NAME: SAMUEL
NJOROGE LOUIS (11059T)
TITLE: THE
JOURNEY OF THE MIND TO GOD (BY BONAVENTURE)
About the
author of the spiritual classic
St. Bonaventure was born at Bagnoregio
in Latium.
Almost nothing is known of his childhood. However, he was born sometime in the
year 1221, by Giovanni di Fidanza his father and the mother is Maria Ritella.
In his early childhood he was stricken with a grave malady which threatened his
life? His mother had the inspiration to entrust him to a more potent doctor:
she invoked St. Francis of Assisi and the child recovered. Thus he grew into
young manhood under the sign of St. Francis and never took back from him the
life that he felt he owned him. Saint Bonaventure, Friar Minor, entered the Franciscan
Order in 1243 and was an Italian medieval
scholastic
theologian
and philosopher.
He was the seventh Minister General of the Order of
Friars Minor, he was also a Cardinal Bishop of Albano. He was canonized
on 14 April 1482 by Pope Sixtus IV and declared a Doctor of the Church in the year 1588 by Pope Sixtus V.
He is known as the "Seraphic Doctor". Bonaventure died suddenly and
in suspicious circumstances. St. Bonaventure has a definitive system of
mystical theology and has conceived it as something different from theology in
general, though, of course, intimate connection with it. Like his father Saint
Francis, the Seraphic Doctor Saint Bonaventure is deeply impressed by the
conviction that the life of men and women here upon earth is a pilgrimage and
that the acute consciousness of it prepares one for the contemplative life.
That is, our hearts deeply desire for peace and ultimately for ecstatic peace.
My
motivation (why I decided to study this book)
All throughout my life time, I have sincerely desired to
have peace of mind. Unfortunately, after searching for peace of mind for so
long, I have been making friends but all I received from them it is all
disappointments. In addition, throughout this journey I have never found what
it is termed by people as “true love”. It was at last when I went for my spiritual
direction when my spiritual director proposed me read this book (the journey of
the mind to God, by Bonaventure). Unfortunately, nothing was or even could make
sense for me at that time. Therefore, when I saw it in the list of the books
for summary, I thought it was be good time that the lord has finally visited me
to read this book. After reflecting, in love, as many people would say, it is a
matter of mutual relationship (just as God to man and man to God), but in this
world few people experience this mutual relationship. However, the failure of
this mutual relationship, what we experience is that everybody is just trying
to favor his or her own interest only, no one would wish to risk for his partner.
Therefore, summing up with the desire that drove me to the review of this book,
it is also an inspiration from Saint Augustine’s work, which states that “our
hearts are restless until they rest in God”.
Summary and Reflection
Introduction
In this paper, we are
going to look at the soul journey into God by Bonaventure. Bonaventure in his
emphasis is that happiness is nothing other than the enjoyment of the highest
good. And so the highest good is above, so we need to rise above ourselves.
Something to note here is that, it is not the ascent of the body, but of the
Heart. However, we cannot rise above ourselves unless a higher power lifts us
up, that is, by the help of the divine aid. Hence, this calls us to have a
fervent prayer which is the mother and source of the ascent.
The
seven stages or steps of the soul into God
The first Stage of the
Soul’s ascent into God is on contemplating Him through His vestiges in the
universe. The whole world is presented as a mirror through which we may pass
over to God, the supreme craftsman (I., BRADY, Bonaventure, 63). Confirming this, the Palmist would say, “from the
beauty and greatness of created things, their creator can be known” (Ps. 13:5)
just as some people in figurative speech would say, “By considering the work of
art, then we will know the artist”. Hence, from this vestiges (visible things) we
rises to consider the power, wisdom and goodness of God as existing, living,
intelligent, purely spiritual, incorruptible and unchangeable (I., BRADY, Bonaventure, 65).
The second stage is on contemplating
God in his vestiges in the sense world. It concern the mirror of things
perceived through sensation, leading us to see God not only through them as
through his vestiges, but also in them as He is in them by his essence, power
and presence. This world (macrocosm) enters our soul (smaller world) though the
doors of the five senses by three operations: that is, apprehension
(perception), pleasure (enjoyment) and judgment (I., BRADY, Bonaventure, 72). In the vestiges we see
God, as for the species apprehended is a likeness generated in a medium and
then impressed on the organ itself. This impression leads us to its source,
that is, the object to be known. As a mirror, then, we see God as the father,
the fountain-source of the eternal world the image and Son eternally emanating
from God who alone is the primordial and true delight and that in all our
delight we are led to seek this delight.
The thirds stage is on
contemplating God through his image stamped upon our natural powers which leads
us to the point of reentering into ourselves, that is, into our mind, where the
divine image shines forth. In this stage, we enter into our very selves where
we leave the outer court, and strive to see God through a mirror, inform of the
sanctuary in the face of our mind, is the image of the most blessed Trinity
shines in splendor (I., BRADY, Bonaventure,
79). Here we observe not with our bodily eye but with the eye of reason. In
this case, Bonaventure argued that, all the sciences: natural philosophy;
rational philosophy and moral philosophy have certain and infallible rules,
like rays of light shining down upon our mind from the eternal law. Thus, our mind
illumined and flooded by soul brilliance, unless it is blind, can be led
through itself to contemplate that eternal light (I., BRADY, Bonaventure, 85). That is, as the soul (the
image of God) considers its Triune principle through the trinity powers, it is
aided by the light of science which perfects and inform it and represent the
most blessed Trinity in threefold ways: the cause of being leading to the power
of the Father; the basis of understanding leading to the wisdom of the word; and
the last is the order of living leading to the goodness of the Holy Spirit (I.,
BRADY, Bonaventure, 85).
The fourth Stage is on
contemplating God in his image reformed by the gift of grace. We contemplate
the first principle not only by passing through ourselves but also in
ourselves. Because of our always fallen nature (holding to worldly cares), we
fail to pass through ourselves. For this reason, the fourth stage deals
principally with the works of reparation guided by the nature, Scripture and
grace from which the soul is purged, illumined and purified - the three
hierarchical acts of the soul – through Christ Jesus (I., BRADY, Bonaventure, 91). Therefore, our soul
should be clothed with three theological virtues (Faith, Hope and Love) by
which the soul apprehends the highest delight, in a spiritual ecstasy through:
devotion, admiration and exultation.
In the fifth Stage, we
contemplate God, the divine unity, through its primary name which is being.
That is, we can contemplate God not only outside us but also above us through
the light which shines upon our minds, which is the light of eternal truth,
since our mind itself is formed immediately by the Truth itself (I., BRADY, Bonaventure, 94). In contemplating these
invisible things of God in the unity of His essence, we fix our attention first
on being itself, and letting ourselves see that being itself is so certain that
in itself it cannot be thought not to be. In this step, we realize the
blindness of the intellect, which does not consider that which it sees first
and without it can know nothing. The eye then, concentrating on various
different colors, sees not the very light by which it see other things; and if
it does see this light it does not advert to it. This is because our mind is accustomed to the
darkness of beings and the images of the things of senses, hence, when it
glimpses the light of supreme Being, seems to itself to see nothing - it does not realize that this very darkness
is the supreme illumination of our mind (Ps. 138:11). From which is only
realized by contemplating God with a pure mind.
The Sixth Stage is on
contemplating the most Blessed Trinity in its name which is Good. After considering
the essential attributes of God in the fifth stage, the eyes of our
intelligence should be raised to look upon the most blessed Trinity. Just as
being itself is the root principle of viewing the essential attributes of the
name through which the others become know, so the Good itself is the principle
foundation for contemplating the emanations. If an image is an expression of likeness,
consequently, when our mind contemplates in Christ the son of God, who is the
image of the invisible God by nature, our humanity so wonderfully exalted, so
ineffably united when at the same time it sees united the first and last, the
highest and the lowest just as creator and the creature is. That is, the book
written within and without, it now reaches something perfect. It reaches its
perfection of its illumination on the sixth day of creation; hence, what remains
then is only the day of rest on which through mystical ecstasy the mind’s
discernment comes to rest from all the work it has done (I., BRADY, Bonaventure, 109).
Finally, after the six
stages from which our mind has beheld God form outside itself through the
vestiges and in his vestiges; from within itself and through his image and in
his image and above itself through the similitudes of the divine light shining
above us and inter-light itself through exercise of our mind. Subsequently, the
Seventh Stage is on spiritual and mystical ecstasy in which rest is given to
our mind or soul when through ecstasy our affection passes over entirely into
God. That is, these six considerations or steps we have passed on are like the
six steps towards Solomon’s throne, at which we arrive at peace (I., BRADY, Bonaventure, 110). To sum up, these six
considerations are referred to as the six steps of true contemplative ways with
the illumination of heavenly wisdom we rest in God just as he rested on the
seventh day after six days of creation.
Personal
reflection
In the first place,
Bonaventure was searching deeply for peace, the ecstatic peace. This ecstatic
peace is that mystical union with God the father through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Just as his Seraphic Father Francis, Bonaventure went up to Mount La Verna,
where he experienced this mystical union with the crucified Christ. Hence, on
my case too, after reflecting on the journey of the soul into God, I agree with
St. Bonaventure that all things are created by God to be pointers to God. Therefore, among many things that drove me write this
reflection was an inspiration from Saint Augustine’s work, which states that
“our hearts are restless until they rest in God”. In this way, our soul to rest
in God’s hands is exactly what is reflected in the journey of the soul into God
by Bonaventure.
For me, I took this reflection as a
divine call to every individual person or rather this soul’s journey into God
by Bonaventure was and is a reminder to us all that we need to be perfect
exemplars pointing to God for the rest of the universe to know, love and serve
God. More importantly, is that human beings are wonderful exemplars for they
are created in the images and likeness of God and so, we are called to respect
them, not for what we want from them but rather for their human dignity. In
fact, more significantly is us who have been called to be religious, since we
are called to witness the gospel way of life. That is, living a life of doing
the mighty will of God no matter what condition (being sign post reflecting the
kingdom peace).
The Catechism of the
Catholic Church in answer to the question “why are we created?” it gives an
affirmation to the above idea that we are created to know, love and serve God.
In a very special way then, am called today to know God through these vestiges,
images and in the divine similitides from which other people will Know God by
my example (my way of life) and in this case, they will definitely Love him by
serving him from the expression they see in my life. Nonetheless, most of these
vestiges are being destroyed day by day for instance through environmental
crisis: deforestation, soil and air pollutions, in case of the image of God,
people are committing suicides, abortions and lot of killing all over in the
world in form of terrorism for instance in Kenya of resent.
On a practical level,
then, we would be proud of ourselves to say that we serve and Love God only
when we become one with him. Love of neighbor is the best expression of love of
God and in this sense for Francis and Bonaventure, all what God created in this
universe is our neighbor, no wonder Francis went to extent of calling nature
and all in this world as brothers and sisters.
Therefore, all things including the human beings, I have come to
understand that I need them all as pointers to God but I don’t need to attach
myself to them or rather, I do not need to enslave myself to these worldly
things. For me to succeed, then, I need to fall in love with Prayers because
Prayer is the mother and source of all contemplations. Whereby, this aspect of
prayer, we are challenged by Francis of Assisi from whom Bonaventure got his
inspiration, to prayer until at last we become the prayer itself. That is one
with God himself.
Subsequently, all throughout my life time, like Saint
Bonaventure, I have sincerely desired to have peace of mind. Unfortunately,
(like many people today looking their happiness in pleasures of this world,
from which we cannot achieve true happiness by possession of material worth or
from sexual pleasure) after searching for peace of mind for so long, I have
been making friends but all I received from them it is all disappointments. In
addition, throughout this journey I have never found what it is termed by
people as “true love”. It was at last when I went for my spiritual direction
when my spiritual director proposed me read this book (the journey of the mind
to God, by Bonaventure). Unfortunately, nothing was or even could make sense
for me at that time. Therefore, when I saw it in the list of the books for
summary, I thought it was be good time that the lord has finally visited me to
read this book. After reflecting, in love, as many people would say, it is a
matter of mutual relationship (just as God to man and man to God), but in this
world few people experience this mutual relationship. No wonder that is why we
have lot of Divorce cases in our families and many committing suicide since
they lose meaning in this life here on earth.
However, the failure
of this mutual relationship, what we experience is that everybody is just
trying to favor his or her own interest only (using others just as means to
their goal but not as end in themselves), in fact, no one would wish to risk his
life for the sake of his partner. Therefore, we need to relate with everybody
equally and always be free to everybody in the sense that, no possession but
rather all should lead us into God. Though by human nature, we desire to
possess for our security purpose, conversely, we need to be sufficient without
holding unto them but very much connected to them for they are our brothers and
sisters by the virtue of our origin, who is God the father of us all.
Conclusion
Bonaventure
divides the Journey of the soul into six stages, taking the Seraph as the
symbolic matrix of the description, and these stages take us from the condition
of the mortal man to that of the Contemplative residing in the mystical
experience of the "Super-luminous Darkness" of God. In
passing over all the six steps, it is only through the crucified Christ who
becomes our ladder, our mediator, the way and the door. He is the ladder and
the vehicle like the mercy seat placed above the ark of God and mystery hidden
from eternity. Therefore, we succeed only when we turn our face fully to the
mercy seat and with faith, hope and love, devotion, admirations, praised and
joy in Christ Jesus. This passing over is to be perfect only when all
intellectual activities are left behind and the height of our affection totally
transformed and transferred into God. We arrive at this point when with a pure
(unblemished) heart we desire God by leaving everything else behind although we
do this only when we are inflamed by the Holy Spirit (I., BRADY, Bonaventure, 115). To sum up the,
whoever wishes to ascent into God (into mystical union with God) or being one
with God, must avoid sin – that deforms our nature – pray very hard to receive
restoring grace, and by living an exemplar life, that is a good life to receive
purifying justice, by meditating to receive illuminating knowledge and finally,
by contemplating to receive perfecting wisdom.
Bibliography
BRADY, I., Bonaventure:
The Soul’s Journey into God, The Tree of Life and The Life of St. Francis, Paulist
Press, New York 1978.
