Saint Bonaventure

Giovanni di Fidanza was born around 1217 in Bagnoregio, near Viterbo, Italy. According to tradition, he was healed of a grave illness as a child through the prayers of Saint Francis of Assisi. He joined the Franciscans, taking the name Bonaventure, and studied and taught at the University of Paris, where he was a contemporary and friend of Saint Thomas Aquinas.

In 1257 he was elected Minister General of the Franciscans and led the order for seventeen years, guiding it through bitter disputes so wisely that he is often called its second founder. He wrote The Journey of the Mind into God and the official Life of Saint Francis. Pope Gregory X made him cardinal-bishop of Albano in 1273 and entrusted him with preparing the Second Council of Lyon, where he worked for reunion with the Greek Church. He died at Lyon on July 15, 1274, during the council. He was canonized in 1482 and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1588.

Franciscan friaries and universities honor him with solemn Masses and lectures. In California, Mission San Buenaventura, founded by Saint Junípero Serra in 1782, gave its name to the city of Ventura, and Buenaventura on Colombia's Pacific coast also bears his name.