Bishop and Doctor of the Church AD 1274 Feast Day: July 15
MASS
ENTRANCE ANTIPHON
I will look after my sheep, says the Lord, and I will raise up one shepherd who will pasture them. I, the Lord, will be their God. (Ezekiel 34:11,23-24)
OPENING PRAYER
All-powerful Father,
may we who celebrate the feast of St. Bonventure
always benefit from his wisdom
and follow the example of his love.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
A reading from the letter of Paul to the Ephesians 3:14-19
I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM119:9,10,11,12,13,14 R./(12b) Lord, teach me your statutes.
How can a young man be faultless in his way?
By keeping to your words. R./ Lord, teach me your statutes.
With all my heart I seek you;
let me not stray from your commands. R./ Lord, teach me your statutes.
Within my heart I treasure your promise,
that I may not sin against you. R./ Lord, teach me your statutes.
Blessed are you, O Lord;
teach me your statutes. R./ Lord, teach me your statutes.
With my lips I declare
all the ordinances of your mouth. R./ Lord, teach me your statutes.
In the way of your decrees
I rejoice as much in all riches. R./ Lord, teach me your statutes.
GOSPEL ANTIPHON
We preach a Christ who was crucified; / he is the power and wisdom of God.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew 23:8-12
Jesus said to his disciples: "You are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students. And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father—the one in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted."
PRAYER OVER THE OFFERINGS
Lord, accept the gifts we bring to your holy altar on this feast of Saint Bonaventure. May our offering bring honor to your name and pardon to your people. We ask this through Christ our Lord.
COMMUNION ANTIPHON
You have not chosen me; I have chosen you. Go and bear fruit that will last. - Jn. 15:16
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Lord, may we who receive this sacrament be inspired by the example of Saint Bonaventure. May we learn to proclaim what he believed and put his teaching into action . We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord.
From The Journey of the Mind to God, by St. Bonventure
(Cap. 7,1.2.4.6: Opera omnia 5, 312-313)
Mystical wisdom is revealed by the Holy Spirit
Christ is both the way and the door. Christ is the staircase and the vehicle, like the "throne of mercy over the Ark of the Covenant," and "the mystery hidden from the ages." A man should turn his full attention to this throne of mercy, and should gaze at him hanging on the cross, full of faith, hope and charity, devoted, full of wonder and joy, marked by gratitude, and open to praise and jubilation. Then such a man will make with Christ a "pasch," that is, a passing-over. Through the branches of the cross he will pass over the Red Sea, leaving Egypt and entering the desert. There he will taste the hidden manna, and rest with Christ in the sepulchre, as if he were dead to things outside. He will experience, as much as is possible for one who is still living, what was promised to the thief who hung beside Christ: "Today you will be with me in paradise."
For this passover to be perfect, we must suspend all the operations of the mind and we must transform the peak of our affections, directing them to God alone. This is a sacred mystical experience. It cannot be comprehended by anyone unless he surrenders himself to it; nor can he surrender himself to it unless he longs for it; nor can he long for it unless the Holy Spirit, whom Christ sent into the world, should come and inflame his innermost soul. Hence the Apostle says that this mystical wisdom is revealed by the Holy Spirit.
If you ask how such things can occur, seek the answer in God’s grace, not in doctrine; in the longing of the will, not in the understanding; in the sighs of prayer, not in research; seek the bridegroom not the teacher; God and not man; darkness not daylight; and look not to the light but rather to the raging fire that carries the soul to God with intense fervour and glowing love. The fire is God, and the furnace is in Jerusalem, fired by Christ in the ardour of his loving passion. Only he understood this who said: "My soul chose hanging and my bones death." Anyone who cherishes this kind of death can see God, for it is certainly true that: "No man can look upon me and live."
Let us die, then, and enter into the darkness, silencing our anxieties, our passions and all the fantasies of our imagination. Let us pass over with the crucified Christ "from this world to the Father," so that, when the Father has shown himself to us, we can say with Philip: "It is enough." We may hear with Paul: "My grace is sufficient for you;" and we can rejoice with David, saying: "My flesh and my heart fail me, but God is the strength of my heart and my heritage for ever. Blessed be the Lord for ever, and let all the people say: Amen. Amen!"
RESPONSORY1 John 3:24; Sirach 1:8,9
All who keep God's commandments live in God
and God lives in them.
- We know that he dwells in us,
by the Spirit he has given us.
In his Holy Spirit God created wisdom,
which he has poured forth upon all creation
and has offered to those who love him.
- We know that he dwells in us,
by the Spirit he has given us.
PRAYER
All-powerful Father,
may we who celebrate the feast of St. Bonventure
always benefit from his wisdom
and follow the example of his love.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.