"I Can't Die Now"

The 1951 edition of The Raccolta is replete with many wonderful, indulgenced prayers that demonstrate Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ’s ineffable love and mercy to His erring children.

That is, Our Lord has given His Holy Church the power to loose and bind sins, and He has deposited in her His Treasury of Grace that she may be dispense to help even lukewarm, worldly Catholics grow in fervor for the Him and the true Faith by praying prayers that carry without a means to pay back their own sins and those of others. Those who are totally consecrated to Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, of course, offer up everything—including the indulgences they might earn during the course of a day—to  be disposed of as she sees fit, knowing that Our Blessed Mother will be generous to those who are generously give their liberty to her.

There are so many signs of Holy Mother Church’s care for her children in The Raccolta, including in a prayer the following teaching about praying to accept with equanimity the death that God the Father has prepared for us from all eternity to undergo:

An Act of Accepting One’s Own Death from the Hand of God

The faithful who at any time in their lives, from a sincere love of God and with at least a contrite heart, express their intention of accepting calmly from the hand of God whatsoever manner of death it may please Him to send them, together with all its pain, anguish, and suffering, may gain and indulgence of seven years.

A plenary indulgence at the hour of death, if they have devoutly made such as act at least once in their lifetime, after having fulfilled the usual conditions. (S.C., Ind., March 9, 1904; Holy Office, November 16, 1916; A.P., March 18, 1932, The Raccolta: A Manual of Indulgences, Prayers and Devotions Enriched with Indulgences, approved by Pope Pius XII, May 30, 1951, and published in English by Benziger Brothers, New York, 1957 number 638, p. 510.) [The latter date was a half century to the day before my own mother’s death at the age of sixty-one years, twelve days.]

Sinner that I am, I make sure to ask my Guardian Angel every day to beg Our Lady to send me her Divine Son’s graces to accept my death from the hand of God with equanimity no matter where or when it shall occur, no matter the circumstances in which it will occur and to accept death as a punishment for sin and my own death as the means by which I can make expiation for all my forgiven Mortal Sins, Venial Sins, and any general attachment to sin. I also ask my Guardian Angel to beg Our Lady to give me a true and perfect contrition at all times, to have a deep hatred and detestation for my sins, and thus, even though I know I deserve hell a hundred gazillion times over, to beg for mercy for the depths of the tender mercies of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus even though I have been so abusive of those mercies and merciless to others at various points in my life. Finally, I beg my Guardian Angel to help me to be ever reliant upon and confidence in—without being in the least bit presumptuous of—the merciful prayers and protection Our Lady, Queen of Mercy, of Perpetual Help, and Help of Christians, Saint Joseph, Patron of the Dying, Saint Philomena our Wonder Worker, my Patron Saints, and all the Angels and Saints in Heaven as well as the Holy Souls in Purgatory at that fear hour when I called to make an account of my life to Christ the King and Divine Judge.

Yes, Holy Mother Church is so merciful to us erring sinners that all we have to do to receive a plenary indulgence at the time of our death to is pray to accept the manner of death from the hand of God for love Him and contrition for our sins JUST ONCE IN OUR LIFE (!) as we fulfill the other conditions for the indulgence. This is a cause for great hope for us all!

Unfortunately, most people alive today, including a lot of Catholics who are victims of the conciliar revolution, who have completely ignorant of these truths, and there are some in the public limelight (office holders, entertainers, financial titans, athletes, etc.) who not only never think of First and Last Things but who believe that they and their work are so “indispensable” to this or that cause, including that of world peace, but that they “can’t die” until their “work” is done.

One of those who found out the hard way that his work was not dispensable to the true God of Divine Revelation, the Most Holy Trinity, was the late war-mongering senior senator from the State of South Carolina, Lindsey Graham, who postponed seeking medical assistance for the chest discomfort that he experienced on Sunday, July 12, 2026, the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, and the Commemorations of Saint John Gualbert and of Saints Nabor and Felix, because he just “had” to appear on the National Broadcasting Company’s Meet the Press program that is hosted by an alleged journalist named Kristen Welker:

In what could have been his final conversation, Graham, who suddenly died at 71 years old after a "brief and sudden illness," told a person that he was feeling unwell, Axios reported. When the person pushed the lawmaker to get medical attention, he reportedly said that he’d do so after his TV hit.

After he held a call with President Donald Trump, Graham, in what could have been his final conversation before his sudden passing, told an unnamed source that he was feeling unwell, Axios reported. When the source pushed the lawmaker to get medical attention, he reportedly said he'd wait until after his "Meet the Press" appearance on Sunday.

"I can't die now. I still need to do the Russia sanctions, get Iran sorted out and do Israeli-Saudi normalization," Graham said, according to the report.

Graham’s office released a preliminary cause of death on Sunday evening that found the longtime lawmaker had died from "aortic dissection due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease."

Aortic dissection is when a tear occurs in the inner wall of the aorta, the body’s main artery, and is a life-threatening medical emergency.

"The death certificate will be PENDING until all the toxicological and microscopic testing are finalized and at that point the death certificate will be updated to reflect the cause of death and appropriately classify the manner of death," Graham’s office said.

Graham’s office released a preliminary cause of death on Sunday evening that found the longtime lawmaker had died from "aortic dissection due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease."

Aortic dissection is when a tear occurs in the inner wall of the aorta, the body’s main artery, and is a life-threatening medical emergency.

"The death certificate will be PENDING until all the toxicological and microscopic testing are finalized and at that point the death certificate will be updated to reflect the cause of death and appropriately classify the manner of death," Graham’s office said. (Graham reportedly put off medical treatment until after scheduled TV appearance.)

“I can’t die now.”

Senator Lindsey Graham did not think that the time for his Particular Judgment was at hand, not that understood too much, if anything, about that fearful moment in which the legions of hell set loose their forces to keep souls from repenting of their sins, because he had “work” to do.

It is not the purpose of this commentary to focus on Graham’s lifelong support for one needless, immoral, unjust, and unconstitutional war after another as I have criticized him a lot when he was alive, and have not changed that criticism one bit after his death, as a very good summary of his support for the George Walker Bush’s Iraq War and his rabid support for the murderous policies of the Zionist State of Israel that earned him great praise from the genocidal Benjamin Netanyahu and the latter’s Defense Minister, the wretched Ben Gvir, was summarized very well at Lindsey Graham’s legacy: Israel advocate, Trump ally, Iran war supporter.

No, the purpose of this commentary is point out that Lindsey Graham, who was not a Catholic and was judged accordingly by Christ the King, no matter how dedicated he was to his sister when his father died when she was fifteen and he was twenty-two just a short time after their mother’s death or how sincerely he held his erroneous convictions or was truly liked and admired on a bipartisan basis by many of his Congressional colleagues, was completely unprepared for the moment of death as he, like most people in the past and at the present, do not believe that the following similitude of Our Lord’s that is recounted in the Gospel according to Saint Luke applied to him:

16 And he spoke a similitude to them, saying: The land of a certain rich man brought forth plenty of fruits.  17 And he thought within himself, saying: What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?  18 And he said: This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and will build greater; and into them will I gather all things that are grown to me, and my goods.  19 And I will say to my soul: Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years take thy rest; eat, drink, make good cheer.  20 But God said to him: Thou fool, this night do they require thy soul of thee: and whose shall those things be which thou hast provided.

21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich towards God.  22 And he said to his disciples: Therefore I say to you, be not solicitous for your life, what you shall eat; nor for your body, what you shall put on.  23 The life is more than the meat, and the body is more than the raiment.  24 Consider the ravens, for they sow not, neither do they reap, neither have they storehouse nor barn, and God feedeth them. How much are you more valuable than they?  25 And which of you, by taking thought, can add to his stature one cubit? (Luke 12: 16-25.)

This reminds us once again must be prepared to accept the loss everything we own with the same equanimity and serene acceptance of God’s Holy Will as that of Holy Job:

And while he was yet speaking, another came, and said: The fire of God fell from heaven, and striking the sheep and the servants, hath consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell thee. [17] And while he also was yet speaking, there came another, and said: The Chaldeans made three troops, and have fallen upon the camels, and taken them, moreover they have slain the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell thee. [18] He was yet speaking, and behold another came in, and said: Thy sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their elder brother: [19] A violent wind came on a sudden from the side of the desert, and shook the four corners of the house, and it fell upon thy children and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell thee. [20] Then Job rose up, and rent his garments, and having shaven his head fell down upon the ground and worshipped,

[21] And said: Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: as it hath pleased the Lord so is it done: blessed be the name of the Lord. [22] In all these things Job sinned not by his lips, nor spoke he any foolish thing against God. (Job 1: 16-22.)

Indeed, Saint Alphonsus de Liguori reminded us in a sermon for the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, that all things end, and that they must end quickly:

When one of the great of this world is in the full enjoyment of the riches and honours which he has acquired, death shall come, and he shall be told: "Take order with thy house; for thou shalt die, and not live"--Isa., xxxviii. 1. Oh! what doleful tidings! The unhappy man must then say: Farewell, O world! farewell, O villa! farewell, O grotto! farewell, relatives! farewell, friends! farewell, sports! farewell, balls! farewell, comedies! farewell, banquets! farewell, honours! all is over for me. "For when he shall die, he shall take nothing away; nor shall his glory descend with him"--Ps., xlviii. 18. St. Bernard says that death produces a horrible separation of the soul from the body and from all the things of this Earth. "Opus mortis horrendum divortium"-serm. xxvi., in Cant. To the great of this world, whom worldlings regard as the most fortunate of mortals, the bare name of death is so full of bitterness that they are unwilling even to hear it mentioned; for their entire concern is to find peace in their Earthly goods. "O death!" says Ecclesiasticus, "how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that hath peace in his possessions"--Eccl., xli. 1. But, how much greater bitterness shall death itself cause, when it actually comes! Miserable the man who is attached to the goods of this world! Every separation produces pain. Hence, when the soul shall be separated by the stroke of death from the goods on which she had fixed all her affections, the pain must be excruciating. It was this that made king Agag exclaim, when the news of approaching death was announced to him: "Doth bitter death separate me in this manner?"--I. Kings., xv. 32. The great misfortune of worldlings is, that when they are on the point of being summoned to judgment, instead of endeavouring to adjust the accounts of their soul, they direct all their attention to Earthly things. But, says St. John Chrysostom, the punishment which awaits sinners, on account of having forgotten God during life, is that the forget themselves at the hour of death. "hac animadversione percutitur impius, ut moriens oliviscatur sui, qui vivens oblitus est Dei."

But how great soever a man’s attachment to the things of this world may be, he must take leave of them at death. Naked he has entered into this world, and naked he shall depart from it. “Naked,” says Job, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." (Job 1:21). In a word, they who have spent their whole life, have lost their sleep, their health, and their soul, in accumulating riches and possessions shall take nothing with them at the hour of death, their eyes shall then be opened; and of all they had so dearly acquired, they shall find nothing in their hands. Hence, on that night of confusion, they shall be overwhelmed in a tempest of pains and sadness. “The rich man, when he shall sleep, shall take away nothing with him! He shall open his eyes and find nothing... a tempest shall oppress him in the night.” (Job 27:19-20). St. Antonine relates that Saladin, king of the Saracens, gave orders at the hour of death, that the winding sheet in which he was to be buried should be carried before him to the grave, and that a person should cry out, “Of all his possessions, this only shall Saladin bring with him.” The saint also relates that a certain philosopher, speaking of Alexander the Great after his death, said, Behold the man that made the earth tremble. “The earth,” as the Scripture says, “was quiet before him.” (1 Mac. 1:3). He is now under the earth. Behold the man whom the dominion of the whole world could not satisfy, now four palms of ground are sufficient for him. “Qui terram heri conculcubat, hodie ab ea conculcatur; et cui heri non sufficiebat mundus hodie sufficiunt quatuor ulnæ terræ.” St. Augustine, or some other ancient writer, says, that having gone to see the tomb of Caesar, he exclaimed, “Princes feared you; cities worshipped you; all trembled before you; where is your  magnificence gone?” (Serm. xxxviii. ad Fratr). Listen to what David says, “I have seen the wicked highly exalted and lifted up like the cedars of Libanus. And I passed by, and lo! he was not.” (Ps. 36:35-36). Oh! how many such spectacles are seen every day in the world! A sinner who had been born in lowliness and poverty, afterwards acquires wealth and honors, so as to excite the envy of all. When he dies, everyone says, He made a fortune in the world; but now he is dead, and with death all is over for him.

3. “Why is earth and ashes proud?” (Sir. 10:9). Such the language which the Lord addresses to the man who is puffed up by earthly honors and earthly riches. Miserable creature, he says, Hence,  comes such pride? If you enjoy honors and riches, remember that you are dust. “For dust you art, and into dust you shall return.” (Gen. 3:19). You must die, and after death what advantage shall you derive from the honors and possessions which now inflate you with pride? Go, says St. Ambrose, to a cemetery, in which are buried the rich and poor, and see if you can discern among them who has been rich and who has been poor; all are naked, and nothing remains of the richest among them but a few withered bones. “Respice sepulchra, die mihi, quis ibi dives, quis pauper sit” (lib. vi. exam., cap. viii).. How profitable would the remembrance of death be to the man who lives in the world! “He shall be brought to the grave, and shall watch in the heap of the dead.” (Job21:32). At the sight of these dead bodies he would remember death, and that he shall one day be like them. Thus, he should be awakened from the deadly sleep in which perhaps he lives in a state of perdition. But the misfortune is, that worldlings are unwilling to think of death until the hour comes when they must depart from this earth to go into eternity; and therefore they live as attached to the world, as if they were never to be separated from it. But our life is short, and shall soon end, thus all things must end, and must soon end.

Men know well, and believe firmly, that they shall die; but they imagine death as far ass of it if were never to arrive. But Job tells us that the life of man is short. "Man born of a woman, living fora short time, is filled with many miseries. Who cometh forth like a flower and is destroyed"--Job., xiv. 2. At present the health of men is so much impaired, that, as we see by experience, the greater number of them die before they attain the age of seventy. And what, says St. James, is our life, but a vapour, which a blast of wind, a fever, a stroke of apoplexy, a puncture, an attack of the chest, causes to disappear, and which is seen no more? "For what is your life? It is a vapour which appeareth  for a little while"--St. James, iv. 15. "We all die", said the woman of Thecua to David, "and like waters that return no more, we fall down into the earth"---II. Kings, xiv. 14. She spoke the truth;--as all rivers and streams run to the sea, and as the gliding waters return no more, so our days pass away, and we approach to death. 

They pass; they pass quickly. "My days", says Job, "have been swifter than a post"--Job, ix. 25. Death comes to meet us, and runs more swiftly than a post; so that every step we make, every breath we draw, we approach to death. St. Jerome felt, that even while he was writing, he was drawing nearer to death. Hence he said: 'What I write is taken away from my life". "Quod scribo de mea vita tollitur". Let us, then, say with Job: Years pass by, and with them pleasures, honours, pomps, and all things in this world pass away, "and only the rave remaineth for me"--Job, xvii. 1. In a word, all the glory of the labours we have undergone in this world, in order to acquire a large income, a high character for valour, for learning and genius, shall end in our being thrown into a pit to become the food of worms. The miserable worldling then shall say at death: My house, my garden, my fashionable furniture, my pictures and rich apparel, shall, in a short time, belong no more to me; "and only the grave remaineth for me". 

But, how much soever the worldling may be distracted by his worldly affairs and by his pleasures--how much soever he may be entangled in them, St. Chrysostom says, that, when the fear of death, which sets fire to all things of the present life, begins to enter the soul, it will compel him to think and to be solicitous about his lot after death. "Cum pulsare animam incipit metus mortis (ignis instar praesentis vitae omnia succendens) philosophari eam cogit, et futura solicita mente versari" serm. in II. tim.--Isa., xxxv. 5. Then indeed shall be opened the eyes of those blind worldlings who have employed their whole life in acquiring Earthly goods, and have paid but little attention to the interests of the soul. In all these shall be verified what Jesus Christ has told them--that death shall come when they least expect it. "At what hour you think not, the Son of Man will come"--Luke, xii.--40. Thus, on these unhappy men death always comes unexpectedly. Hence, because the lovers of the world are not usually warned of their approaching dissolution till it is very near, they must, in the last few days of life, adjust the accounts of their soul for the fifty or sixty years which they lived on this Earth. They will then desire another month, or another week, to settle their accounts, and to tranquilize their conscience. But, "they will seek for peace, and there shall be none:--Ezec., vii. 25. The time which they desire is refused. The assisting priest reads the divine command to depart instantly from this world: "Proficiscere anima Christiana de hoc mundo." Depart, Christian soul, from this world. Oh! how dangerous the entrance of worldlings into eternity, dying, as they do, amid so much darkness and confusion, in consequences of the disorderly state of the accounts of their souls.

7. “Weight and balance are the judgments of the Lord.” (Prov. 16:11). At the tribunal of God, nobility, dignities, and riches have no weight; two things only our bins, and the graces bestowed on us by God make the scales ascend or descend. They who shall be found faithful in corresponding with the lights and calls which they have received, shall be rewarded; and they who shall be found unfaithful, shall be condemned. We do not keep an account of God’s graces; but the Lord keeps an account of them; he measures them; and when he sees them despised to a certain degree, he leaves the soul in her sins, and takes her out of life in that miserable state. “For what things a man shall sow those also shall he reap.” (Gal. 6: 8). From labors undertaken for the attainment of posts of honor and profit , for the acquisition of property and of worldly applause, we reap nothing at the hour of death, all are then lost. We gather fruits of eternal life only from works performed, and tribulations suffered for God.

8. Hence, St. Paul exhorts us to attend to our own business. “But we must entreat you, brethren.... that you do your own business.” (1 Thess. 4:10-11). Of what business, I ask, does the Apostle speak? Is it of acquiring riches, or a great name in the world? No; he speaks of the business of the soul, of which Jesus Christ spoke, when he said, “Trade till I come.” (Luke 19:13). The business for which the Lord has placed, and for which he keeps us on this earth, is to save our souls, and by good works to gain eternal life. This is the end for which we have been created. “And the end eternal life.” (Rom. 6:22). The business of the soul is for us not only the most important, but also the principal and only affair; for, if the soul be saved, all is safe; but if the soul be lost, all is lost. Hence, we ought, as the Scripture says, to strive for the salvation of our souls, and to combat to death for justice that is, for the observance of the divine law. “Strive for justice for your  soul, and even unto death fight for justice.” (Sir. 4:33). The business which our Savior recommends to us, saying, Trade till I come, is, to have always before our eyes the day on which he shall come to demand an account of our whole life.

All things in this world--acquisitions, applause, grandeur--must, as we have said, all end, and end very soon. "the fashion of this world passeth away"--I. Cor., vii. 31. The scene of this life passes away: happy they who, in this scene, act their part well, and save their souls, preferring the eternal interests of the soul to all the temporal interests of the body. "He that hateth his life in his world, keepeth it unto life eternal"--John, xii. 26. Worldlings say: Happy the man who hoards up money! happy they who acquire the esteem of the world, and enjoy the pleasures of this life! O folly! Happy he who loves God and saves his soul! The salvation of his soul and was the only favour which king David asked of God. "One thing have I asked of the Lord, this will I seek after"--Ps., xxvi. 4. And St. Paul said, that to acquire the race of Jesus Christ, which contains eternal life, he despised as dung all worldly goods. "I count all things as loss.......and I count them as dung, that I may gain Christ"--Phil., iii. 8. 

But certain fathers of families will say: I do not labour so much for myself as for my children, whom I wish to leave in comfortable circumstances. But I answer: If you dissipate the goods which you possess, and leave our children in poverty, you do wrong, and are guilty of sin. But will you lose your soul in order to leave your children comfortable? If you call into Hell, perhaps they will come and release you from it? O folly! Listen to what David said: "I have not seen the just man forsaken, nor his seed seeking bread"--Ps., xxxvi. 25. Attend to the service of God; act according to justice; the Lord will provide for the wants of your children; and you shall save your souls, and shall lay up that eternal treasure of happiness which can never be taken from you--a treasure not like Earthly possessions, of which yo may be deprived by robbers, and which you shall certainly lose at death. This is the advice which the Lord gives you--"But lay up to yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither the rust nor the moth doth consume, and where thieves do not break through nor steal"--Matt., vi. 20. In conclusion, attend to the beautiful admonition which St. Gregory gives to all who wish to live well and to gain eternal life. "Sit nobis in intentione aeternitas, in usu temporalitats". Let the end of all our actions in this life be, the acquisition of eternal goods; and let us use temporal things only to preserve life for the little time we have to remain on this Earth. The saint continues: "Sicut nulla est proportio inter aeternitatem et nostrae vitae tempus, ita nulla debet esse proportio inter aeternitatis, et hujus, vitae curas". As this is an infinite distance between eternity and the time of our life, so there ought to be, according to our mode of understanding, an infinite distance between the attention which we should pay to the goods of eternity, which shall be enjoyed for ever, and the care we take of the goods of this life, which death shall soon take away from us. (Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost: All Ends And Soon Ends.)

Our Lord explained in the Sermon on the Mount that we must seek first the Kingdom of God in all things and we know that those who outside of the Barque of Saint Peter and who thus are steeped in a plethora of religious and philosophical errors must spend their lives in a  never-ending quest to “achieve” things without subordinating their thoughts, words, and actions to Christ the King as He has revealed Himself to us exclusively through His Catholic Church:

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples: No man serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will stand by the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, what you shall eat; nor yet for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life a greater thing than the food, and the body than the clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they do not sow, or reap, or gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you of much more value than they? But which of you by being anxious about it can add to his stature a single cubit? And as for clothing, why are you anxious? Consider how the lilies of the field grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed like one of those. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which flourishes today but tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more you, O you of little faith! Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or, ‘What shall we drink?’ or, ‘What are we to put on?’ -for after all these things the Gentiles seek; - for your Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the Kingdom of God and His justice, and all these things shall be given you besides. (Matthew 6: 24-33.)

No believing Catholic can ignore any of Our Lord’s teachings, whether contained in Sacred Scripture on in Sacred Tradition as explicated infallibly by Holy Mother Church. There can be no compromise of any kind with the world or its false spirit, something that I have examined many times on this site, including in a reflection, Crushed by the Weigh of Error, part one , which was posted on February 5, 2013, just six days before the late Joseph Alois Ratzinger/Benedict XVI announced his resignation effective on February 28, 2013. While we work hard to provide for our temporal necessities, we do so without anxiety and without a spirit of making the love of wealth, which is different than its accumulation from the sweat of one’s own labor and honest endeavors, the defining characteristic of our very identities that is an inherent part of Judeo-Protestant-Calvinist capitalism.

The original edition of Preparation for Death, which is in our possession and is not as long as the book published under that title by TAN Books and Publishers, contains the following important exhortation from Saint Alphonsus de Liguori concerning the necessity of conquering the world and all creaturely attachments:

Let us now see how we must conquer the world. The devil is a great enemy, but the world is worse. If the devil did not make use of the world and of bad men (by which is meant the world), he would not gain such victories as he does. Our Redeemer does not warn us so much to be on guard against devils as against men: “Beware of men” (St. Matt. x. 17). Men are often worse than devils, because the devils are put to flight by prayer, and by invoking the most holy names of Jesus and Mary; but if bad companions tempt a person to sin, and he reply by some spiritual word, they do not fly, but tempt him the more; they laugh at him, call him  a miserable man of no education, and good for nothing; and when they can say nothing else, they call him a hypocrite who affects sanctify. To avoid such reproaches and derision, certain weak souls unhappily associate with these ministers of Lucifer, and return to the vomit. My brother, be assured that if you wish to lead a good life, you must endure the jeers and contempt of the wicked: “The wicked loath them that are in the right way” (Prov. xxix. 27). He who leads a bad life cannot bear the sight of those who live well;  and why? Because their life is a continual reproach to him; and he would therefore wish all to imitate himself, that he might not feel that pain of remorse which the good life of others causes him. There is no help for it (says the Apostle); he who serves God must be persecuted by the world: “All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Tim iii. 12). All the Saints have been persecuted. Who more holy than Jesus Christ? And the world persecuted Him, even to cause Him to bleed to death upon a cross.

There is no remedy for this, because the maxims of the world are all contrary to those of Jesus Christ. That which the world esteems, is called folly by Jesus Christ. That which the world esteems, is called folly by Jesus Christ. That which the world esteems, is called folly by Jesus Christ: “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God” (1 Cor. iii. 19). On the contrary, the world calls folly that which is esteemed by Jesus Christ – such as crosses, sufferings, and contempt: “For the word of the Cross to them indeed that perish is foolishness” (1 Cor. I. 18). but let us console ourselves; for if the wicked curse and blame us,  Almighty God blesses and praises us: “They will curse, and Thou wilt bless” (Ps. cviii. 28). Is it not enough for us to be praised by God, by Mary, by all the Angels, by the Saints, and by all good men? Let us, then, leave sinners to talk as they please, and let us continue to please God, who is so grateful and faithful to those who serve Him. The greater the repugnance and the opposition we meet with in doing good, that more shall we please God, and the greater will be our merit. Let us imagine that there is none in the world save God and ourselves. When the wicked jeer at us, let us recommend ourselves to the Lord; and, on the other hand, let us thank God and ourselves. When the wicked jeer at us, let us recommend ourselves to the Lord; and, on the other hand, let us thank God and ourselves. When the wicked jeer at us, let us recommend ourselves to the Lord; and, on the other hand, let us thank God that He gives us that light which He withholds form these unhappy men, and so let us go our way. Let us not be ashamed of appearing as Christians; for if we are ashamed of Jesus Christ, He protests that He will be ashamed of us, and to have us at His right hand at the Day of Judgment: “For he that shall be ashamed of Me and of My words, of him the Son of Man shall be ashamed, when He shall come in His majesty” (St. Luke ix. 26).

If we wish to be saved, we must resolve to suffer to overcome ourselves, nay, to do violence to ourselves: “Straight is the way that leadeth to life” (st. Matt. vii. 14); “the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence violence, and the violent to himself will not be saved. There is no help for it since if we wish to practise virtue, we must act in opposition to our rebellious nature. We must especially do violence to ourselves at the beginning, in order to root out bad habits and to acquire good ones; because, when once a good habit is formed, the observance of the Divine law becomes easy, nay, even sweet. The Lord said to St. Bridget, that whoever in the practice of virtue endures with patience and courage the first pricks of the thorns, will find the thorns turn into roses. Be careful, therefore, dear Christian; Jesus Christ says now to you what He said to the paralytic: “Behold, thou art made whole; sin no more, lest some worse things happen to thee” (St John v. 14). Understand, says St. Bernard, if you should unhappily relapse, your ruin will be greater than in all your previous falls: 'You hear that to relapse is worse than to fall' Wo, says the Lord, to those who take the way of God, and then depart from it: “wo to you, apostate children” (Is. xxx. 1). These are punished as rebels against the light: “They have been rebellious against the light” (Job. xxiv. 13). And the punishment of these rebels, who have been favoured by God with a great light, and then are unfaithful to Him, is to remain blind, and so to end their life in their sins: “But if the just man turns himself away from his justice . . . . shall he live? All his justices which he has done, shall not be remembered . . . . in his sin he shall die” (Ezek. xviii. 24).

AFFECTIONS AND PRAYERS.

Ah, my God, I have often deserved such a punishment, since I have many times foresaken sin through the light which Thou gavest me, and then have miserably returned to it! I thank Thy infinite mercy for not having abandoned me in my blindness, and left me wholly deprived of light, as I deserved. How great, then, O my Jesus, are my obligations to Thee: and how ungrateful should I be, were I again to turn my back upon Thee! No, my Redeemer, “I will sing Thy mercies for ever.” I hope, during the remainder of my life and for all eternity, to sing for ever and to praise Thy great mercies, by always loving Thee, and never to be again to be deprived of Thy grace. The great ingratitude which I have hitherto shown Thee, and which I now detest and curse above every other evil, will serve to make me always weep bitterly over the injuries I have done Thee, and to inflame me with love of Thee, who, after my many offences against Thee, hast bestowed on me such great graces. Yes, I love Thee, O my God, worthy of infinite love. From this day henceforth Thou shalt be my only love, my only good. O Eternal Father, through the merits of Jesus Christ, I ask of Thee final perseverance in Thy grace and in Thy love. I know, indeed, that Thou wilt grant it whenever I ask Thee for it. But who can assure me that I shall be careful to beg this perseverance of thee? Therefore, my God, I ask Thee for perseverance, of Thee? Therefore, my god, I ask Thee for perseverance, and the grace always to ask for it. O Mary, my advocate, my refuge, and my hope, obtain for me, by thy intercession, constancy in always asking of God the grace of final perseverance. By the love thou bearest to Jesus Christ, I beseech thee to obtain it for me. (Saint Alphonsus de Liguori, Preparation for Death, published as an eighty-nine page pamphlet in 1972 by Burns and Oates, London, England, pp. 81-84.)

It is tragic tragedy for men such as Lindsey Graham live and die lacking the benefit of have lived in accord with the Sacred Deposit of Faith in cooperation with Sanctifying Grace, which is only available from the Catholic Church, and thus must live and die on their terms, not God’s.

Perhaps even more tragic is the fact that men such as Lindsey Graham, no matter his courageous defense of Brett Michael Kavanaugh when the latter was being calumniated by false charges during his confirmation hearings in 2018, never knew that they had a Blessed Mother in Heaven to assist them on their journey to eternal life in this passing, mortal vale of tears. For it is indeed an unspeakable tragedy that so few men alive today know Our Lady and thus do not available themselves of her mother intercession and protection nor have any recourse to her through her Most Holy Rosary by tenderly relying upon her in their every need, spiritual and temporal.

This is all the more reason for us shield ourselves with her Brown Scapular of Mount Carmel and to pray to Our Lady for the conversion of all men to the Catholic Faith as we beg her to beg her though every Hail Mary we pray, whether in her Most Holy Rosary or at other times during the day, to pray for us now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us.

Saint Joseph, pray for us. 

Saints Peter and Paul, pray for us.

Saint John the Baptist, pray for us.

Saint John the Evangelist, pray for us.

Saint Michael the Archangel, pray for us.

Saint Gabriel the Archangel, pray for us.

Saint Raphael the Archangel, pray for us.

Saints Joachim and Anne, pray for us.

Saints Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar, pray for us.

Saint Bonaventure, pray for us.

Appendix A

Dom Prosper Gueranger, O.S.B., On the Feast of Saint Bonaventure

Four months after the Angel of the Schools, the Seraphic Doctor appears in the heavens. Bound by the ties of love when on earth, the two are now united forever before the Throne of God. Bonaventure’s own words will show us how great a right they both had to the heavenly titles bestowed upon them by the admiring gratitude of men.

As there are three hierarchies of Angels in heaven, so on earth there are three classes of the elect. The Seraphim, Cherubim, and Thrones, who form the first hierarchy, represent those who approach nearest to God by contemplation, and who differ among themselves according to the intensity of their love, the plenitude of their science, and the steadfastness of their justice; to the Dominations, Virtues, and Powers, correspond the prelates and princes; and lastly, the lowest choirs signify the various ranks of the faithful engaged in the active life. This is the triple division of men, which, according to St. Luke, will be made at the last day: Two shall be in the bed, two in the field, two at the mill; that is to say, in the repose of divine delights, in the field of government, at the mill of this life’s toil. As regards the two mentioned in each place, we may remark that in Isaias, the Seraphim, who are more closely united to God than the rest, perform two together their ministry of sacrifice and praise; for it is with the Angel as with man: the fullness of love, which belongs especially to the Seraphim, cannot be without the fulfillment of the double precept of charity towards God and one’s neighbor. Again our Lord sent His disciples two and two before His face; and in Genesis we find God sending two Angels where one would have sufficed. (Genesis 19:1) It is better therefore, says Ecclesiastes, that two should be together than one; for they have the advantage of their society. (Ecclesiastes 4:9)

Such is the teaching of Bonaventure in his book on the Hierarchy, (De Ecclesiastica Hierarchia, Pars 1., caps. i, ii) wherein he shows us the secret workings of Eternal Wisdom for the salvation of the world and the sanctification of the elect. It would be impossible to understand aright the history of the thirteenth century, were we to forget the prophetic vision, wherein our Lady was seen presenting to her offended Son His two servants Dominic and Francis, that they might, by their powerful union, bring back to Him the wandering human race. What a spectacle for Angels when, on the morrow of the apparition, the two saints met and embraced: “Thou art my companion, we will run side by side,” said the descendant of the Gusmans to the poor man of Assisi; “let us keep together, and no man will be able to prevail against us.” These words might well have been the motto of their noble sons, Thomas and Bonaventure. The star which shone over the head of St. Dominic, shed its bright rays on Thomas; the Seraph who imprinted the stigmata in the flesh of St. Francis, touched with his fiery wing the soul of Bonaventure; yet both, like their incomparable fathers, had but one end in view: to draw men by science and love to that eternal life which consists in knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.

Both were burning and shining lamps, blending their flames in the heavens, in proportions which no mortal eye could distinguish here below; nevertheless, Eternal Wisdom has willed that the Church on earth should borrow more especially light from Thomas and fire from Bonaventure. Would that we might here show in each of them the workings of Wisdom, the one bond even on earth of their union of thoughts, —that Wisdom, who, ever unchangeable in her adorable unity, never repeats herself in the souls she chooses from among the nations to become the prophets and the friends of God. But today we must speak only of Bonaventure.

When quite a child, he was saved by St. Francis from imminent death; whereupon his pious mother offered him by vow to the Saint, promising that he should enter the order of Friars Minor. Thus, in the likeness of holy poverty, that beloved companion of the Seraphic Patriarch, did Eternal Wisdom prevent our Saint from his very cradle, showing herself first unto him. At the earliest awakening of his faculties, he found her seated at the entrance of his soul, awaiting the opening of its gates, which are, he tells us, intelligence and love. Having received a good soul in an undefiled body, he preferred Wisdom before kingdoms and thrones, and esteemed riches nothing in comparison with the august friend, who offered herself to him in the glory of her nobility and beauty. From that first moment, without ever waning, she was his light. Peacefully as a sunbeam glancing through a hitherto closed window, Wisdom filled this dwelling, now become her own, as the bride on the nuptial day takes possession of the bridegroom’s house, filling it with joy, in community of goods, and above all of love.

For her contribution to the nuptial banquet, she brought the substantial brightness of heaven; Bonaventure on his part offered her the lilies of purity, so desired by her as her choicest food. Henceforth the feast in his soul was to be continual; and the light and the perfumes, breaking forth, were shed around, attracting, enlightening, and nourishing all. While still very young, he was, according to custom, sent, after the first years of his religious life, to the celebrated University of Paris, where he soon won all hearts by his angelic manners; and the great Alexander of Hales, struck with admiration at the union of so many qualities, said of him that it seemed as if in him Adam had not sinned. As a lofty mountain whose head is lost in the clouds, and from whose foot run fertilizing waters far and wide, Brother Alexander himself, according to the expression of the Sovereign Pontiff, seemed at that time to contain within himself the living fountain of Paradise, whence the river of science and salvation flowed over the earth. (Litt. Alexandri IV.: De fontibus paradisi flumen egrediens.) Nevertheless, not only would he, the irrefragable Doctor, and the Doctor of doctors, give up his chair in a short time to the newcomer, but he would hereafter derive his greatest glory from being called father and master by that illustrious disciple. (Bonaventure in II. Sent., dist. xxiii., art. 2, qu. 3, ad 7) Placed in such a position at so early an age, Bonaventure could say of Divine Wisdom, even more truly than of the great master who had had little to do but admire the prodigious development of his soul: “It is she that has taught me all things; she taught me the knowledge of God and of His works, justice and virtues, the subtleties of speeches and the solutions of arguments.” (Wisdom 7 & 8)

Such indeed is the object of those Commentaries on the four Books of Sentences, first delivered as lectures from the chair of Paris, where he held the noblest intellects spellbound by his graceful and inspired language. This masterpiece, while it is an inexhaustible mine of treasures to the Franciscan family, bears so great testimony to the science of this doctor of twenty-seven years of age, that, though so soon called from his chair to the government of a great Order, he was worthy on account of this single work to share with his friend Thomas of Aquin, who was fortunately freer to pursue his studies, the honorable title of prince of Sacred Theology. (Litt. Sixtus IV. Superna cœlestis patriæ civitas; Sixtus V. Triumphantis Heirusa – lem; Leo XIII Æternal Patris)

The young master already merited his name of Seraphic Doctor, by regarding science as merely a means to love, and declaring that the light which illuminates the mind is barren and useless unless it penetrates to the heart, where alone wisdom rests and feasts. (Exp. in Lib. Sap. viii,. 9, 16) St. Antoninus tells us also that in him every truth grasped by the intellect, passed through the affections, and thus became prayer and divine praise. (Antonini, Chronicon.,p. III., tit. xxiv., cap. 8)“His aim,” says another historian, “was to burn with love, to kindle himself first at the divine fire, and afterwards to inflame others. Careless of praise or renown, anxious only to regulate his life and actions, he would fain burn and not only shine; he would be fire, in order to approach nearer to God by becoming more like to Him who is fire. Albeit, as fire is not without light, so was he also at the same time a shining torch in the House of God; but his special claim to our praise is, that all the light at his command he gathered to feed the flame of divine love.” (H. Seduluius, Histor. seraph.)

The bent of his mind was clearly indicated when, at the beginning of his public teaching, he was called upon to give his decision on the question then dividing the Schools: to some theology was a speculative, to others a practical science, according as they were more struck by the theoretical or the moral side of its teaching. Bonaventure, uniting the two opinions in the principle which he considered the one universal law, concluded that “Theology is an affective science, the knowledge of which proceeds by speculative contemplation, but aims principally at making us good.” For the wisdom of doctrine, he said, must be according to her name, (Ecclesiasticus 6:23) something that can be relished by the soul; and he added (Boniventure, Prœmium in Sent. I, qu. 3), not without that gentle touch of irony which the saints know how to use: “There is a difference, I suppose, in the impressions produced by the proposition, Christ died for us, or the like, and by such as this: the diagonal and the side of a square cannot be equal to one another.” The graceful speech and profound science of our saint were enhanced by a beautiful modesty. He would conclude a difficult question thus: “This is said without prejudice to the opinions of others. If anyone think otherwise, or better, as he may well do on this point as on all others, I bear him no ill-will; but if, in this little work, he find anything deserving approval, let him give thanks to God, the Author of all good. Whatever, in any part, be found false, doubtful or obscure, let the kind reader forgive the incompetence of the writer, whose conscience bear him unimpeachable testimony that he has wished to say nothing but what is true, clear, and commonly received.” (Sent. II., dist. xliv., art. 3, qu. 2, ad 6) On one occasion, however, Bonaventure’s unswerving devotion to the Queen of Virgins modified with a gentle force his expression of humility: “If anyone,” he says, “prefers otherwise, I will not contend with him, provided he say nothing to the detriment of the Venerable Virgin, for we must take the very greatest care, even should it cost us our life, that no one lessen in any way the honor of our Lady.” (Sent. IV, dist. xxviii., qu. 6, ad 5) Lastly, at the end of the third book of this admirable Exposition of the Sentences, he declares that “charity is worth more than all science. It is enough, in doubtful questions, to know what the wise have taught; disputation is to little purpose. We talk much, and our words fail us. Infinite thanks be to the perfecter of all discourse, our Lord Jesus Christ, who taking pity on my poverty of knowledge and of genius, has enabled me to complete this moderate work. I beg of Him that it may procure me the merit of obedience, and may be of profit to my brethren: the twofold purpose for which the task was undertaken.” (Sent. III, dist. xl., qu. 3, ad 6)

But the time had come when obedience was to give place to another kind of merit, less pleasing to himself, but not less profitable to the brethren. At thirty-five years of age, he was elected Minister General. Obliged thus to quit the field of scholastic teaching, he entrusted it to his friend, Thomas of Aquin, who, younger by several years, was to cultivate it longer and more completely than he himself had been suffered. The Church would lose nothing by the change; for, Eternal Wisdom, who ordereth all things with strength and sweetness, thus disposed that these two incomparable geniuses, completing one another, should give us the fullness of that true science which not only reveals God, but leads to Him.

Give an occasion to the wise man, and wisdom shall be added to him. (Proverbs 9:9) This sentence was placed by Bonaventure at the head of his treatise on “the Six Wings of the Seraphim,” wherein he sets forth the qualifications necessary for one called to the cure of souls; and well did he fulfill it in himself in the government of his immense Order, scattered by its missions throughout the whole Church. The treatise itself, which Father Claud Aquaviva held in such high estimation as to oblige the Superiors of the Society of Jesus to use it as a guide, furnishes us with a portrait of our Saint at this period. He had reached the summit of the spiritual life, where the inward peace of the soul is undisturbed by the most violent agitations from without; where the closeness of their union with God produces in the saints a mysterious fecundity, displayed to the world, when God wills, by a multiplicity of perfect works incomprehensible to the profane. Let us listen to Bonaventure’s own words: “The Seraphim exercise an influence over the lower orders, to draw them upwards; so the love of the spiritual man tends both to his neighbor and to God; to God that he may rest in Him; to his neighbor to draw him thither with himself. Not only then do they burn; they also give the form of perfect love, driving away darkness and showing how to rise by degrees, and to go to God by the highest paths.” (Bonaventure, De Eccles. hier., p. II., c. ii.)

Such is the secret of that admirable series of opuscula, composed, as he owned to St. Thomas, without the aid of any book but his crucifix, without any preconceived plan, but simply as occasion required, at the request, or to satisfy the needs of the brethren and sisters of his large family, or again when he felt a desire of pouring out his soul. In these works Bonaventure has treated alike of the first elements of asceticism and of the sublimest subjects of the mystic life, with such fullness, certainty, clearness, and persuasive force, that Sixtus IV declared the Holy Spirit seemed to speak in him. (Litt. Superna œlestis) On reading the Itinerary of the soul to God, which was written on the height of Alvernia, as it were under the immediate influence of the Seraphim, the Chancellor Gerson exclaimed: “This opusculum, or rather this immense work, is beyond the praise of a mortal mouth.” (Gerson Epist. cuidam Fratri Minori. Lugd. an. 1426) And he wished it, together with that wonderful compendium of sacred science, the Breviloquium, to be imposed upon theologians as a necessary manual. (Tract de exam. doctrinarum) “by his words,” says the great Abbot Trithemius in the name of the Benedictine Order, “the author of all these learned and devout works inflames the will of the reader no less than he enlightens his mind. Not the spirit of divine love and Christian devotion in his writings, and you will easily see that he surpasses all the doctors of his time in the usefulness of his works. Many expound doctrine, many preach devotion, few teach the two together; Bonaventure surpasses both the many and the few, because he trains to devotion by science, and to science by devotion. If then you would be both learned and devout, you must put his teaching in practice.” (Trithemius. de Scriptor. eccle.)

But Bonaventure himself will tell us best the proper dispositions for reading him with profit. At the beginning of his Incendium amoris, wherein he teaches the three ways, purgative, illuminative, and unitive, which lead to true wisdom, he says: “I offer this book not to philosophers, not to the worldly-wise, not to great theologians perplexed with endless questions, but to the simple and ignorant who strive rather to love God than to know much. It is not by disputing, but by activity, that we learn to love. As to these men full of questions, superior in every science, but inferior in the love of Christ, I consider them incapable of understanding the contents of this book; unless putting away all vain show of learning, they strive, by humble self-renunciation, prayer, and meditation, to kindle within them the divine spark, which, inflaming their hearts and dispelling all darkness, will lead them beyond the concerns of time even to the throne of peace. Indeed by the very fact of their knowing more, they are better disposed to love, or at least they would be, if they truly despised themselves and could rejoice to be despised by others.” (Incend. amoris. Prologus.)

Although these pages are already too long, we cannot resist quoting the last words left us by St. Bonaventure. As the Angel of the School was soon, at Fossa Nova, to close his labors and his life with the explanation of the Canticle of Canticles, so his seraphic rival and brother tuned his last notes to these words of the sacred Nuptial Song: “King Solomon has made him a litter of the wood of Libanus: The pillars thereof he made of silver, the seat of gold, the going-up of purple.” (Canticle 3:9-10) “The seat of gold,” added our Saint, “is contemplative wisdom; it belongs to those alone who possess the column of silver, i.e. the virtues which strengthen the soul; the going-up of purple is the charity whereby we ascend to the heights and descend to the valleys.” (Illuminat. Ecclesiæ in Hexæmeron, Sermo xxiii)

It is a conclusion worthy of Bonaventure, the close of a sublime but incomplete work, which he had not even time to put together himself. “Alas! alas! alas!” cries out with tears the loving disciple to whom we owe this last treasure, “a higher dignity, and then the death of our lord and master prevented the continuation of this work.” And then showing us, in a touching manner, the precautions taken by the sons lest they should lose anything of their father’s conferences: “What I here give,” he says, “is what I could snatch by writing rapidly while he was speaking. Two others took notes at the same time, but their papers are scarcely legible; whereas several of the audience were able to read my copy, and the master himself and many others made use of it; a fact for which I deserve some gratitude. And now at length, permission and time having been given to me, I have revised these notes, with the voice and gestures of the master ever in my ear and before my eyes; I have arranged them in order, without adding anything to what he said, except the indication of certain authorities.” (Illuminat. Eccles., Additiones)

The dignity mentioned by the faithful secretary is that of Cardinal Bishop of Albano. After the death of Clement IV, and the succeeding three years of widowhood for the Church, our Saint, by his influence with the Sacred College, had obtained the election of Gregory X, who now imposed upon him in virtue of obedience the honor of the Cardinalate. Having been entrusted with the work of preparation for the Council of Lyons, convened for the Spring of 1274, Bonaventure had the joy of assisting at the reunion of the Latin and Greek Churches, which he, more than anyone else, had been instrumental in obtaining. But God spared him the bitterness of seeing how short-lived the reunion was to be: a union which would have been the salvation of that East which he loved, and where his name, translated into Eutychius, was still in veneration two centuries later at the Council of Florence. On the 15th of July of that year, 1274, in the midst of the Council, and presided at by the Sovereign Pontiff himself, took place the most solemn funeral the world has ever witnessed. “I grieve for thee, my brother Jonathan,” cried out before that mourning assembly gathered from East and West, the Dominican Cardinal Peter of Tarentaise. After fifty-three years spent in this world, the Seraph had cast of his robe of flesh, and spreading his wings had gone to join Thomas of Aquin, who had by a very short time preceded him to heaven.

There are only two proper lessons consecrated to St. Bonaventure, but the elegant conciseness with which much is said in few words somewhat compensates for their shortness.

Bonaventure was born at Bagnorea, in Tuscany. During his childhood his life was once endangered, and his mother vowed that if her son survived she would consecrate him to God in the Order of Blessed Francis. On this account, while still a youth, Bonaventure begged to be admitted among the Friars Minors. He had for master Alexander Hales, and became in a short time so eminent in learning that at the end of seven years he publicly, in Paris, explained the books of the Sentences, with great applause. Later on he published also excellent commentaries on the same book. After the lapse of six years, he was elected Minister General of his Order, at Rome, and he became the object of universal praise and admiration by the prudence and sanctity he displayed in the fulfillment of this office.

He wrote many works which, combining the greatest learning with the most ardent piety, at once instruct and move the reader. Urged by the renown of his sanctity and wisdom, Gregory X made him Cardinal Bishop of Albano. He was, while still living, called a Saint by Blessed Thomas of Aquin, who, finding him one day writing the life of St. Francis, said: “Let us allow one saint to labor for another.” Bonaventure departed this life on the day before the Ides of July, at the Council of Lyons, being fifty-three years of age. He performed many miracles, and was added to the number of the saints by the Sovereign Pontiff, Sixtus IV.

Thou hast entered, O Bonaventure, into the joy of thy Lord, and what must thy happiness be now, since, as thou thyself didst say: “By how much a man loves God on earth, by so much does he rejoice in him in heaven?” (Bonaventure, De perfectione vitæ ad Sorores, viii.) If the great St. Anselm, from whom thou didst borrow that word, added, that love is proportioned to knowledge, (Anselm. Proslogion, xxvi) O thou, who wast at the same time a prince of sacred science and the doctor of love, show us how all light, in the order of grace and of nature, is intended to lead us to love. God is hidden in everything; (Bonaventure, De reductione artium ad theologiam) Christ is the center of every science; (Illuminationes Eccl., i) and the fruit of each of them is to build up faith, to honor God, to regulate our life, and to lead to divine union by charity without which all knowledge is vain. (De reduct. artium ad theolog.) For, as thou didst say, (Itinerarium mentis in Deum, iii) all the sciences have their fixed and infallible rules, which come down to our soul as so many reflections of the eternal law; and our soul, surrounded and penetrated with such brightness, is led, of her own accord, unless she is blind, to contemplate that eternal light. Wonderful light, reflected from the mountains of our fatherland into the furthermost valleys of our exile! In the eyes of the Seraphic Father Francis the world was truly noble, so that he called, as thou tellest us, even the lowest creatures by the name of brothers and sisters; (Legenda Sti. Francisci viii) by the traces left in creation by its Author he found his Beloved everywhere, and he made of them a ladder whereby to ascend to him. (Ibid. ix)

Do thou, too, O my soul, open thine eyes, bend thine ear, unlock thy lips, and prepare thy heart, that in every creature thou mayest see thy God, hear him, praise him, love him, and honor him, lest the whole universe rise up against thee for not rejoicing in the works of his hands. Then from the world beneath thee, which has but the shadow of God and his presence, inasmuch as he is everywhere, pass on to thyself, his image by nature, reformed in Christ the Bridegroom. From the image rise to the truth of the first Beginning, in unity of Essence and trinity of Persons, that thou mayest attain the repose of that sacred night where both the shadow and the image are forgotten in an all-absorbing love. But first of all thou must know that the mirror of the external world will avail thee little, unless the interior mirror of thy soul be purified and bright, unless thy desire be aided by prayer and contemplation in order to kindle love. Know that here, reading without unction, speculation without devotion, labor without piety, knowledge without charity, intelligence without humility, study without grace, are nothing; and when at length, rising gradually by prayer, holiness of life, and the contemplation of truth, thou shalt have reached the mountain where the God of gods reveals himself, (Bonaventure, Itinerar. mentis in Deum, i) taught by the powerlessness of thy sight here on earth to endure splendors of which nature was too feeble to give thee an indication, let thy blind intelligence remain asleep, pass beyond it in Christ, who is the gate and the way, question no longer the master but the Bridegroom, not man but God, not the light but the all-consuming fire; pass from this world with Christ to the Father, who will be shown to thee, and then say with Philip: “It is enough for us.” (Ibid. vii)

O Seraphic Doctor, lead us by this sublime ascent, of which every line of thy works discloses the secrets, the toils, the beauties, and the dangers. In the pursuit of that Divine Wisdom, which even in its feeblest reflections, no one can behold without ecstasy, guard us against mistaking for an end the satisfaction felt from the scanty rays sent down to us to draw us from the confusion of nothingness even to Itself. If these rays which proceed from the eternal Beauty be withdrawn from their focus and perverted from their object, there will be nothing but delusion, deception, vain knowledge, or false pleasures. Indeed, the more lofty the knowledge and the nearer it approaches to God as the object of speculative theory, the more in a certain sense is error to be feared. If a man in his progress towards true wisdom, which is possessed and relished for its own sake, is drawn aside by the charms of knowledge, and rests therein, thou, O Bonaventure, hesitatest not to compare such knowledge to a vile deceiver, who would withdraw the affections of the king’s son from his noble betrothed to fix them upon herself. (Illuminationes Eccl., ii) Such an insult to an august queen would be equally grievous whether offered by a servant or by a lady of honor. Hence thou didst declare that “the passage from science to wisdom is dangerous, unless holiness intervene.” (Ibid. xix) Help us to cross the perilous pass; let science ever be to us a means of attaining sanctity and acquiring greater love.

Thou hast still, O Bonaventure, the same thoughts in the light of God. Witness the predilection thou hast more than once shown in our time, for those centers, where, in spite of the fever of activity which must needs keep in motion every force of nature, divine contemplation is still appreciated as the better part, as the only end and aim of all knowledge. Deign to continue thy protection of thy devout and grateful clients. Defend, as heretofore, the life and prerogatives of all religious Orders which are now so persecuted. To thy own Franciscan family be still a cause of increase both in numbers and in sanctity; bless the labors undertaken by it, to the joy of all the world, to bring the light as they deserve thy history and thy works. Bring back the East a third time to unity and life, and that forever. May the whole Church be warmed by thy rays; may the divine fire thou didst so effectually nurture, enkindle the earth anew! (Dom Prosper Gueranger, O.S.B., The Liturgical Year, Feast of Saint Bonaventure, July 14.)

Appendix B

Father Francis X. Weninger, S.J., on Saint Bonaventure

The Seraphic Doctor, St. Bonaventure, was born in 1221,at Balneoregio, in the State of Tuscany. His parents were very distinguished people, not only on account of their nobility and great riches, but still more for their piety and virtues. When scarcely four years old, Bonaventure became dangerously sick and the physicians despaired of his life. His mother appealed to St. Francis of Assisium, who was still living at that period, begging him to obtain, by his prayers, her son's life from God. She promised to bring him up to the honor of the Almighty, and in the course of time to consecrate him entirely to His divine service in the Order founded by St. Francis. The latter prayed for the sick child and the malady was subdued. In regard to this miracle the holy man cried: "O Buona Ventura! " which means, "Oh happy event!" and from that time they called the child, so miraculously cured, Bonaventure, although at the baptismal font it had received the name of John.

Arrived at the period when reason awakens, Bonaventure heard of the promise his mother had made in regard to him and fulfilled it by entering joyfully into the Order of St. Francis. After having finished his probation, he went to Paris to devote himself to study, and his progress in learning was as great as his advancement in virtue, especially in humility, constant selfdenial, perfect obedience, great love of his crucified Lord, and ardent devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. He meditated daily on the passion and death of Christ, and spent as much time as he could in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. He seldom received Holy Communion, especially when he himself said Mass, without shedding many tears. His innocence he preserved inviolate. The celebrated Doctor Alexander of Hales, under whom Bonaventure studied, used to say, that it seemed to him that he had not committed any sin in Adam; so strictly did he control his inclinations, so great were his virtue and his piety.

Before he was thirty years old, his superiors appointed him to teach theology in the University of Paris, which he did with immense success. There he and St. Thomas of Aquin received the title of "Doctor," the highest dignity conferred upon Theologians. At the age of 35 years, he was elected General of the whole Seraphic Order, and his election was confirmed by Pope Alexander, who had presided over the assembly. When once installed in his new functions, he was as zealous to preserve the rule of the holy Founder, as he had previously been earnest in declining the dignity. He made the most wholesome regulations, and led all those under him by word and example to great sanctity. During eighteen years he administered his office, with so much wisdom, mildness and strength of character, that he was loved and esteemed by all, and venerated as the second Founder of the Order.

Although occupied with such constant and important labors, he never neglected his devotional exercises or his studies. We possess this day a great many theological works of great learning written by this holy man. Among others, he wrote a book to refute those who slandered the Mendicant Orders, which he entitled: "A Defense of the Poor." He proves in this book the temporal as well as spiritual benefits of such orders. He also wrote several most learned and eloquent books in praise of the Blessed Virgin, whose honor he desired to further to the best of his ability, and whom, from childhood, he had greatly venerated. There is also extant from his pen, the life of St. Francis, Founder of the Seraphic Order. Whilst he was writing this work, St. Thomas Aquinas came to pay him a visit. Hearing in what Bonaventure was occupied, he declined disturbing him, and left with the words: "Let us leave one Saint to work for another."

St. Thomas so highly esteemed Bonaventure, that he did not hesitate to call him a Saint while he was still alive. This holy man was greatly astonished that Bonaventure, being so much occupied with his duties, yet found time to write so many books of such profound learning, and one day asked him where his library was. Bonaventure pointing to a crucifix, said: "This is the library, wherein I find all that I teach to others." Before he began to study, or whenever a doubt or a difficulty during study embarrassed him, he fell down before the Crucifix and humbly prayed for Divine assistance. He said more than once, that by this means, he had obtained more knowledge and wisdom than by all his industry. Not content with all this, the holy man preached publicly in all the places which he visited in the exercise of his functions, exhorting sinners to repentance and the pious to be constant in good works; by which he converted, in a most remarkable manner, the most hardened sinners.

The fame of his great knowledge and holiness, which spread all over the country, was of great benefit to him in his missionary work; whence he received the title of Seraphic Doctor, by which he is still known in our days. Bishops and prelates of the Church honored the Saint still more than other people of a lower degree. Clement IV, desired to reward him for his many services to the Church with the Archbishopric of York; but the holy man throwing himself at his feet, begged so earnestly to be spared the burden of this honor, that the Holy Father acceded to his request. After the death of this Pope, the Cardinals, assembled at Viterbo, could not agree in the election of a new head of the Church, and they at last determined to leave the choice to Bonaventure, promising to accept as Pope, whomsoever he thought deserving to receive the highest of earthly dignities. This was surely the greatest sign of honor which they could confer upon the Saint.

Bonaventure, after having prayed to God, said that, in his opinion, Theobald, archdeacon of Liege, who was not even present, was most worthy to be raised to the Pontifical Throne. The cardinals received his decision and Theobald became the head of Christ's Church. This Pope, who took the name of Gregory X, sent afterwards the hat and insignia of a Cardinal to Bonaventure, nominating him Bishop of Albano, and commanding him at the same time, to obey without any opposition. The papal Nuncios who were to convey this news to the Saint, found him occupied in washing the dishes in the kitchen. He listened with unfeigned surprise to their message, and as he saw that, this time, there was no escape left, he obediently submitted, but nevertheless he finished his humble occupation. The Pope, calling him to Rome, took him to Lyons where a general Council was held, during which he gave new proofs of his great learning, and of his unwearied zeal in promoting the welfare of the holy Church.

It pleased the Almighty, to call His faithful servant, in the midst of his pious labor, and after a short illness, to receive his eternal reward. He died in 1274, only fifty-three years of age. The Pope and all the bishops deeply lamented his early death, but God immediately honored him by many miracles. One hundred and sixty years later, when on account of the erection of a new Church, the relics of the Saint were exhumed, it was found that the flesh of the body was entirely consumed, the head excepted, of which the hair, teeth, tongue, eyes and ears, lips and cheeks, were as perfect as though he had still been living. The head, therefore, was preserved in a rich shrine, and the rest of the body laid into a coffin. After many years, when the Huguenots or Calvinists took possession of Lyons, they publicly burned the body of the Saint and threw the ashes into the river. The holy head, however, was saved from their rage by the care of a priest, who, though most cruelly tortured, to make him confess where the relic was kept, preferred to bear the suffering rather than reveal where the precious treasure was concealed.

Practical Considerations

I. The love and devotion of St. Bonaventure to the passion and death of our Lord was great beyond description. He meditated upon them daily. The crucifix was continually before his eyes, and before it he said his prayers, either prostrate on the ground or on bended knees. I hope that you are not among those who are ashamed to keep an image of Christ in their room: as in that case I must remind you of the saying of our Lord, that, on the judgment-day, He will be ashamed of those who on earth are ashamed of Him. I will suppose, therefore, that you have a crucifix in your room, but why do you so seldom prostrate yourself before it? Why do you so seldom meditate on the passion and death of the Saviour? Is this a sign of love and gratitude towards Him? If any human being had suffered, for love of you, only half what Christ the Lord suffered; or if he perhaps had died to save you from death, how would you feel towards him? And why have you not the same feelings towards your Redeemer? Endeavor, at least, to show greater love for Him in future. Let no day pass without praying before the crucifix; raise your eyes to it sometimes during the day, and manifest, by short prayers and pious ejaculations, your love and devotion towards your suffering Saviour; as for example: "With my whole heart I love Thee, O Jesus, and it is bitter grief to me that I have offended Thee, O merciful God!" Or "Cleanse my soul with Thy precious blood." Or, "Jesus Christ, who didst die for me upon the cross, have mercy on me!" &c.

II. St. Bonaventure very seldom received holy Communion or said Mass, without shedding tears. Love to the Saviour in the most holy sacrament thus moved his heart. How great is your devotion and love to the Blessed Sacrament, especially at the time when you receive it? How much time do you give to prayer before and after holy Communion? Do you purify your soul from every stain by a sincere confession? Do you adorn it with virtues, that it may be a worthy dwelling for so great a guest as the only Son of the Almighty? Do you appear with due reverence at the table of the Lord? How much time do you give to thanksgiving after your dear Saviour has come to you, and what is your devotion during the same? Examine yourself on these points, and correct yourself where you have been negligent. Before all things, however, take care that you never receive your Lord while in mortal sin, "For" says St. James of Nisibis, "this is a crime that cannot be excused;" a crime, the wickedness of which is so great, that it deserves no pardon, when committed voluntarily, as it offends Christ our Lord above all others. You know, you believe that He whom you receive is not only your Saviour, but also your Judge, who has power to condemn you. Before Him you will soon appear to receive your sentence for all Eternity. How dare you, therefore, receive Him unworthily, when you know that you thus draw upon yourself the wrath of your Judge, and render yourself deserving of everlasting punishment? Is there any crime, any blasphemy, which can be compared with this? And does there exist a punishment great enough to atone for so horrible an offence towards our dear Lord? "Wo to him, eternal wo, who dares to go unworthily to the table of the Lord," says the venerable Bede.

"Judas, the traitor, was the first to go to Holy Communion in mortal sin. What happened to him is known to you. At the moment he committed the sacrilege, the devil took possession of him, and incited him to betray his Lord. Guard yourself that you may not imitate his wickedness; otherwise you will receive the same punishment. "Let no one dare to approach the table of the Lord like Judas," says St . Chrysostom.  (Father Francis X. Weninger, S,J., Feast of Saint Bonaventure, July 14.)