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9. Franciscan Saints and Mystics (2) |
B) Franciscan Theologians and Doctors of the Church
9.15 St. Anthony of Padua (1195-1231)
Fernando was born in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1195 in a noble and rich family. His
father was Martino di Alfonso and his mother Maria. His house stood close to
the cathedral church of Lisbon. As a young boy he studied in the cathedral
school. When he was fifteen he entered the monastery of Sao Vincente, of the
Canons Regular of St. Augustine. After some time he went to another monastery,
Santa Cruz at Coimbra, where he continued his theological studies, especially
Sacred Scripture and the Church Fathers. In 1220 he was ordained priest.
During the same period he came to know about the first Friars Minor who had
come from Italy, with the aim of crossing over to North Africa to evangelise
the saracens. On 16 January 1220 these friars, led by frate Berardo, met a
martyr's death at Marrakesh in Morocco. Upon venerating their relics which
were brought to Coimbra, Fernando decided to join the new religious family and
go to the North African missions. He took the name Anthony and left for the
African coast. An illness and a storm were the cause of his setting foot on
the island of Sicily. From the friary of Messina Anthony continued his
journeying to Assisi, to take part in the General Chapter of Pentecost, 1221.
The Minister of Romagna, frate Graziano, sent him to the hermitage of
Montepaolo. During an ordination at Forlì, Anthony preached and made
public his intense intellectual preparation in theology. He became an
itinerant preacher in Northern Italy (Rimini, Bologna, Milan, Vercelli) and in
France (Montpellier, Arles, Limoges, Toulouse, Bourges), preaching against the
heresy of the Cathari. He also became Custos of the friars in France and
Minister of the Province of Romagna. He remained famous for his Lenten
sermons, especially the ones he held in Padova. Towards the end of his life he
had various mystical experiences, and wrote down his "Sermones". After a long
illness Anthony died quite young at Arcella, near Padova, in the monastery of
the Poor Clares, on 13 June 1231. He was declared a saint by Gregory IX in
record time, on 30 May 1232, Pentecost Sunday. In 1946 Pius XII proclaimed him
Doctor of the Church. He is known as the "Evangelical Doctor".
9.16 St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio (1217-1274)
Giovanni di Fidanza was born in 1217 in the small town of Civita di Bagnoregio,
in the Lazio region of Italy. He himself says in his LegMaj, Prologue, that as
a young boy he was miraculously liberated from a serious illness through the
intercession of St. Francis. In 1219 the Friars Minor had arrived in Paris,
led by friar Pacificus. After staying at Saint Denis they moved to Saint
Germain des Prés and in 1234 founded the "magnus conventus" of study.
Thus the Franciscans entered the university of Paris. Bonaventure was sent as
a student to Paris. He was disciple of Alexander of Hales, who entered the
Franciscan Order in 1236. Bonaventure himself became a Franciscan in 1243.
Bonaventure became a Bachelor of Arts (1243-1248), and then a Biblical Bachelor
(1248). After acquiring his licentiate in 1253 he became a regent master of
the Franciscan School of Paris in 1254. But the university secular masters,
who were bitterly in conflict with the Mendicant Orders, only recognised this
title in 1257. By then Bonaventure had been elected Minister General of the
Order on 2 February 1257. After a period of retreat on La Verna, Bonaventure
composed his famous mystical treatise "Itinerarium Mentis in Deum" (The Journey
of the Soul into God) in 1259. As Minister General he remained famous for his
Narbonne Constitutions (1260) and for his Major Life of St. Francis (1263).
His other spiritual and mystical works include "De triplici via", "Soliloquium"
and "Lignum vitae". As a theologian he is also author of various Commentaries
on the Gospels and of the "Breviloquium", as well as of works concerning the
validity of the evangelical life of the Mendicants, particularly the Disputed
Questions on Evangelical Poverty and the "Apologia Pauperum". In 1273
Bonaventure was nominated Cardinal Bishop of Albano, with the aim of preparing
the way for the Council of Lyon summoned by Gregory X. Bonaventure was present
for the opening sessions of the Council, but died on 15 July 1274 and was
buried in the Franciscan conventual church of Lyon. Bonaventure was declared a
saint on 14 April 1482 by the Franciscan Pope Sixtus IV. In 1588 the
Franciscan Conventual Pope Sixtus V declared Bonaventure Doctor of the Church.
He is known as the "Seraphic Doctor".
9.17 Blessed John Duns Scotus (1265-1308)
On 10 September 1224 the first Friars Minor set foot in Dover (Thomas of
Eccleston, Chronicle "De Adventu Fratrum Minorum in Angliam"). From there the
friars soon spread to Canterbury, Cambridge, Oxford, where they also had a
proper "studium". Later on they even arrived in Scotland. In 1265 John was
born in Duns, Scotland. His paternal uncle was Elias, who was leader of the
Vicariate of Scotland. In 1278 John Duns entered the Franciscan school at
Haddington, and joined the Franciscan Order at Dumfries. He was sent for
higher studies in Oxford and Paris. On 17 March 1291 he was ordained priest in
Northampton by Oliver Sutton, bishop of Lincoln. He became a teacher of
philosophy and theology at Cambridge and Oxford. After teaching also in the
Franciscan School of Paris he had to return to England after refusing to sign a
petition in favour of the king of France against Pope Boniface VIII in 1303.
Scotus was reinstated in his post in Paris in 1305, upon the recommendation of
Gonsalvus of Valboa, Minister General of the Order. In 1307 he again left
Paris and went to Köln, at the "studium" of the friars. He died in this
city on 8 November 1308. John Duns remained famous as the theologian of the
Franciscan School, as a defender of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin
Mary, and was also venerated in the Franciscan Order, in Köln and in Nola,
in Italy. On 6 July 1991, Pope John Paul II declared the cult of John Duns
Scotus as a Blessed and rendered liturgical honours to him on 20 March 1993.
© copyright FIOR-Malta
Text by Fr. Noel Muscat ofm
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