Writings on the Spiritual Life

On the Perfection of Life / De perfectione vitae ad sorores

On the Perfection of Life De perfectione vitae ad sorores Introduction to the Text Bonaventure wrote On the Perfection of Life Addressed to the Sisters in response to the request of the abbess of the Poor Clares at Longchamps, France, as an instruction “for the sake of devotion” in 1259.1 Apologizing for his “brevity because of the preoccupations” of his other responsibilities, Bonaventure begins by reminding the sisters, indeed all of us, that happiness (beatitudo) is found in the “law of the Lord.” It teaches us what is to be done, avoided, desired, prayed for, and feared in seeking true happiness – a fullness of life in the Lord. As Bonaventure writes in several places, God’s wisdom is taught by the Spirit and is found in the affections of a devout mind (per devotae mentis affectum). In that context, he offers words of instruction on some key disciplines of the heart (virtues) which will lead the sisters – and others – to the perfect love of God (de perfecta Dei caritate). Those “who wish to rise to the summit of the perfection of life” are instructed to make a faithfilled and conscious effort to develop eight virtues (strengths of character). They include: self-knowledge, humility, poverty, silence, prayer, the remembrance of 1 Isabella, the sister of Louis IX, the King of France, founded the Poor Clare monastery at Longchamps near Paris in 1255. While it was traditionally assumed that she was the abbess to whom the letter was addressed, there is some doubt as to whether or not she ever professed vows within the community. See Ignatius Brady, “Two Sermons of St. Bonaventure,” Franciscan Studies 28 (1968): 12, note 34. Isabella’s name is not listed among the sisters or abbesses according to Henri Gaston Duchesne in Histoire de L’Abbaye Royale de Longchamps 1255 à 1789, H. Daragon, ed. (Paris: n. p., 1906). There is no doubt that Isabella was involved in writing a rule for the community of “minor sisters” in consultation with Bonaventure and four other Franciscan Masters in Paris. Initially approved in 1259 by Alexander IV, the rule was approved definitively in 1263 by Urban IV and is associated with her name. Writings on the Spiritual Life 138 the passion of Christ, and charity. The first six are the interrelated and mutually helpful virtues which lead a person, through a disciplined training of the mind, heart, and spirit, to strive for the perfect love of God which is charity (caritas). The virtue of charity enables the devout mind to “love God above all things and our neighbor for the sake of God.” To these seven virtues, the perfect number, is added an eighth virtue, perseverance. This is the virtue that reminds us that we must continually strive to make our way into God so that we might become radiant in the sight of God. This short letter of instruction succinctly highlights essential virtues that ought to characterize the spiritual life of the sisters. They reflect, in sometimes nuanced ways, the core virtues which play a central role in the daily living of Bonaventure’s theology of the spiritual life.2 The text is of great practical interest to all who desire to follow the example of Francis and Clare in the different forms of Franciscan life. It is one of the few places where Bonaventure discusses at any length his understanding of the important virtue of selfknowledge . The chapter on the “perfection of love” provides a succinct summary of his theology of love (caritas) and what it means to say that one must love God with one’s whole heart, soul, and mind. 2 Compare with The Major Legend of St. Francis (1263), chaps. 5-13 (FA:ED II 560-639). In Threefold Way, III, nn. 1-10, Bonaventure identi­ fies seven steps leading to peace, truth, and love – the constitutive elements of wisdom. Within each of these different schemata, Bonaventure demonstrates how a person might come to a better understanding of the differing but interrelated ways through which a person might arrive at wisdom. The subtle nuances and various ways of expressing his vision of the journey into wisdom reveal the depth and richness of Bonaventure’s thought on these different and closely interrelated ways. However, On the Perfection of Life is a text that has been given little critical attention except for Marianne Schlosser’s introduction to a 1994 German translation of the text...