phenomenon of the acceleration of time, which makes it increasingly difficult for us to remember the past and plan for the future",  said Br. Massimo.

Continuing in his report, the Minister emphasized that wisdom for Bonaventure is a knowledge that concerns the whole human person, which involves both the intellectual and the affective faculty: "For Bonaventure, wisdom becomes integral, complete and perfect knowledge only with love. Therefore, wisdom embraces two aspects: the light of knowledge for learning – and this is the starting point – and a taste of affection that guarantees union with God, and this is the main aspect."

Fr. Massimo then, analyzing the prologue of the Itinerarium mentis in Deum, described how the Seraphic Doctor took St. Francis of Assisi as a model to trace an ascending path that leads man to God, through love and conformation to Christ Crucified. The Legenda Maior describes seven episodes from the life of Francis that the saint of Bagnoregio rereads in as many encounters with the Cross, "the key to entering into what we could call the philosophy of holiness [...]. The Legenda Maior, therefore, under the aspect of a biographical and hagiographic work, is above all a philosophical and theological work, which shows all the depth of Bonaventure's philosophical thought, of which Francis of Assisi turns out to be the model that stands before us, now in some ways inimitable." Bonaventure, therefore, directs us to live today the wisdom of faith in the following of Christ with St. Francis, giving importance to desire in the dynamism of the spiritual life: "It is the interior disposition that makes tangible and effective the loving passion for the things of heaven, for the gifts of God," the Minister concluded.

At the end of the conference, Br. Massimo Fusarelli, on behalf of all the Ministers General of the Franciscan Family and the President of the Union of Franciscan Sisters, received honorary citizenship of the city of Bagnoregio.

The day concluded with Mass presided over by H.E. Msgr. Orazio Francesco Piazza, Bishop of Viterbo. Also present were the Minister and the friars of the Province of San Bonaventure (Italy).

Read the report of the Minister General (Italian)