Writings on the Spiritual Life

Introduction: The Journey of the Heart into Wisdom

Introduction The Journey of the Heart into Wisdom In her memoir Ordinary Time, Nancy Mairs describes herself as a “wanton Gospeller.”1 She asserts that her essays are a “search into the ways one woman deals with God’s presence day after day.” Throughout her slim book, Mairs focuses her attention on a few practical questions: “What does it mean to live in the presence of God? Present to God? What responsibilities do I bear for the creation of my life? What choices must I make to sustain it?” While she sets out to write a kind of spiritualautobiography , she also flatly states that, among other things, her book is not a “cookbook for conversion.” After all, she says, “in describing life’s ambiguities, each of us is bound to get at least one point wrong.” One can assume that Mairs’ book will never achieve anything near the perennial significance of Augustine’s Confessions or the contemporary popularity of Thomas Merton’s Seven Storey Mountain. Rather, the significance of her work lies in her willingness to explore honestly the central questions of every woman or man’s spiritual life – the journey of the heart into God. While some have written insightfully of their personal struggles and experience, others have written to encourage, instruct, and assist those who were wrestling with those questions. In the person of St. Bonaventure, the Franciscan spiritual tradition has been blessed with a gifted guide 1 Nancy Mairs, Ordinary Time: Cycles of Marriage, Faith and Renewal (Boston: Beacon Press, 1993), see pages 7-12 in particular. Writings on the Spiritual Life 2 toward understanding what it means to live in the presence of God day after day. Each of his works, whether they are categorized as works of theology, asceticism, spirituality, or mysticism invite the reader to make the spiritual journey into the wisdom that comes through true experience as envisioned by the Seraphic Doctor. Despite the diversity of these works, the variety of forms they take, and the different audiences to which they were first addressed – friars, sisters, laity – the Seraphic Doctor seems always to be urging everyone to believe, to understand, to contemplate, and to become enflamed with the love of the triune God. The introduction to this volume of Bonaventurian texts in translation will seek to provide: (I) a brief introduction to the person of St. Bonaventure, (II) a sense of his understanding of how the human person is made in the image of God and is em­ powered to become a greater likeness to Christ, (III) an over­ view of Bonaventure’s understanding of the threefold journey of the heart into wisdom, (IV) comments on the challenges of interpreting spiritual classics as well as information on the methodology used in the preparation of this volume of texts in translation, and (V) summary comments on the implications of Bonaventure’s theology of the spiritual life as a resource for spiritual pilgrims in different ages. Parts II and III of this introduction were written with the intention of providing some basic information and found­ ational orientations for readers who may be unfamiliar with Bonaventure’s theology of the spiritual life. A deliberate effort has also been made to use the words of the Seraphic Doctor himself to acquaint the reader with his language and style as an aid to reading the texts and better grasping his intended meaning. Bonaventure’s conceptual categories and classical world-view are steeped in the richness of the Christian Writings on the Spiritual Life 3 tradition. It is a tradition to which he made a significant and creative con­ tribution. Later generations of scholars and spiritual pilgrims would subsequently find in the Seraphic Doctor “a significant theologian of the past to be a partner in conversation; a partner whose efforts may help shed light on our present situation.”2 I: Bonaventure: Disciple, Teacher, Mystical Theologian Bonaventure played a significant role in the early development of the Franciscan theological tradition. Given the more extensive treatments of his life, work, and significance within the Order and the Church that are avail­ able elsewhere, a few summary observations will suffice here. First, he entered the Franciscan Order in Paris sometime between 1238 and 1243.3 He was quickly recognized as one of the most intellectually outstanding followers of the poor man from Assisi. In a rare personal reference, he indicated that what “made me love St. Francis’ way of life...