Dr. Tom Curran shares insights teachings from St. Bonaventure, highlighting Bonaventure’s emphasis on the link between the five physical senses and the spiritual life. Tom asks for the intercession of St. Bonaventure and prays for listeners who feel overwhelmed with concern.
St. Bonaventure Quotes:
“Every creature is a divine word because it proclaims God.”
“Come, let us give a little time to folly… and even in a melancholy day let us find time for an hour of pleasure.”
“To know much and to taste nothing – of what use is that?”
“Lord Jesus Christ, pierce my soul with your love so that I may always long for you alone, who are the bread of angels and the fulfillment of the soul’s deepest desires. May my heart always hunger for you, so that soul may be filled with the sweetness of your presence.”
“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 sepulcher, 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.”
“Sweetest Lord Jesus Christ, pierce the depths of my soul with the most joyous and life-giving wound of Your love, with true, serene, holy and apostolic charity, that my heart may ever yearn for You, and melt with genuine love, and long for You; that it may desire You, sigh for Your heavenly home, and earnestly yearn to become as nothing in order to be with You.
Grant that my soul may hunger for You, the Bread of Angels, the Refreshment of holy souls, our daily and ever-satisfying Bread, which contains all possible sweetness. Let my heart ever hunger after You and feed upon You, upon whom the angels desire to gaze, and may my whole soul be filled with Your sweetness. May it ever thirst for You, the Fountain of eternal light, the Torrent of pleasure, the Richness of the House of God. May it ever yearn for You, seek You, find You, stretch towards You, reach You, meditate upon You, speak of You, and do all things for the praise and glory of Your holy Name, with humility and prudence, with love and delight, with willingness, affection and perseverance.
Be ever my hope and my whole confidence, my riches, my delight, my pleasure, and my joy. Be my rest, my peace, my sweetness and my delight. Be my spiritual enjoyment, my food and refreshment. Be my refuge and my help, my wisdom, my reward, my possession, and my treasure, in whom my mind and my heart may ever remain fixed and firm now and forever. Amen.”
“Any old woman can love God better than a doctor of theology can.”
“Although you feel tepid, approach with confidence, for the greater your infirmity the more you stand in need of a physician.”
“Men do not fear a powerful hostile army as the powers of hell fear the name and protection of Mary.”
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