How Did St. Bonaventure Influence the Franciscan Order?
Bonaventure lived in exciting times, the 13th Century, once called “the Greatest of Centuries”. Born in the Papal States, at the age of twenty he studied at the University of Paris. There he entered the Franciscan Order about 1243. After teaching, writing and administering in the University, which was then torn apart by bitter quarrels, he was elected minister general of an increasingly divided Franciscan order (1257). However, as general, he gave both intelligent and conciliatory leadership for seventeen years. His work shaped the fundamental directions of the Franciscans for generations. During his time as general, he composed a famous “Life of St. Francis,” which became the official biography of the Founder. His spiritual treatises, including the famous “Journey of the Soul into God,” established him as an original thinker and mystical theologian. His thought and insights influenced many spiritual writers in subsequent centuries. There has been a great revival of interest in his und
