St. Bonaventure

St. Bonaventure

St. Bonaventure, known as "the seraphic doctor," was born at Bagnoregio, in the Lazio region of central Italy, in 1221. He received the name of Bonaventure in consequence of an exclamation of St. Francis of Assisi, when, in response to the pleading of the child's mother, the saint prayed for John's recovery from a dangerous illness, and, foreseeing the future greatness of the little John, cried out "O Buona ventura"-O good fortune!

At the age of twenty-two St. Bonaventure entered the Franciscan Order. Having made his vows, he was sent to Paris to complete his studies under the celebrated doctor Alexander of Hales, an Englishman and a Franciscan. After the latter's death he continued his course under his successor, John of Rochelle. In Paris he became the intimate friend of the great St. Thomas Aquinas. He received the degree of Doctor, together with St. Thomas Aquinas, ceding to his friend against the latter's inclination, the honor of having it first conferred upon him. Like St. Thomas Aquinas, he enjoyed the friendship of the holy King, St. Louis.

At the age of thirty-five he was chosen General of his Order and restored a perfect calm where peace had been disturbed by internal dissensions. He did much for his Order and composed The Life of St. Francis . He also assisted at the translation of the relics of St. Anthony of Padua. He was nominated Archbishop of York by Pope Clement IV, but he begged not to be forced to accept that dignity. Gregory X obliged him to take upon himself a greater one, that of Cardinal and Bishop of Albano, one of the six suffragan Sees of Rome. Before his death he abdicated his office of General of the Franciscan Order. He died while he was assisting at the Second Council of Lyons, on July 15, 1274.

Credits:
Discriptions of saints lives and biographies have been excerpted, summarized, or compiled from Franciscan Media, CatholicSaints.Info, Catholic Online, and Wikipedia.

The Rosary is the best therapy for these distraught, unhappy, fearful, and frustrated souls, precisely because it involves the simultaneous use of three powers: the physical, the vocal, and the spiritual, and in that order.

— Archbishop Fulton Sheen

The Rosary is THE WEAPON.

— St. Padre Pio

The rosary is the scourge of the devil

— Pope Adrian VI

The Rosary is a school for learning true Christian perfection.

— Pope John XXIII

The rosary is a treasure of graces.

— Pope Paul V

Among all the devotions approved by the Church none has been favored by so many miracles as the devotion of the most Holy Rosary.

— Pope Pius IX

If there were one million families praying the Rosary every day, the entire world would be saved.

— Pope St. Pius X

If our age in its pride laughs at and rejects Our Lady’s Rosary, a countless legion of the most saintly men of every age and of every condition have not only held it most dear and have most piously recited it but have also used it at all times as a most powerful weapon to overcome the devil, to preserve the purity of their lives, to acquire virtue more zealously, in a word, to promote peace among men.

— Pope Pius XI

There is no surer means of calling down God’s blessing upon the family than the daily recitation of the Rosary.

— Pope Pius XII

The greatest method of praying is to pray the Rosary.

— St. Francis de Sales

The rosary is the most powerful weapon to touch the Heart of Jesus, Our redeemer, who loves His Mother.

— St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort