The Journey of the Soul into God: Itinerarium Mentis in Deum

Prologue

33 St. Bonaventure’s Itinerarium mentis in Deum English Translation 34 St. Bonaventure’s Itinerarium mentis in Deum The Journey of the Soul into God Prologue 1. In the beginning1 I call upon that First Beginning from whom all illumination flows as from the God of lights,2 and from whom comes every good and perfect gift. I call upon the eternal Father through the divine Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, that through the intercession of the most holy virgin Mary, the mother of that same Lord and God, Jesus Christ, and through the intercession of blessedFrancis,ourleaderandfather,Godmightgrantenlightenmenttotheeyesofourmindandguidancetoourfeetonthepath of peace – that peace3 which surpasses all understanding.This is the peace which our Lord Jesus Christ proclaimed and granted to us. It was this message of peace4 which our father Francis announced over and over, proclaiming it at the beginning and the end of his sermons. Every greeting of his became a wish for peace; and in every experience of contemplation he sighed for an ecstatic peace. He was like a citizen of that Jerusalem about whichthemanofpeace–hewhowaspeaceableevenwiththose who despised peace – says: Pray for those things that are for the peace of Jerusalem. For he knew that it is only in peace that the throne of Solomon exists, since it is written: His place is in peace, and his dwelling is in Sion. 2. Moved by the example of our most blessed father, Francis, I eagerly desired this peace – I a sinner who, unworthy as I am, Note references in the English translation refer to the Notes and Commentary section, pages 143–225. 35 St. Bonaventure’s Itinerarium mentis in Deum had become the seventh general minister of the brothers after the death of the most blessed father. It happened around the time of the thirty-third anniversary of the death of the saint5 that IwasmovedbydivineinspirationandwithdrewtoMountAlverna since it was a place of quiet. There I wished to satisfy the desire of my spirit for peace. And while I was there reflecting on certain ways in which the mind might ascend to God, I recalled, among other things, that miracle which the blessed Francis himself had experienced in this very place, namely the vision of the winged Seraph in the form of the Crucified. As I reflected on this, I saw immediately that this vision pointed not only to the uplifting of ourfatherhimselfincontemplationbutalsototheroadbywhich one might arrive at this experience. 3. For those six wings can well be understood as symbols of six levels of uplifting6 illuminations through which the soul is prepared, as it were by certain stages or steps, to pass over7 to peace through the ecstatic rapture of Christian wisdom.There is no other way but through the most burning love of the Crucified. It was that sort of love which lifted Paul into the third heaven and transformed him into Christ to such a degree that he could say: With Christ I am nailed to the cross. It is now no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me. This sort of love so absorbed the mind of Francis also that his spirit became apparent in his flesh; and for two years prior to his death, he carried the holy marks of the passion in his body.8 The figure of the six wings of the Seraph, therefore , is a symbol of six stages of illumination which begin with creatures and lead to God to whom no one has access properly except through the Crucified. For anyone who does not enter by that door, but climbs up another way, is a thief and a robber. But anyone who enters by that door will go in and out, and will find pastures. For this reason, John writes in the Apocalypse: Blessed are those who wash their robes in the blood of the Lamb for they are nourished at the tree of life and they may enter the city 36 St. Bonaventure’s Itinerarium mentis in Deum through the gates. This is to say that no one can enter into the heavenly Jerusalem by means of contemplation except through the blood of the Lamb as through a door. For no one is disposed in any way for those divine contemplations which lead to ecstasies of the mind9 without being, like Daniel, a person of desires. But desires10 can be inflamed in us in two ways, namely through the cry of prayer which makes us cry aloud with...